The Other Side of the Mirror

Mystified

"Come on girls, story time!"

Two young, red haired girls, both about 3 years old cried out in delight as they scurried over to join their mother. She was sitting on a fluffy black pillow which had two small button eyes and a nose sewn onto one corner to make it look like a bear.

The girls scrambled on to the pillow on either side of their mother and leaned their heads against her.

The girls loved it when their mother read them stories, she always used different voices and expressions for all the characters, almost making them seem real.

By the time she had finished the story this particular night, both girls were still rather lively and hyper.

"Do we have to go to bed now?" One of the girls whined.

The mother smiled at her daughters. "Yes you do, after all it's almost an hour after your bed time."

The other girl pouted. "But it's still light outside, besides, we aren't sleepy."

The mother chuckled lightly before going to the window and pulling the pale blue curtains shut. "You might not be sleepy now Vivian, but you will be soon. Now hop into bed both of you."

Vivian sighed but obediently walked over to her bed. It was the exact same as her sister's bed which sat next to her own, except from the duvet cover. Her sister's was an outer space one with planets, stars and moons, whereas Vivian's had a sunset background with lots of fluffy clouds in front.

"But I'm older than Vivian, so I should be able to stay up much later than her!" Vivian rolled her eyes at her sister as she climbed into bed and pulled the duvet over herself.

"I know you are Nyx." The mother said as she scooped her other daughter up in her arms and began tickling her. "But only by five minutes, which I don't think qualifies you for a later bed time than your sister." She placed Nyx down on her bed.

Nyx sighed as her eyes turned a pale red colour before getting under her duvet and laying her head on her pillow.

The mother placed the book back on the small wooden book case in the far corner of the room before walking towards the door.

"Goodnight Vivian, goodnight Nyx. Sweet dreams."

She flicked the light off and left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

"Vivian?"

I groaned slightly.

"Vivian!"

I opened my eyes and looked up at the concerned face staring down at me.

"Are you ok?" Nyx's voice was laced with concern and her compelling eyes a dark purple.

I sat up as I rubbed my head. "Yeah I'm fine. What happened?"

"I think you fainted. As soon as I said we were sisters you stood up and started pacing then all of a sudden you were on the ground. I guess you were really overwhelmed and couldn't take it in."

I nodded as I tried to stand up. She reached out her hand to me and I gratefully took it. I looked down at the dress I was wearing, worried I had got it dirty from being on the ground. It had several crisp brown leaves stuck to the back of the skirt which rustled as I brushed them off. I was extremely relieved that there was no dirt or mud on it.

I wobbled slightly as I tried to walk and had to grab onto a nearby tree to steady myself. "You know, I had a dream, or I guess a flashback while I was unconscious."

Nyx looked over at me curiously. "What happened in the flashback?"

"It was us, when we were kids."