mirror :: malum

eno

"You're so ungrateful, Michael!" A tall, brown haired woman bellowed at the fresh faced eighteen year old in front of her, her eyes glaring into his and for a second he swore he saw fire. she pulled at her hair and paced. his mum was being rather overdramatic, michael thought. "You're lucky you actually get things! Some kids don't even have parents to give them anything."

Michael threw his hands in the air and rubbed his head, of course she had to use the privileged kid card. Just because other kids were less fortunate than he was, doesn't mean he was supposed to be happy with the crusty old antique mirror he was given for his eighteenth birthday.

He was sure a lot of people would like it, of course. i mean there was nothing really wrong with it really, it had charm and it was an antique and people love that shit, however he certainly didn't like it.

He had never even mentioned to his mum about wanting a mirror, let alone one that was older than time itself.

Her face was bright red and her teeth were clenched tight in her mouth. Just imagine an angry bull with steam coming out of its ears and you'll have Michael's mum at that very moment, however his dad was stood calmly with his arms crossed. he looked more disappointed than angry, but why? it wasn't michaels fault he didn't like it.

"you know what? we'll just take it back and you won't have anything for your birthday!" his mum grunted and yelled at the boy

"no, it's fine. thanks." he just gave up. it was better than nothing he guessed.

Michael just rolled his eyes and looked into the new mirror that he had just received with an almost disgusted look. He was grateful that his parents had thought of him when they picked it out, he wasn't a spoiled brat or anything, but he had hoped for something more normal and what an eighteen year old boy would want, like a car or even alcohol. anything but that mirror.

The antique had dust coating every last inch of it, almost as if it hadn't been touched in years, and had an odd off black stain in the corner that looked like it had been violently scratched to get off but with no luck. the smell of old people seeped through the wood, causing the room around it to smell. The ruffled looking edges of the old item that had gold undertones to it had small chips in them and, what appeared to be, small holes, just about the same size to stab a small knife through.

The mirror seemed to have a lot of history tied to it, but michael really didn't care for it at all, but it was something and maybe he'd find use to it somewhere.

The end of the day came slower than he wanted, the tension in the air so thick that you couldn't even cut it with a knife. They were all tense, waiting for an argument to break out once again over the stupid, last minute present that Michael had received, but he just tried to avoid it. even singing happy birthday was uncomfortable, well more uncomfortable than normal.

The mirror was in his room at that time, hung up on the opposite wall to his bed so he had a perfect view of himself slouched on his bed in exhaustion. wow, he thought to himself, i'm really not that attractive when i'm not trying. every so often, he looked up from where he was staring and into the cold reflection in the mirror. He could practically see his face ageing from all this doing nothing, but it was the evening and everyone was doing other things instead of visiting Michael. what great friends.

Night had rolled by rather fast, luckily. michael laid under his black sheets, pulling them just below his chest as he sighed to himself. what a day. He looked at the mirror and once again saw himself, although this time it was different. A tuft of brown curls poked out from the far left corner and for a second he had swore he saw a pair of brown eyes blink.