The Mirror

The broken pieces of glass shined brightly as the rays of powerful sun bounced off it. The sound of waves gently kissing the shore filled the air, while hot sand cooked under the sun. I groaned and blinked opened my eyes. It had been…one? Two days? I couldn’t tell. No one could, these days. I winced as I pulled myself into a sitting position and rubbed my temple as I tried to force myself to remember past events. It had all happened so fast, and it was all because of that stupid mirror.

One Day Ago

“We’re not going to make it! We have to-” I watched in horror as Morgan was cut off mid sentence as a wave flew onboard and rinsed him off the ship. We were trapped, in the middle of a terrible storm, on a small Cog ship. We had been at Sea for a couple weeks now, stopping at small islands and towns for supplies whenever we could. Once in a while, we’d hit a storm, but it always passed over. But not this one. This one was different. The worst part was, we were warned. We were told what was going to happen, but we ignored the warnings. Now because of our arrogance, I was watching the Sea grab my best mates off the ship we all built together. All because of that cursed mirror.

Two Days Ago

John moaned as he bit deeply into the apple. “There it is. The taste of absolute bliss. Do you know anything better than a good apple?”

I smiled, “No John, I don’t. Now c’mon, we got a lot to do. I wanna wrap up and get off this stupid island and back onto the Sea.”

“Ah yes, Valentina, the world’s greatest sailor, exploring the unexplored, the unknown, and ultimately, hates swimming. I’m surprised you want to get back on the Sea so soon. Or you want to drown yourself, as you said you’d rather do than see me naked, which, by the way, you did.” John said with a smirk.

I shot him a dirty look as we turned a corner, which happened to be a dead end, with a dirty, broken down caravan at the end. We turned to leave, until we heard an old, croaking voice calling out: “No no, come, come children. It calls to you.”

I looked over at John. He shrugged and gave me a look that said Why not, so we headed over to the caravan.

The caravan was worn out and was missing two wheels, one in the front and the other at the back. The roof had multiple holes and was caved in at the middle. The staircase, if that’s what it could still be called, was missing all its steps, with only a railing remaining. John hoisted himself up and gave me a hand up.

The putrid stench of rotten meat slapped me in the face as soon as I stepped into the caravan, causing me to gag and swallow vomit. John placed his hand on my shoulder, helping me to maintain my balance. He was used to this kind of smell, as he as an undertaker, ages ago.

Surrounding us was trinkets, items and collectibles of all sorts and kinds from only God knows where. My eyes didn’t know where to focus, and danced around the room, jumping from one shining item to another.

A woman,wrapped in clothes of all sorts of colors from head to toe, sat in a rotten wooden chair in front of us, dragging smoke from a wooden pipe as long as my forearm.

“Travelers. Welcome. Pick anything, I insist. Free of charge of course. Each item comes with its own blessing, or curse. But you only get one thing between the two of you.” She almost whispered.

John chuckled. “Well then, no need to think to much bout that, eh Val?” He grunted as he picked up a golden sword, which was obviously heavier than it looked.

John looked at the woman. “Well? Blessing or curse?”

She didn’t reply. John frowned and mumbled something under his breath I couldn’t hear. I looked around, searching for what to take back and show the others. A broken globe, a silver pocket watch, coins from all over the world. I turned to look at John was seemed to be looking into some sort of sack, when something glistened in the corner of my eye. I took a step closer and found myself looking into a small circular mirror, the size of a palm, which had wooden back and cover. I picked it up. “Hey John, come check this mirror out.”

I couldn’t place my finger on it, but there was something about the mirror. Something that piqued my interest. It was almost as if I could feel it moving in my palm. John didn’t hear me. He was too intrigued by a war hammer. I sighed.

I turned to the woman with the mirror at the same time John whirled around with a spectacle and a big grin. “Blessing eh? This has to be a blessing, it just has to be.”

“You look stupid. This is what we’re taking.” I said as I began to remove the cover of the mirror.

“Noooo! No! Don’t you dare face that mirror at me child!” The woman screeched as she cowered in what seemed to be fear.

I shot a worried look at John, who was now standing beside me. He grabbed the mirror from my hands, flipped open the cover and looked inside. He seemed lost for a couple seconds, and I had to shake him violently before he came to.

“We’ll take it.” He said.

“No! If you could take anything else, then take it! If anything, I would rather you have everything else if you kept that mirror, it will bring you nothing but sorrow and misery!” She screamed, but her voice faded as we walked away.

…

The other crew members loved the mirror upon first sight. We all took turns holding and staring into it, for there was something truly special about it. It as even kept open facing our cots as we slept that night, which was the last for many of us.

The next day was strange. Things were falling apart, breaking and tearing. Something was definitely wrong, but nobody wanted to say it could have been the mirror. We spent the entire day fixing the ship, and when night fell, that’s when all Hell broke loose.

The storm seemed to come from nowhere. One second, clear skies, the next, black clouds crackled with thunder above us. We tried to maneuver our way through, looking to escape, but it seemed endless. The Sea tore apart the ship, as waves came crashing on board, grabbing whoever they could.

I watched in horror as our ship, which we had named “The Beast” was torn apart in minutes. John had put me on his back and tried his best to keep us upright, until the ship hit a giant wave, and we were both thrown off board.

Present Day

I don’t know what happened when I fell of the ship with John. I opened my eyes to find myself on a beach of what seemed to be a tropical island, with the nice scent of oranges and coconuts nearby.

But the strangest thing was, my leg was bleeding. I had been cut from something in my pocket. I dipped hand hand inside to be met by sharp shards of glass. I frowned. I didn’t remember putting the mirror in my pocket. In fact, John had thrown it overboard once the storm had gotten it out of hand.

But there it was. In numerous shattered pieces in my pocket and all over the beach. I thrust my hand deep inside my pocket and removed as much glass as I could, disregarding the fact that it was cutting me deeply.

With the broken glass in my bloody hand, I used all my might and threw it into the Sea. Good riddance. Tears welled up in my eyes, I had lost all my friends, and for what?

Because we didn’t listen.