An old mirror and the secrets it keeps
Edward is running. In fact, he is running faster than he has ever run in his life. His fear pushes him onward. Where is it? In his panicked state of mind he misses the small hidden path. He is actually several yards past it, when he sees his own footprints in the sand. Relief floods his system and he turns and doubles back.
As he frantically searches for the path back in, he keeps an ear open for the thing. He feels almost certain that he outran it. But he didn’t dare turn around to see. In fact, if he could find his way back, he was never going through the opening behind the mirror, again. And as he frantically searches for the opening in the underbrush, he feels his panic increase. What if he couldn’t find the way back?
An Old Mirror
And now, to make matters worse, he hears something in the underbrush behind him. Therefore, he falls to his hands and knees, and begins digging through the underbrush in earnest. Likewise, small sounds of desperation escape him as the thing chasing him, gets closer. There’s a strange mewling sound behind him, as he scrambles around in the dense vegetation.
He knows it’s too late, and the thing has found him. The fear has become white hot in his veins, and he is about to scream, when a small hand appears from the underbrush. It latches onto his wrist and yanks him forward.
Five seconds later Edward is back in his closet, and his sister Bethany is looking at him with a very amused expression on her face. Edward feels so relieved to be safe, he doesn’t even care if Bethany has found out about his secret. He turns around to see if anything followed him thought the gap in the wall, but the opening is gone. There is only a wall behind the mirror now.
An Old Mirror and the Secrets it Keeps
Bethany is looking at Edward with intense scrutiny. She is the next oldest from him. He is the youngest of the family. Lisa is their older sister, and Edward is very glad she didn’t find him scrambling around in that underbrush. He would have been in deep trouble then. Furthermore, he would have been teased about it for the rest of his life.
With this in mind, Edward is ready for the third degree. He is disappointed that his secret is no longer a secret. However, he is also glad to be away from the thing that chased him. He can still hear its eagerness and mewling, and the hungry way it pursued him.
And then he remembers what he found. He checks to see if it’s still in his pocket. It is. He decides to keep this secret to himself. Besides, the opening behind the mirror is no longer there. He meets Bethany’s gaze, with what he hopes is an innocent look. Five seconds later, the thing in his pocket, crawls out. Edward scrambles away from it, and then he and Bethany run for their lives.
Thank you for reading! Like, follow and share The Frog Journal on X @1finja1 – and on The Frog Journal Facebook page click here. Subscribe to the free newsletter to stay up to date on new content and updates.
All original stories. Download in seconds, new titles weekly. The Frog Journal e-book shorts.
An Old Mirror