House of Mirrors

"New company in the neighborhood"

[...2012]

(Liv)
Several years had passed since my parents gave me my first camera. I had already learned to take many photographs of everything I saw and that inspired me instantly. I also learned to develop the photos from the film, and my room was full of photographs, drawings, and paintings. I felt like a true artist, although my parents didn't quite see it that way.

I went down to the old, cold dining room to have breakfast like any boring morning before going to school, but I didn't find my father sitting there reading the newspaper of the day in the dining room. I saw him come into the kitchen very upset to talk to mom, after staring out the window for several minutes.

"I can't believe what is happening to our town, to our country!" He arrived shouting and brusquely grabbing the newspaper from the table.

"What's wrong?" My mother asked as she washed a couple of dishes.

"Look at the newspaper! More weird sissies and black people leading the power? What kind of news are this? I can't believe people think it's okay, but that's not the worst part, the decadent society of today is also reaching our town. Look at that silly girl who moved in across the street, she's a mentally ill person, a damn deviant!" He continued shouting as I listened without knowing why he was so upset.

"Who? The new neighbor? What's wrong with her?" My mother peeked out the window to spy on the girl. I also looked out and saw her getting out of her car with another woman, both laughing and approaching to hug each other, then they looked at each other and the other woman gave her a kiss.
"It can't be" I saw my mother's face as if I had seen a demon or some kind of ghost. "Olivia! Get away from the window!" My mother pulled me away angrily.

"Did you see that! I'll go with the mayor after church and tell him about this atrocity, I hope those two leave the town soon, How dare they desecrate a town ruled by the word of our lord?." Mom murmured to the old man as he put out his cigarette.

"Of course, I will do what is necessary, I don't want them coming to instill any kind of Satanism, or coming near our house, or even the kids! Sinners." He glanced at the time and we stopped to make the sign of the cross and pray the usual prayers, he took my hand to go on our way to my school and before leaving he stopped to look at me.

"Never go near them, don't look at them, and certainly don't interact in any way with those women, understood?" I nodded without knowing why they were so upset with them.

As we walked past the house of our new neighbor, I looked back at them again, trying to see if they were sick as my parents said, but I saw nothing wrong with them, they seemed happy.
They held hands before entering their house and one of them noticed me watching, she just smiled kindly at me and I smiled back, then I turned away immediately.

The rest of the day, I thought a lot about those girls and the way they looked at each other, also about how cruelly my parents criticized them.

When parents forbid a child from doing something, it only makes them more curious to do it, and they sparked in me a feeling of intrigue that I was forbidden to feel.