Such A Small Thing

Pages 24 and 25

"So, uh, where do you think the click came from?" I ask, keeping a hold of Garry's hand.

"It could have been from one of the doors. It sorta sounded like one... opened or something," he says.

I look up at him and he looks down at me. "Unlocked, maybe?" I suggest.

"Yeah! That's the word! Thanks, kiddo," he says and ruffles my hair with his free hand. "Now... where should we start?"

"The outer doors, then the middle one?" I say.

"Sure, we'll do that. What do we have to lose, besides our petals?"

"Mhm," I say, nervous.

We go from door to door, Garry twisting the doorknobs, kicking the doors, until we come up to the middle one. I'm not too eager to go in, but I guess we have no choice.

(Garry's P.O.V.)

"Well, this is our last chance," I say and rub the back of my neck.

"Yeah..." H mumbles. She doesn't look like she wants to, but really, who would?

"Alright, on three," I say and take the doorknob in my hand. "Three... two... one!" I exclaim and twist the doorknob. It opens... to a room full of mirrors.

"This place just keeps getting creepier," she says and walks into the room.

"H! Wait!" I exclaim, but I'm too late. She steps on one of the mirrors and her leg disappears. I grab her hand as she starts falling in and pull her back up, stumbling backwards.

"What... was that? I ask. H is trembling. I pull her close and hold her head against my chest.

"Something was grabbing my leg," she says. I sigh. There are no breaks in this place.

"We just need to be more careful," I say and pull her to her feet. "Now we know not to step on the mirrors."

"Yeah... Sorry," she says.

"It's okay. Come on."

We side-step the mirror and look at it. We don't see ourselves, but we do see a bunch of mannequins walking around. H shivers. This place never ceases to terrify me.

We walk through the mirror-filled room. Each mirror shows something different. We come up to the third-to-last one and it doesn't show anything... until it does.

There, standing beside me in the mirror, is my little sister in a blue dress. She looks a lot like H...

H has a surprised look in her eyes and she looks at me... And that's when I remember... I had been in the gallery with my sister, not a friend. She was wearing the same clothes that H is now, and hated her name. Her mom, my step-mom, was a seamstress... How could I forget? My sister was always chatty, I just didn't listen most of the time.

"H?" I ask. Her eyes well up with tears and she throws herself at me.

"Garry! How could I forget you, brother?" she exclaims.

"I don't know, little sis. I really don't know," I say and pull her close and sit on the floor. "It's okay now. We both remember." I rock her back and forth gently. "Shhh... There has to be a way out of this place, and we'll find it together."

A small click sounds from the other end of the room and we both look up. The door is closed.