Mirror, Mirror {#Wattys2016}

Chapter 3- Upside Down

Cassandra stood rigid as a statue, staring down at the hard, unmoving wall of words. She half expected them to get up and run away, because such a thing could hardly exist. Once flexible fingers turned to stone as her whole body tensed up.

This cannot be happening.

Cassandra had always thought that there was a way to cross over. Surely there would be a way to connect the alternate dimensions. However, there was something disconcerting about having your reality turned upside down. Nothing seemed the same as it had before.

New possibilities opened up right in front of Cassandra's eyes. Strange that what had once been impossible was now an entirely plausible course of action just a moment later. Perhaps Cassandra had found a way to escape Echo forever.

Does Queen Pandora know about this note? Cassandra wondered. Surely not, knowing the Queen. Anything remotely threatening to her rule would disappear. It would find itself consumed in a fiery blaze, just like so many things before.

Queen Pandora had an air of hostility around her. She was something that lingered in the back of everyone's mind, equal parts terrifying and serene. It was unlike her to show anything other than utmost calm and regality on the mandatory broadcasts. Even in the most threatening situations, the Queen would put on her mask of stoicism and wait.

Cassandra quickly snatched up the parchment paper and hid it securely in the back of her frayed robes, away from prying eyes. When she got home she would take it out to discern if any truths could be revealed from it.

The rest of Cassandra's work shift seemed to stretch into an eternity of time, slowly crawling along. Every second seemed to transform into an hour, never relenting, always stretching.

Cassandra began to feel an odd, itching sensation. It was as if she could hardly contain the secrets she had uncovered and Cassandra's body was trying to force her into nonchalance.

After an eternity of time had passed, the intercom sounded throughout Echo, notifying its residents that the time to journey home had come. A cold, chilly night awaited her, something unusual in Echo's unchanging weather patterns.

Cassandra walked faster than she had known possible, almost running back the flagstone walkway. The moment Cassandra had thrown the front door open, she hurried upstairs and sank onto her bed.

Cassandra quickly checked that her mom was still covering the Mirrors as she did every night, since Queen Pandora had ordered for them to be covered by curfew each night. Then Cassandra cautiously took the note from its hiding place and unfolded it.

Much to her surprise, the note had not changed into something ordinary. Instead, it remained very much extraordinary.

Cassandra wasn't sure why she had expected the paper to have rearranged itself so there were no longer any words for her to read. Maybe it was simply because nothing exciting seemed to occur throughout Echo, unless Queen Pandora's constant adding to the rules counted.

Taking her sweet time, Cassandra read through each instruction, savouring every piece of written information. When she had finished, Cassandra re-read the entire thing, determined to commit it to memory. After completing that task, Cassandra desperately wondered how she could ever pull off such an extravagant escape plan.

If not for the flat, colourless voice of the announcement system, Cassandra would have laid there all night. However, Cassandra knew that if she skipped out on sleep, she would come to regret it in the morning.

Silently, Cassandra settled on her bed and encouraged sleep to come and take her. Although her eyes felt as if they were lifting ten pound weights, sleep proved to be elusive. Each time it felt as though Cassandra would be drawn into unconsciousness, a new whirlwind of thought would storm through her mind.

For once in her lifetime, a stroke of luck had come just when Cassandra needed it. Just one night after making a vow to escape Echo, what were the chances she would finally be able to? That is, if she somehow managed to elude the Queen's attention and stay under the radar.

Just when Cassandra was ready to give up, she felt a wave of fatigue wash over her body and Cassandra let herself fall. Before she was completely taken, Cassandra made a new promise; she wouldn't give up until reaching the Other side.