Reflections
AJ Mullican
There it was. The mirror that Mummy and Daddy hid in the attic. They’d told Jane she must never play with it, for it was old and heavy and might fall on her. Much too dangerous for a child.
Jane’s nanny had fallen asleep, and Jane had snuck into the attic to find it. Now that it was in front of her, she was almost afraid to touch the dark cloth that was draped over it. How could an old, dusty mirror be dangerous? Surely her parents were more afraid of her hurting the mirror than the mirror hurting her.
After several minutes of debate, Jane reached for the cloth with shaking hands, half expecting the mirror to reach back and grab her. When nothing of the sort happened, she gained confidence and pulled at the cloth with all her strength.
The cloth came free, and Jane stared in awe at the elaborate carvings on the frame. She was so enamored of them that she forgot to look into the mirror itself.
She was not alone in the reflected image in the glass.
Jane whirled around to look but there was no one behind her. She looked back into the mirror and saw him again. A little boy, about her age, dressed in his Sunday best and wielding a large kitchen knife.
Every time she turned back to tell the boy to leave, he was gone. Every time she faced the mirror, he was back.
“Leave me alone,” she said to the mirror, hands planted firmly on her hips. “This is my mum and dad’s house. You need to go away.”
The boy said nothing.
“I’m serious. When my mum and dad get home and I tell them about you, they’ll be really cross.”
In the mirror, the boy seemed to move closer.
Jane trembled with fear. This mirror-boy would not go away. Instead, he inched towards her, knife in hand.
From the open attic door, Jane heard her parents come home.
“Mum! Dad! There’s a strange boy up here!” she yelled down to them. “Come make him go away!”
The mirror-boy smiled. By this time he was so close to Jane that she imagined that she could feel his breath on her neck. She spun around, waving her little arm to try to hit him, but there was no one in the attic with her.
Jane turned back to the mirror just in time to see a thin silver blade tinged with red emerge from the stomach of her reflection. She looked down to discover that her jumper was covered in blood.