The Girl in The Mirror

Mabel woke to the sound of ‘brownie’, her 3-month-old pup, licking her face and wagging his short tail. She carried him and got out of bed. After stretching her stiffened body, she performed her morning exercise. After the exercise, she opened her window and watched as the flakes of snow fell from the skies. It was a sight to behold, with the tall trees, covered in snow and the surroundings all covered in snow; winter had come early.

Mabel patted brownie on the head and went to the bathroom. In a few, she was ready to go to work, getting her things set and with a final look into her mirror, she walked out of her bedroom and bid her father Goodbye. As she walked out, she caught a whiff of what the news reporter was saying on the TV her father was watching. There had been reports of two young girls missing in the district and there had been no clues as to where they might be. “Stay safe out there Mae” her father cautioned as she walked out hurriedly. “I will. Have a great day Dad.” She called out as she rushed towards the bus stop.

The road was narrow, the snow had covered both sides of the road. Mabel noticed how empty the road was and started walking hoping she would be able to hitch a ride from a stranger. She walked on and on through the thick breeze and the shivering cold. As she reached a corner, beside the road were the woods, she walked quietly beside and hailed speeding cars, none of which stopped.

As she reached halfway across the wood-line. She heard a loud scream, she paused. Mabel knew she was already running late and she ought to be on her way, but her inquisitive mind was alert, urging her to find out what was going on. She should have gone to find help, but no, she entered the woods with nothing but her curious mind and swift legs.

She heard the screams and ran in the direction they were coming from, she tried to call with her phone but it showed no signal. She ran and ran till she stopped at a point. In front of her stood a beautiful mirror with a golden frame alone in the midst of the trees, dangling as if suspended by an invisible thread.

Mabel was shocked, warning bells started ringing in her head. But she was more curious than apprehensive, she inched closer to the mirror and what she saw shocked her even more. In place of her reflection on the mirror, was a snowy path of a place that seemed like the woods with tall trees all around. Mabel pinched herself to see if she was in a dream, she wasn’t. She hugged her bag closer and moved slowly towards the dangling mirror. A tiny voice in her head told her to go back outside and call for backup from the nearest station to report the oddity, but being a police officer herself, her unyielding desire to find out where the scream came from, fueled her curiosity.

She stretched her hand through the mirror, to her astonishment it didn’t come out at the other side nor was there an obtrusion. She looked back once and putting in her head first entered through, as the mirror gave way and allowed her in. Mabel dropped on her knees and stood quickly, she looked back and saw a door. She heard the scream again and ran towards an abandoned house in the midst of the woods inside the mirror. She was scared but curiosity had overcome the fear, she knocked once and waited. The wind blew wildly against the trees, the house was covered in snow and seemed old. There was no answer.

Mabel was a woman of brute strength and worked in the police force as a desk officer, she kicked the door and dashed inside, at one corner of a room in the house, she heard muffled screams. She took hold of her Police baton and ran across the hallway towards the end of the house. She opened the door and was surprised to see the two missing girls tied up, both crying and blue from the cold.

“How did you get here?” Mabel asked in a calming voice and moving slowly towards the girls. She cut loose their rope and pulled a sheet off the bed to wrap around them. ” It was the t- thing. We were on our way h- home and it took us.” One of the girls managed to speak in a shivering voice. ” What thing?” Mabel asked and realized they needed to get out of the house. “The Girl in the Mirror” the other girl whispered. “We need to get out of here as soon as possible. I’m gonna be taking both of you home if you’ll trust me.” Both girls nodded and stood up by pulling Mabel’s hands.

Slowly they walked out of the room and hasten their pace towards the door. As they crossed the sitting room heading towards the house entrance, Mabel thought she noticed a form gazing at her and disappearing down the hallways of the house. It looked like a girl but she couldn’t tell. Hurriedly she pulled both girls and they ran towards the mysterious portal she had arrived from. Silently in her mind, Mabel prayed the mysterious portal was still there. As they reached the point at which she had arrived, they saw the door and ran for it. Mabel let the two girls in first, with a cautious glance she looked back and saw the form again. This time it was a little girl, standing at the house entrance, she was smiling mischievously and, in an instant, disappeared. Mabel ran through the door and came through the mirror in the woods. Together with the missing girls, she ran towards the road, the sun was out and the road was no longer quiet. Mabel stopped a cab and together with the girls headed towards the police station.

The events of the previous day pushed Mabel into stardom. She was promoted from her desk office to a higher rank. She received numerous gifts from the parents of the girls and became the talk of the town. From interviews to press meetings, Mabel was seen as a role model for young girls in the police force.

A Few Days Later…

Mabel got back from work early. The snow had been falling heavily and the Chief had called in sick. With not much work left to do, she left and hitched a ride home. When she reached home, Mabel noticed the wood in the fireplace had been exhausted and the house was starting to get chilly, the heater was on but Mabel wanted to feel the heat of the fireplace. She went to put on her boots and wore a fur coat. She grabbed her dad’s axe and together with Brownie went outside. The cold outside hit her face and she pulled her shawl over her neck to cover her nose. She decided to take a walk down the street. There was a park nearby with short Marlborough trees she could cut wood from. As she entered the park, she noticed how thick the snow had covered the grass, the lake was frozen and the leaves on the trees had but dried up.  

She hadn’t gotten far before she noticed a strange thing, as she walked across the park in the thick snowy grounds, she left no footprints. She looked back towards the park gate and noticed she had left no footprints at all. A cold shiver went through her body, she took two steps ahead and noticed no footprints. As she wanted to run back to get out of the park, she heard someone whisper her name “Mabel”. It was a soft whisper followed with a chuckle. “Who’s there?” she called out. She heard nothing except Brownie barking in the deserted park. She was almost about to turn back before Brownie made a dash for it. She called after her dog and ran after him. She saw him run towards the lake and chased after him, stopping in the middle of the lake as he was barking at something, Mabel looked through the snowy wind and saw it was a Mirror. The same mirror that she had seen in the middle of the woods. She walked softly on the frozen lake and went towards her dog, lifting him up.

She looked into the mirror, the same path that led to the house she had rescued the girls from some days ago. She carried Brownie down and heard her name coming from inside the mirror again. Her warning bells were ringing again, but she ignored them and went through the mirror, head, and hands first.

She stood up and looked around, it was still quite the same as the last time she had entered.  Then she turned back to look at the place she had come from but instead of a door present, the mirror was still there. And standing beside Brownie in the same clothes she was wearing was a clone of her. Mabel couldn’t believe her eyes. The form she was looking at was exactly her, the clone grinned at her and chuckled. Mabel dashed at the mirror but it was gone, disappearing into thin air. She was stuck in an unknown world.

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Written and Published by Govinda Chaddha