Try To See The Looking Glass

Mirror Mirror

"Rise and shine," said Jim while giggling - an alcoholic tasked with taking care of us, though taking care of two teenagers wasn't in his area of expertise. "You have a lot of work today," he continued.

He threw a plate down on the floor, which consisted of old pieces of stale bread and half-rotten meat. Alexandria and I dove down on to the floor and started stuffing our faces with the food.

I don't know at what time we slept, but I felt rested. However, Alexandria looked exhausted. Her eyes were red and she looked like she was one step away from giving up hope.

I managed to hide some bread under a loose board on the floor. I believe that would benefit us later on because Jim would forget to feed us for days unless he remembered - which hardly happened.

After we completed our mediocre breakfast, Jim led us out of the room, towards the cabbage fields.

You see, Jim was a farmer but he was a drunk and lazy person. He adopted us after our parents passed away a year ago and he forced us to "work" for him. We have to do all the plowing and collecting of the crops as Jim receives all the money and praise.

We walked on a deserted dirt road to the cabbage fields with the idea of escaping in my head. Recently, I've been thinking all sorts of things; For instance, what would happen if I just stabbed Jim in the neck? What would happen if we just ran and manage to escape this hell?

These thoughts swarmed my head and the next thing I knew, I was facedown on the floor. Jim started to scream his drunken slurs and insults. "You're a idiot" and "I must teach you a lesson" is all I could make out from his incomprehensible speech. I tried to stand up and only managed to make it to my knees before Jim kicked my back. I fell -this time with much more force. Alexandria shrieked and Jim started screaming at her.

I learned from experience that trying to fight would only cause more damage so I stayed with my face on the ground. Alexandria tried to stop crying but Jim slapped her. It took all my strength not to stand up and take care of Jim once and for all. I searched my surroundings for a possible weapon when suddenly I saw something glimmering about a meter away.

Trying my best not to make a sound, I grabbed it.

It was a gold-framed handheld mirror. The mirror was very old and gave off a strange feeling. But despite the fact it had been buried in sand, it appeared to be clean. But the most noticeable thing was that my reflection was staring at me with such intense stare.

Then, all of a sudden, it lifted its index finger and put it on its lips - implying I should keep quiet! Perplexed, I stared at the mirror, wondering if I was dreaming.

Without a second thought, I hid the mirror under my shirt.

Jim must have heard something because he was dragging Alexandria and me towards our prison. He threw us inside the room and locked the door while swearing. "... nosey Cliffords next door... " was the last thing I heard before he disappeared. Probably going to the local bar for his afternoon drink.

I searched under my shirt for the mirror and suddenly I felt my heart drop. I couldn't find it! Panicked, I stood up and started searching the room. I didn't need to search for long because Alexandria was holding the mirror. She seemed to be listening to something and was in a daze. I approached her cautiously, making extra effort not to startle her. I was a few meters away when I saw over her shoulder that her reflections was talking to her.

"Alex, what's happening?"

"Shh, Benjamin..." was the only reply I got.

"Alex, listen to me. Alex, please turn around," I pleaded.

"My word, Benjamin. Can you just fuck off?"

Surprised, I fell back immediately because I have never heard Alexandria swear. She always said that it was vulgar way of expressing yourself.

Alexandria must have thought the same because she dropped the mirror. Panicked, she started to to apologise.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me. I'm so sorry,"

"It's okay, Alex. It must have been the mirror," I replied.

At that moment, I started to tear some fabric from already torn pants. I approached the mirror and covered it completely in the fabric.

"What is that? That is obviously not a normal mirror," Alexandria said. "My word I'm losing my mind."

"You are not losing your mind. You are just as crazy as you were yesterday, and the day before yesterday and the day before tha-"

"I get it!" Alexandria yelled while grinning. "I get it," she repeated.

Thinking, I looked at the covered mirror in my hand. What was I thinking bringing a magical mirror back from the fields? It was obvious this thing was powerful enough to control people. Suddenly, I started to unwrap the mirror.

"Benjamin, what are you doing?"

"I'm tired and for all we know this magical object could help us escape. But we won't know if we don't talk to it," I replied.

Alexandria started moving towards me and was behind me in a few seconds. "I'm with you," Alexandria said as a form of moral support. Gingerly, I unwrapped the mirror. Staring back at us were our reflections - but they fighting. They were having a playful fighting match and it seemed like reflection Alexandria was winning. She had reflection Benjamin in a headlock and they were both laughing. I cleared my throat and they seized their fighting.

"Sorry," reflection Benjamin said. "Sometimes we get carried away." At that moment, reflection Alexandria grinned.

"What are you?" Alexandria asked. "Are we losing our minds?"

"No, you're not losing your minds." reflection Alexandria replied. "We are visitors from another planet; a planet far from here."

"We came here about 35 years ago," reflection Benjamin continued. "But when we arrived, we realised that your atmosphere was a bit unstable for our matter; so we transferred ourselves into this mirror so we wouldn't parish."

"We have travelled from country to country with no rest. Helping people from all walks of life with the hope of returned help for we long to escape. But it seems, humans are not keen to help and only take, never give." reflection Alexandria said.

"But we never gave up hope," they both finished off in grim manner.

"I am so sorry," Alexandria said. "We know humans can be cruel and horrible people but they can also be kind and loving. It's just a matter of looking in the right place."

"And I think we can help you if you help us escape this place," I said hopefully.

The reflection Alexandria and Benjamin looked at each other but only for a moment. I didn't think much of it. However, I felt a slight jolt in my stomach and that only happens when something suspicious is going on.

We spent the remainder of the day devising a plan on our escape. The reflection told us about the ritual needed to release them and we told them about our situation. They told us they knew what to do because they had helped a boy, 10 years ago, with a similar problem. But even has the day droned on and I could see the hope returning in Alexandria's eyes, I had one thought at the back of my head: Can they really be trusted?