Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Mirror of No Return ❯ One-Shot

Disclaimer

 

This is my own original work, the characters and the setting in which they placed all belong to me.

 

Author Notes

 

This is a short story that I wrote when I was 14yr old for my creative writing English lesson. My goodness now I feel old, that was ten years ago.

Anyway I hope that you all enjoy my story.

 

Please remember that you are not obligated to review my work, just because you have read it.

 

Although I would greatly appreciate any reviews, be they positive or negative. The only thing I will ask is that any reviews are made as constructive criticisms as they are the best way to help me to develop as a writer.

 

Thank you

Sumisung

 

The Mirror of No Returnby Sumisung

 

It was a hot summer day in June and there was a sense of tranquility in the air. A gentle breeze chanced the few small white and fluffy clouds across the sky, as the sun shone bright and warmed all that's ray touched. On the out skirts of a small and peaceful village a young fair-haired boy with hazel eyes and a scruffy appearance sat on an old stone wall, which surrounded an old neglected and decaying cottage.

 

The small and dainty cottage was the only one which was situated on the out skirts of the village. It sat upon a small hill and looked down upon the village and its inhabitants. It had not been lived in for at least forty years now, not since the strange disappearance of a family who had only been living in the cottage for a few weeks. It was so sudden, one day they were there and the next they were gone, but the strangest thing was that all of their furniture and personal belonging were left behind. The stories tell of a bright blinding white light that engulfed the whole of the cottage, and once the light dissipated the family was gone, no where to be seen. The villagers searched for the family, but they were never found and eventually rumors and stories spread through the village. Tales of old started to be revived by the elders of the village, about a black magic and a curse which befell all those who dared to live in the old cottage. Then over the years like all tales, these stories were told to children of the village as bedtime stories, to try and scare them into behaving and to do as they were told.

 

Alas these bedtime stories do not always have the desired affect. As young Brad got older, he became intrigued by the stories about the cottage, so now at the age of sixteen he started to venture to the out skirts of the village and up the small hill to where the cottage lay. He would just sit on the old wall that surrounded the ageing cottage, never going over it, never venturing into the over grown garden, never daring to enter the cottage it's self.

 

Brad had been sitting there for hours already, just watching, as if waiting for something to happen. Just he was about to get up and turn to head home, a small figure crept up slowly behind him and then suddenly pounced on him whilst calling out.

 

`Got you!'

 

Brad fell backwards off the wall whilst letting out a shriek of fright and surprise before quickly jumping to his feet. As he brushed the dust from himself he turned and glared at the person who had snuck up on him. A young girl stood there laughing so hard at his reaction that she had started to cry.

 

`That wasn't funny, Sue…you know that you shouldn't sneak up on people like that. It's dangerous,' he snapped.

 

`I know, I know but I couldn't resist,' Sue said as she wiped the tears of joy from her eyes.

 

Sue was a dainty girl with long dark hair and green eyes. She was two years younger than Brad but they had been best friend for as long as they could both remember. They shared most of there interests but unlike Brad, Sue had a tendency to break a lot of rules to there up most limits. Brad preferred to bend some rules rather than totally destroy them, but then that was most likely due to the fact that he was the oldest of them both and so he tended to get in the most trouble, even if it was not his fault in the first place. Even though Brad was fascinated with the old cottage Sue could never under stand why he would spend so much time just sitting and staring at it. She would much rather stay at home practicing her tarot card readings or getting up to some sort of mischief.

 

`So what do you want?' Brad finally asked with a sigh.

 

`Well if you must know I came to see what you were doing, alright?' Sue said looking insulted and hurt.

 

`I'm sorry Sue. I didn't mean to hurt your feeling. I guess I wasn't thinking. You know me always speaking before I think.'

 

`It's ok I know that you didn't mean it and any way you shouldn't speak about your self like that,' Sue said smiling brightly. `So, you're still fascinated with this old place, huh? I still don't know what you see in it. It's just an old run down cottage after all.'

 

`Well I think that it's cool that's what,' Brad stated as he sat down on the wall once again and looked at the cottage in wonder.

 

`Well why don't you go in side then?' Sue said with a hint of mischief in her voice.

 

`Inside? I don't go inside because it's so old that it's dangerous,' Brad stated seriously.

 

`Oh I get it. You're scared that something will get you?' Sue said with a note of playful sarcasm in her voice.

 

`Me! Scared! Of that old place! That's a good one Sue,' Brad said laughing.

 

`Oh really…well lets go then,' said Sue as she jumped over the wall.

 

`What! Are you mad?' Brad snapped.

 

`No, not at all. Why you scared?' she taunted.

 

`No I'm not!' he stated.

 

`Well come on then, after all haven't you always wanted to see in side?

 

`Well yes but that's not the point. I'll be the one who will get in trouble if anyone finds out that we have been here you know.'

 

`Oh come one Brad where is your sense of adventure and besides I won't tell if you don't.'

 

`Alright then, let's go,' said Brad whilst sighing in defeat.

 

They carefully made there way though the long grass, nettles and weeds towards the cottage. As they made their way to the door they could see that it was in a reasonable state considering the length of time that it has been neglected. Sue gingerly reached for the door handle, which was covered in thick, rough, deep brown-red coloured rust. She pulled on the handle but found that the door was stuck.

 

`Help me open the door Brad,' said Sue as she lent on the door.

 

Brad sighed as he moved to lean on the door next to Sue. They both pushed hard against the ageing rotting wood and then suddenly with out warning, the door flung open. This caused both Sue and Brad fall on the floor with a thud.

 

`That hurt,' Sue whined as she sat up. `You ok Brad?'

 

`I'll live,' he laughed as he helped Sue to her feet.

 

`Wow would you look at this place,' said Brad as he started to walk around, causing the floorboards to creek and groan in protest.

 

`I'd say this place is still full of old furniture,' Sue said as she picked up an old mantel clock.

 

The room, which Sue was in looked like it was a living room. There was a small coffee table in the center of the room, with a cup and saucer on top. In front of the fireplace there was a circular rug and on the mantel there was a photo frame of a family, also there was a ceramic ornament of a young lady. To the left of the fireplace there was an old black and white television set and to the right of the fireplace there was a rocking chair and opposite the fireplace there was a small sofa. The windows were murky, the curtains were moth-eaten and the whole place was covered in a thick blanket of dust and cobwebs.

 

`Hey Sue come and look at this,' Brad shouted from deep within the cottage.

 

`Where are you?' Sue called back in response as she sat the mantel clock back down and wiped the dust from her hands.

 

`I'm up stairs.'

 

Sue walked up the stairs and look in a couple of rooms until she found where Brad was.

 

`Well what have you found Brad?' she asked once she found him.

 

`Take a look for your self or should I say look at your self,' he said with a small chuckle.

 

`Oh ha, ha Brad I've never heard that one before…Not,' she said with a roll of her eyes.

 

`Sorry I couldn't resist.'

 

`Wow this is amazing! I have never seen a mirror like this before and believe me I've seen a lot of mirrors,' said Sue as she carefully brushed the years of dust from the mirrors surface with her hand.

 

`What do you mean? Oh… I forgot your grandfather restores old and antique mirrors, doesn't he?'

 

`Yes that's right.'

 

`That's cool,' he said as he went to walk out of the room. `Come on Sue lets go and explore some more.'

 

`Hey wait a minute. I think that there's something carved in to the woodwork here.'

 

`What is it?' he asked walking back over to her and the mirror.

 

`I think…yes it is, it's writing,' Sue said in amazement.

 

`Well can you read it?' asked Brad moving in for a closer look.

 

`I'll try but some of it worn away with age.'

 

`Well?'

 

`Ok, ok give me a chance,' said Sue casting a warning glance at Brad.

 

`Sorry.'

 

`Alright then I think this is what is says

 

'Look and you will see

Your reflection looking back at thee

But look even harder

Then you will see'

 

I can't make the rest of it out... it's worn away too much.'

 

`What do you think that it means anyway?' Brad asked whilst scratching his head in puzzlement.

 

`I don't know but from what the last bit said maybe there's something on the mirror it's self,' said Sue as she started to look hard at the mirror. `Help me look Brad.'

 

`Oh, ok then…what are we looking for any way?'

 

`I don't know just look for something that doesn't look right.'

 

`Ok well what about that,' he said as he pointed his discovery out. `I've never seen that on a mirror before.'

 

`Wow! Your right it looks like a pattern of some sort but it's behind the glass. I've never seen anything like this before either. I wonder if Grandpa would know any thing about it.'

 

`Well you can't ask him. We're not meant to e here remember.'

 

`I know, I know.'

 

Sue lent closer so that she could inspect the pattern better. Brad decided to look around the room whilst Sue studied the mirror, as he was losing interest in it. The room that they were in looked like a master bedroom. There was an old four-post bed on the wall opposite the door, a wardrobe and a dressing table to the right of the bed and the mirror was to the left of the bed. Sue touched the glass of the mirror right where the pattern was. There was a sudden bright, blinding white light that filled the room and it seemed to engulf everything. Then the light vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared and all that was in the room was the furniture, the mirror and Brad. Brad had his hand over eyes, as the light was too much for him, and temporarily blinded him. As he slowly regained his sight he looked around him and realized that Sue was no longer in the room.

 

`Sue…Sue where are you?' called Brad.

 

He slowly walked through the old cottage, calling out Sue's name as he searched for her. Brad looked in every place and room but there was no sign of her.

 

`I bet that she just ran home in fright,' he though to him self with a chuckle as he walked out of the creaking cottage. `I better go and see how she is.'

 

Brad started to walk to Sue's house and as he did so his thought wondered onto the light. What had caused it and had it come from. He had never seen any thing like it before, but then he remembered a science program that he had watched with his father about strange phenomena's. Thus he quickly forgot about the light and instead started to think of how he could tease Sue about running away, like a frightened rabbit. When he finally got to Sue's house he noticed that her mother was in the garden pulling up the weeds.

 

`Hi Mrs. H,' he said in his usual polite greeting.

 

`Hello Brad, How are you to day?'

 

`Oh, I'm fine thank you. Is Sue about?'

 

`I haven't seen her but you can go in and check if you like.'

 

`Ok, thank you Mrs. H.'

 

Brad went up to Sue's room as that was where one could usually find her when she was home. He knocked on the door before he opened it, but when the door swung open fully it revealed that there was no one in the room at all. Just as he was just about to leave and close the door to Sue's room, when he noticed that her tarot cards were laid out on the floor.

 

`That's odd Sue never leaves these out,' he said to him self.

 

Even though Brad did not believe in such silly things as fortune telling or other stuff related to that sort of thing, curiosity got the better of him. He wanted to see what Sue had found out about her future, as he would have so much fun teasing her about it later. So as he had no idea of how to read them he went over to her book shelf and found her book on tarot card reading. He knew that the last card in any reading was about the future, as Sue had told him many times before, when she would practice in front of him. So he decided to look for that card in the book and after about ten minutes he had found meaning of the last card in her spread in the book.

 

`At last… so… this is The Tower card and Mars rules it. How can a planet rule a card? This is so stupid! I'll never know why she likes this stuff,' Brad said to himself whilst shaking his head.

 

This is what the book said about The Tower card.

 

'The Tower

Card XVI

Ruled by Mars

This card symbolizes a sudden change and it also symbolizes a journey, someone traveling or separation.'

 

`What does that mean,' thought Brad as he put the book back on the shelf. `Stupid nonsense, as if a card could really predict that future anyway.'

 

Brad headed back down stairs and out into the garden where Sue's mother was still working away but now she was planting some herbs and some miniature fern trees.

 

`Did you find her?' Sue's mother asked smiling.

 

`No I didn't… Hey Mrs. H when Sue gets home, can you ask her to call me.'

 

`Sure, I'll tell her for you.'

 

`Thank you, well bye Mrs. H.'

 

`Good bye Brad.'

 

Brad went home still thinking about the card, it meaning and the strange light. He was not sure but something in the back of his mind was telling him that something was wrong. That he should know something about the light, but for the life of him he could not summon the memories to the surface of his mind. When he got home he sat by the phone in his room whilst trying to remember what it was that he could not, until in the end he fell asleep. In the morning Brad was woken up suddenly by his father who looked rather concerned about something.

 

`Hey wake up. Come on Brad. Wake up.'

 

`All right, all right I'm up,' said Brad groggily as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.

 

`Get dressed and come down stairs,' his father said as he walked out of his son's room.

 

Brad sorted him self out and then went down stairs to the living room where his father and Sue's mother were sitting, waiting for him. Sue's mother looked rather worried about something, as did his father.

 

`Oh… hi Mrs. H how are you this morning? Is Sue with you?' Brad asked looking to the door expectantly.

 

`That's why I'm here Brad. You see Sue didn't come home last night.'

 

`She didn't come home?' he said looking at the two adults before him in disbelief.

 

`I'm afraid not Brad. I wanted to ask if you have seen her or if you might know where she is,' Sue's mother asked whilst trying not to cry.

 

`I'm sorry Mrs. H but I'm afraid that I haven't seen her since midday, yesterday. Sorry.'

 

`That's ok Brad you don't have to be sorry. I'm sure that she'll turn up,' his father said as he placed a hand supporting on Sue's mother's shoulder.

 

`Umm…Hey dad is it ok if I go out? I mean to have a look for Sue, you know check out the places that we usually hang out at. Maybe she fell asleep or something, so that's why she didn't come home.'

 

Looking to Sue's mother for agreement that is was a plausible reason and also a good idea. Brad's father finally looked to him with a slight smile.

 

`Sure but I want you to be back by supper time, at the latest.'

 

`Ok pops, see you later. Umm… bye Mrs. H.'

 

Brad calmly walked out of the house and shut the door behind him. He forced him self to keep calm and act natural even though his mind was racing a mile a minute, right from the moment that he was told Sue had not returned home. The tales of the light had suddenly surfaced in his mind at that time and it was causing him to panic. Also if Sue's tarot reading was coming true then it was not helping to calm his mind and now he was starting to fear the worst. As soon as he was far enough from his house he ran to the old cottage as fast as his legs could carry him. When he got to the cottage, he flew strait up to the bedroom, which had the mirror in it and where the light had appeared. Brad searched the room to look for anything that looked out of place when the mirror caught is attention. Sue had been looking at the mirror the last time he saw her so maybe the light had something to do with it and Sue's disappearance. Brad looked and looked at the mirror for alt least half an hour but he could not work out where the light could have come from. He stood in the bedroom and called out to Sue as loud as he could but there was no answer.

 

`Where are you Sue and why aren't you answering me,' he said to him self.

 

Thoughts of Sue's tarot cards meaning and the strange light raced through Brad mined, as if they were trying to make him go insane.

 

`Sue. Where are you? Sue, answer me,' Brad shouted to the room as the worrying and panic started to set in.

 

`Sue, SUUEEE!'

 

Brads scream echoed through the old cottage as he dropped to his knees. Tears started to fall uncontrollably as he realised that he may have lost his best friend. As he mourned the loss of Sue he failed to see the mirrors surface shimmer and ripple as an image of Sue appeared but vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

 

Where is Sue and is she alright there? Will Brad ever be able to find her and bring her home? Or will they be separated forever? Well that my friends, is another story.

 

Authors Notes

 

Well there you have it my short story from ten years ago.

 

Now some of you may notice a slight similarity to the anime/manga Escaflowne and I would just like to take this moment to say that this was entirely unintentional.

 

At the time that I wrote this story I myself was actually learning how use and read taro cards and so I thought it would be fun to incorporate them into my story in some way. Once I read through all my books and finally came up with a decision to focus on the Tower card. Also at this time in my life I am shamed to say that I had not taken an interest in anime/manga and thus had no knowledge of Escaflowne.

 

It was not until a couple of years later when I happened to actually watch an episode of Escaflowne on the T.V. and Hitomi's taro reading was shown. I have to admit that I laughed so hard that I actually cried because I found it ironic that taro cards were used to predict that Hitomi was gone on a journey and in a way I had done the same. The only difference being that my character's cards were left behind and not taken with her.

 

I guess it just goes to show that no work is entirely original as it had all been done before; the only original thing is the way in which we tell the story.

 

Secondary Disclaimer

 

Even though this is an original story I would just like to say that Escaflowne belongs to its respective creators and owners.

 

 

Wise Words, Phrases for Thoughtor Random Quotes

 

Life is but a dream, but death is reality.