Mirror, Mirror {#Wattys2016}

Chapter 1- Parallel

Cassandra brushed her hand over the timeworn covers of books, feeling aged leather beneath her fingertips. The scent of musty paper and old ink filled the air, wafting through her nose. Reading was something she had always loved, a release from reality filled with brilliant characters and action.

Even though Queen Pandora had banned books ages ago, the library was the one place they could still reside. Cassandra was glad that she was able to work such a privileged job. Most people wouldn't think twice of it, but being surrounded by countless novels stacked on rickety shelfs had always comforted her.

"Attention all citizens, please head to your residences. Curfew will be in effect fifteen minutes from now," droned the announcement system. "Any citizen out past eight will be punished."

Cassandra hurried out onto the street to join the mass of people on their way home. She had no desire to elongate her journey, having experienced the 'punishments' of being out late firsthand. It seemed as if she was always getting into trouble for one thing or another. Perhaps taking matters into her own hands tended to have an effect on that.

As a kid, Cassandra had constantly been getting into trouble one way or another. She would never listen to the rules, a trait she seemed to have maintained over the years. A sigh escaped from her mouth. If only rule breaking ended up with toys being taken away, like in her childhood, rather than being whipped and adding a few more scars to the collection on her back.

Raising her head to the sky, Cassandra noticed nothing new. Its flat, grey expanse hung over the weary, sunken faces of those traveling beneath it. The dying sun attempted to cast feeble rays of light down onto the world, but nothing more than a whisper of light ever came through.

Patrol drones rolled down the sides of the street, monitoring the Echo citizens' movements. Their tiny wheels made a ka-thunk, ka-thunk, against the cobbled sidewalk. If you were to commit so much as one minor infraction to any law, the patrol drones would see that you were whipped, or worse.

A sign loomed up ahead, it's bolded words reading 'Sector C4 Ahead'. Cassandra stared at the stark constraint of rust upon metal. Once the sign had symbolized safety, a place where she was unreachable in her fortress of courage. How silly it had been to believe that she was ever safe from the Queen's tyrant rule.

Cassandra lifted her head to see her house looming in front of her. Similar to all other houses in Echo, it was flat and grey, with just one window to let in light. She turned the weathered knot that served as a doorknob and peered inside.

"Mom? Where are you? I'm home from work." The inside of the house was quaint to match its plain exterior. Furniture was minimal and scattered across the hardwood flooring.

"I'm in the lounge, Cassie. Come help me with the Mirrors," she called.

Cassandra's mother, Adhita, was an old, weathered thing. Her salt and pepper hair was scraped back from a slightly wrinkled face and piled atop her head in a bun. She wore the customary grey rags found on every Echonian, with a dull apron overtop. As Cassandra walked in, her mother looked up briefly, ancient eyes connecting with young, naive ones.

Adhita returned to her work, pulling a worn canvas tarp over the Mirror hung on the lounge wall.

"Here, let me help you with that." Cassandra reached over, grasping the material's edges and pulling them over the Mirror. Queen Pandora had made sure it was strictly against the rules to use Mirrors after the hour of eight, though nobody really knew why. Before it was covered, Cassandra was able to see her Parallel.

The Parallel version of herself stared straight into Cassandra's eyes, seemingly filled with sorrow. She was identical to Cassandra, from the flyaway dirty blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, to the light blue eyes and freckles that adorned both their faces.

The Parallels were those who lived in the Other dimension. Their world was filled with colour, light and happiness, compared to the dreary grey of Echo. Cassandra had always been fascinated with her Parallel, who looked just like her and copied the movements she made exactly.

To Cassandra, the Parallels seemed to have a constant look of happiness on their faces. It was as if they were aware how lucky they were to live in a world without Queen Pandora. A world where people could wear what they wanted and didn't have to worry about whippings, or if they would receive their rations for the week.

"Curfew is now in effect. All citizens should be in their residences," came the monotone voice that sounded every night at that time.

Curfew was something else about Echo that made Cassandra frustrated. Queen Pandora had forced it upon them to quell any rebellious thoughts. From there on, each citizen was trapped in their house before eight o' clock each night. As usual, everybody obeyed the Queen's wishes and followed curfew, a single mass unwilling to fight for change.

Deciding it was probably time to go to sleep, Cassandra climbed the old, wooden stairs to her room. Her bedroom consisted of a rickety, spring bed on top of a threadbare rug. To the left was the bedside table her mom had made specially for Cassandra's eighth birthday. Now, the wood was slightly worn around its edges and the engraved pattern on its side was not as pronounced.

Turning off the lamp, Cassandra settled against her pillow and let her mind wander, as it so often did. Dancing across her mind were thoughts of Parallels, of Queen Pandora and of why when one touched a Mirror, only cool, unyielding glass was felt, instead of a submission to the Other side.

Cassandra wished above all else that she could leave Echo behind. Life had always been hard, nothing good coming to you unless you worked even harder. It felt unfair that she should be subjected to a life full of grey and suffering.

Laying in the darkness, Cassandra hoped against hope that one day she would see things change.