Hi I know I’ve been gone for a while. I just thought I’d post this short story that I’ve written. It is a dark story in the vein of old-school Brother’s Grimm. I hope you like it and thank you for your time.
Susan is a perfect student. She is loved by all of her peers and her teachers alike. Her test scores are always high and her spare time is filled with extra-curricular. Everyone agrees that she has a bright future ahead of her. Her grades predict that she will be attending a well-respected university on her own merit and from there the world will be her oyster. There is only one problem. She is deeply unhappy with her life. She understands that she needs to put her best foot forward to do well in life. However, she feels that this is not her life. She is a puppet for her father’s unfilled dreams. She remembers when her school let them pick their subjects for the following year. She wanted to study Art and Photography. Susan always preferred the more creative classes as she felt that she could express herself. Her father, however, ignored her and told her that studying subjects like Maths, English, and Science will give her a better chance to attend Harvard. She knew he was right but she did not want to attend Harvard. The university never appealed to her, but her father had the final word and now she is top of her Maths and English class and is on track to Harvard.
The day had been long and Susan was tired of staring at Maths equations. Every time she closed her eyes she could see the Pythagoras theorem carved into the back of her eyelids. Her mother had prepared Lasagne for tea with a garlic bread on the side. She hated Italian food, it always left her feeling bloated. The bread smell filled her nostrils and her stomach moaned. If she didn’t eat it her dad would be upset about wasting food. The food budget was always tight and her dad blamed that on the fact he did not attend university and progress to a higher paid job. He had always wanted to be a lawyer, he had hoped that he could practice in corporate law helping one company absorb a smaller company, incorporating their assets.
Susan knew he secretly blamed her for the fact that he didn’t go to university. When her parents were receiving their final grades, her mother had taken her own test and not told him. She was pregnant with Susan. Her father, David was thrilled at first, he had always wanted children but his wish had come sooner than he thought. He promised that he would stay and help Linda, her mother, to raise Susan. He did not want to abandon his future wife and child as his father had. Susan could often see him contemplate the road less traveled. Now he has worked his way to an assistant manager role at their local convenience store. He was well respected by his colleagues but he resented the job believing that he could do better.
Her mother, Lilian, had taken on the maternal roles of raising Susan while her husband worked. She was content with her life, unlike her husband, taking pride in her daughter. As Susan grew older and began school she took on part-time work in their local bakery. It had unlocked a passion in her as she loved the smell of fresh bread and the sweet taste of fresh cakes. This passion made her a bright light to her husband’s dark internal resentment.
They ate their meal with little conversation. Susan did not want to draw her father’s attention to avoid the usual interrogation about her school work. He was trying to instill a competitive nature in her but it just pushed further into her own misery. She quickly finished her food and excused herself and returned to her room.
“Don’t start anything too time-consuming, you have Karate practice in an hour.” Her father called after her with an authoritative tone.
“I promise I won’t, I’m just going to brush my hair.”
“Again? You do that every night?”
“I’ll be quick.” She quickly retreated to her room and planted herself on the foot of her bed in front of her mirror.
Susan knew every inch of her mirror. The chips in the white paint, the small splinters in the edges of the frame. It was an old mirror but she loved it regardless. Every day she would ritualistically clean the reflective surface with Stardrops window and glass cleaner. The blue liquid cut through any grime that might appear, not that she gave it a chance. She spent every spare moment in front of it. She was not a vain person but it allowed her to look into herself and escape the world.
She could not help but rush her hair in front of it. As she would brush her hair it was as if she was brushing away the pressures of everyday life. She was free. Her worries and lack of control melted away as she would try different hairstyles. Sometimes three different styles a day. Normally she would be left alone only breaking her independence when she was summoned by her father or mother to attend another charity role or work experience.
Today was different. Today her father wanted to talk to her.
David walked into her room unannounced. It was nothing new but normally she heard him coming and could put her shoes on ready. Today she felt exposed with her brush in one hand and several strands of hair in the other.
“Why are you wasting time?” he asked in an accusatory tone.
“I thought we have spare time before karate practice?” Susan knew it was a weak answer but she could not think of anything else.
“You know it takes thirty minutes to get to the gym.” He was getting irritated now. “Besides, you’re going to tighten it up for practice. You could use that time to revise for your next exam.”
“I just thought…”
“You didn’t think though. You have every opportunity available and you want to waste time staring at yourself in a mirror.” He yelled.
Susan was speechless. David had always been tough on her to pusher her harder, but he had never yelled at her. Each word was another slash at her character. She just stared in disbelieve and this only angered him further.
“What?! You don’t have anything to say for yourself? Good. Next time I come up here I was to see you in your Gi ready to go to practice.” She just nodded at his orders.
David could not think of another word to say. He frustratedly stormed out of the room and slammed Susan’s door as he left.
Susan just stared at the door still trying to take in what happened. Then she heard it. A crash of glass and splintering wood. She turned to see the shattered glass spread across her room. Small pieces had cut her bare ankle. The cut was so small she barely noticed it. She was mesmerized by the broken glass. It reflected her broken spirit in every shard. Her sight began to blur as tears welled up in her eyes. She held them back but the sight of her parents bursting into her room to ask what happened broke her.
A few days had passed since her mirror fell off the wall. The pieces had been cleared away quickly and her mother saw to her bloody ankle. It did not need stitches and her parents were grateful for that. Susan did not care. Without her mirror, she has slowly sunk deeper into herself with not release from the pressure. It was all building up on top of her. Everyone noticed, even her father. He had apologized for losing his temper, only after her mother had shouted at him and put him in his place. It did not help. Not until he picked her up from school.
“Hey, kiddo.”
“Hey” her voice was hollow.
Susan sat in the passenger seat of her father’s beaten up hatchback. It was like the family dog. Everyone loved it and it was always there for the family. It was there during Susan’s birth and her first day of school. It took them on their family road trips and carried both parents to work. It was a safe place for Susan. Now it felt like a prison bus taking her from one cell to another.
“How was school today?” her father always struggled to make small talk, he thought it was a waste of time, it seemed like he was in agony today.
“Good,” she thought. “Nothing new. Mr. Armstrong was talking about reflection and refraction. The light prism was pretty cool.”
“That really cool. Anything else?”
Susan knew something was wrong. David always asked how school was but he would ask with more intensity. Looking for more detail to make sure Susan had understood the lessons.
“Dad.”
“Yes, honey?”
“What’s wrong you’re acting weird.”
He let out a nervous sigh. He knew he had been caught out by his daughter. Susan bet he wished that she wasn’t as smart right now.
“I just want you to know I’m sorry about your mirror. I didn’t mean to break it.”
There it was. He was sorry, was he joking? He has no idea how much it meant to her. It was the one thing to escape the pressure, and he took it away.
Susan did not believe his apology. Her father was not known for apologizing. Not until that day. She will always remember that apology and how it ruined everything.
It took a moment before Susan noticed that they were not driving home. “Where are we?”
“I’m going to make it up to you.”
The car pulled up outside of an antique shop with lots of different knick knacks displayed in the store window. A sense of confusion and excitement welled up inside of her stomach as if butterflies were trying to escape. Susan joyed repurposing older items. It lent into her more creative side that she would have to suppress. Did her father actually know something about her? Or had her mother told him about the store as a way to bend bridges between then two of them? Regardless Susan was speechless.
“I was thinking we could find you a nice mirror to bring your room together. We could even touch up the paint if need be.”
They entered the store with a bell announcing their presence. An elderly woman in her mid-sixties is stood behind the wooden counter with an old-fashioned metal till in front of her.
“Hello, how can I help you today?” Her voice was sweet and tender. It warmed Susan, helping to lift her spirits.
“We were hoping to you might have a mirror,” Her father replied while inspecting the dust that had built up in the corner of the room.
“I have a few in the back if you’d like to look.”
“Go have a look, Susan, I’ll stay here.”
She needed no further prompting. Susan slipped into the back and began inspecting the woman’s stock before reaching the mirrors. The room was filled with many old and bizarre items, with everything from a 1920’s camera with a cracked lens to pot lizard standing on its hind legs, the paint had faded even though it looks like the statue hadn’t seen sunlight in years.
At the end of the room stood four different mirrors stood side by side. The first had a small crack in the frame. Susan could not help but picture the frame snapping him half as they tried to leave the store with it. The second was smaller than her original mirror and was an oversized makeup mirror. The third mirror held promise. It was slightly bigger than her original mirror with a thick wooden frame, it was unpainted but that would just give her the opportunity to play with the frame. Finally, the fourth mirror had a floral patterned white frame, it was slightly smaller than her broken frame. It was closest to her original frame but there was a weird feeling deep in her stomach that pulled her attention away from them and to a draped figure on the other side of the room.
As she stepped closer she could see a large dust-covered cloth draped over a large looming silhouette. Closer inspection revealed a wooden stand below the cloth. Curious Susan pulled the cloth away revealing a large freestanding mirror with an intricately designed crown adorned the top of the frame. The wooden frame was a coral colour with delicate floral designs in each corner. It stood feet high with the width of a door. It was perfect.
Susan began to turn to find her father before she catches a figure in the corner of the mirror. She stared into her reflection for a few minutes and nothing happened. She decided it was her mind playing a trick on her and left it to retrieve her father.
Moments later David was pulling the freestanding mirror up to the counter. “How much for this mirror?”
The room felt a cold chill as a look of horror crept across the elderly woman’s face. “Where did you find that?”
“It was in the back of the room under a cloth, so does fifty dollars cover it?”
“Are you sure you want this mirror?” her voice held a hint of fear.
David was beginning to get irritated, “Of course we want this mirror. How much?”
“Fifty is fine, please take it.”
Susan and her father share a look before he paid the woman. They left the store as quickly as possible and Susan could have sworn she heard the door lock behind them but she paid no attention to it. They drove home with excitement building up in Susan. She could not wait to place it in her room and return to her own space to unwind.
They arrived home and between the two of them, the managed to carry it up the stairs and place it in the corner of her room facing the door. “Thank you.”
Her father looked sheepish, it was a strange look on him. “You’re welcome, sweetheart. I hope it makes you feel better.” He gives her a sweet smile before walking to the door. “Dinner will be ready soon don’t take too long.”
“I won’t I promise.” Her father left the room and Susan ran over to her mirror and began brushing her hair.
The stress began to seep away, but it was slowly replaced by unease. As she looked at herself in the mirror her reflection began to smile a twisted smile. “It must be a trick of the light.”
“There is no trick here.” An echoey voice emanated from the mirror. Susan looked around the room and nothing was any different from that morning. She looked back and her reflection was waving back at her before it placed its hand against the glass.
Susan was completely creeped out but still felt a compulsion to match up to her reflection. She placed her hand on the glass and she began to feel cold. All heat had left the room, the unease in her stomach grew stronger.
The reflection pulled its hand away and its smile grew wider. “Thank you.”
Her unease turned to dread. Her reflection was talking to her. Something was wrong. A distant voice called to her. “Susan. Dinner’s ready.”
She heard her own voice but she didn’t say anything. “I’ll be down in a minute.” It was her reflection.
“What…”
The reflection stood up and walked towards the door before turning back to the mirror. “You should have appreciated what you had. Now it’s my turn.”
The door closed slowly leaving Susan in isolation. She began banging on the glass screaming for help and her parents. The cold crept over her and the realization dawned on her. She was trapped and no one will ever notice.
Thank you for reading!
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