The early morning sun drifted through the window, waking Cassandra from her blissful sleep. She pulled back her dark blue covers and started readying herself for work.
Across from her bedroom, Cassandra walked into the humble washroom and pulled a silver brush through her hair. The sturdy bristles worked out every knot, leaving her hair shiny and soft. Putting on the patchwork grey robes she always wore, Cassandra deemed herself ready to go to work.
She had scored such a wonderful working position because of her mother's relationship with one of the job selectors. Supposedly, they two had once been good friends and the selector in question had owed Adhita a favour.
Since the library was one of the only places where books were still allowed, Cassandra never dreaded going to work. It was the one thing that kept her going, knowing that she'd be in the midst of a thousand different worlds, each one more magnificent than the next.
As she walked out the wooden door, Cassandra called out a quick, "Mom! I'm leaving," before shutting it behind herself.
The journey to her job was short and uneventful. People walked the cobblestone streets, each on a mission to a different place. At the library Cassandra swiped her citizenship card, ensuring she would be paid the proper amount of rations for her labour and went to work.
Cassandra's responsibility was to ensure that all books were where they should be. Whenever somebody came in, they were permitted to read any book they wanted, but had to leave it in the library. Cassandra supposed it was because Queen Pandora wanted to remind everyone that each privilege was limited.
Ding! The door opened and an elderly citizen shuffled in, moving to select a book about gardening. As the newcomer began to read, Cassandra shelved the books which had been leftover from her last shift.
Moving between aisles, Cassandra found herself lost in thought, like she so often was. Most citizens of Echo had learned early on that focusing on what could be just made reality that much harsher. Yet, Cassandra found that the could be's and the what if's were the only things that made life bearable. After all, if there was nothing to strive towards, why bother with anything?
"We interrupt your daily activities for a mandatory viewing," recited the announcement system, shaking Cassandra from her contemplations.
The library's singular screen lit up with Queen Pandora's hauntingly beautiful face. She had a pallid complexion and dark brown eyes that were seemingly bottomless. Long, ebony hair framed her face loosely and the only colour her face held was that of ruby lips.
"Dearest citizens," Queen Pandora breathed, in her sickly sweet voice. "It is my utmost pleasure to announce that, due to the extra hard work of those in Sector E5, ration sizes will be increasing ever-so-slightly. The new portions will be distributed as usual. Now, please resume your work and have a most pleasant day." The screening cut off after Queen Pandora flashed a twisted, sweet smile at the camera.
Cassandra felt a pang of sympathy for the citizens of E5. When the Queen said "extra hard work" it usually meant that somebody had been threatened, blackmailed and beaten, in an attempt to bring rebellions to a grinding halt. Even worse was that those in Sector E were usually punished more severely, as a result of being lowest in the alphabetical social structure.
That was one of the things Cassandra hated most about Queen Pandora. Every good thing involved something bad, a perfect ying yang. She had mastered the ability to cover wrongdoings with rewards, successfully diverting the attention of Echo.
"Cassandra! You heard Her Highness, back to work." Cassandra's boss was a burly man whose face was warped in a constant grimace. Square, wire frame glasses accented his bulging eyes that somehow managed to be larger than his handlebar moustache.
"Sorry Mr. Inéz, I got distracted," mumbled Cassandra.
Mr. Inéz let out a harrumph and stalked away to pick on another employee. Acknowledging her luck in that no further deal was made out of her absent mindedness, Cassandra quickly returned to her duties.
'Recipes of the Old World', proclaimed one title that a visitor had left yesterday. It was a small paperback, with a simple red cover. Swirling gold lettering decorated its coating, pale glimmers in the library's fluorescent light. Cassandra reached over to return the book to it's proper place, when a folded sheet of paper slipped out.
Curious, Cassandra bent over to pick it up. It was a thicker than paper usually was, fancy compared to the sheer parchment normally available. On the page, in a messy haphazard scrawl were instructions for 'Crossing to the Other side'.
Cassandra let out a rush of air, staring at the words she had never dreamed of seeing. The small, cautious side of her wanted to alert a patrol drone, ensuring that Cassandra wouldn't be punished for holding something so forbidden. But the larger part of her that was so enthralled with the Other side screamed with all it's might to keep it and hide it so that nobody ever found out.
After all the wondering and thinking, was it possible to cross over to the Other side once and for all?
YOU ARE READING
Mirror, Mirror {#Wattys2016}
Fantasy{Highest ranking: #1 in Fantasy} In a world where Mirrors serve as a link between dimensions, Cassandra had always found herself fascinated with the Other side. In particular, she had always been curious towards her Parallel, the carbon copy that c...
