Zoë Hope sat on her new bed, it was not that new. It
had been a month. A month since her parents had died in a car accident.
After this
horrifying incident she had to stay with her aunt. Her aunt was very nice but
after the accident she was acting strange, she didn’t pay much attention to Zoë.
The two of them stayed alone.
“Zoë, come down for dinner.” Her aunt called out.
“Coming!” Zoë replied
As Zoë walked down the steps she remembered how she
used to run down the steps right into the kitchen and give her mom a hug in her
old home.
She sat at the dining table. No one spoke a word. Zoë
wanted to say a lot of things but her aunt had changed so much she was afraid.
It looked like her aunt too wanted to say something. But no, no one spoke.
Zoë lay down on her uncomfortable bed and thought.
‘Why has aunt changed so much? She played and talked to me so much earlier.
Maybe she is upset about something but how do I understand how she is feeling?
I don’t know how I, myself am feeling.’
The next day Zoë went to ‘The Magic Store’ with a
bunch of friends (the summer vacations were going on)
“Zoë! It’s good to see you after so long.” Her friend
Siena said giving Zoë a hug.
All her friends hugged her. Even Catherine, who was
new to the group and did not get along with Zoë,
None of them mentioned her parents. They did not want
to upset her.
“What is that?” Violet asked the old shopkeeper
pointing to an antique mirror.
The mirror was small so you could hold it in your
hand. It was gold and was embedded with jewels.
“This, my dear.” Said the shopkeeper “is a mirror that
will reflect not your face but what you feel.”
Zoë caught her breath and asked “How much?”
“A lot.” Answered the shopkeeper “but I’ll give it to
you for free.”
“Why?” Zoë asked surprised.
“I knew your parents, when they were kids they came
here every week.” As the shopkeeper said this, a tear rolled down his cheek.
Zoë understood in a second that he knew them very well
and took the mirror and said “Thank you very much. They will appreciate your
love.”
Again Zoë lay down on her bed. The mirror in her hand.
She had not dared to look at it yet. But then she thought of her aunt and
looked right into the mirror.
She saw herself standing in a dark room all by
herself.
Zoë put down the mirror on her desk and started
crying. She felt lonely, empty, and no one could help her. She cried a lot but
she soon fell asleep.
In her dream she recapped a scene she had seen when
she had gone out with her friends.
She saw two crows fighting. The one on the left was
beat easily. The one on the right flew up victoriously. The other crows cawed
and flew behind the winner.
The beat up crow struggled to get up. But he managed
to do it. With a lot of difficulty he also managed to fly.
A little while later Zoë woke up.
She knew she had a solution, she picked up the mirror
again and saw the same dark room but, this time there was a little bit of light
coming from a little gap in the door, she was still alone, there was no one,
but her own shadow created by the light.
She knew it; no one could help her but herself.
She walked down the stairs to find her aunt sitting on
the couch, reading a book.
“Aunt Lilly” Zoë called out.
Her aunt looked towards her saying nothing at all.
“Can..can..we talk?” Zoë asked scared.
“Sure, take a seat.” Her aunt sounded relieved.
Zoë sat next to her aunt, opened her mouth to talk but
no words came out.
“I’m sorry.” Her aunt spoke instead.
Zoë just looked up at her and tilted her head.
“I’m sorry be…because.” Her aunt’s words stopped.
“Because you too were depressed over your sisters’
death and were not able to take care of me?” Zoe spoke calmly.
Her aunt just nod her head.
“It’s okay,” Zoë said “I understand.”
They both burst out crying and hugged each other.
They were very happy, every Sunday they went to the
graveyard to meet Zoë’s’ parents and after that they always went somewhere fun
like the movies, a café, the park, the mall. Anywhere they felt like going.
Zoë told her aunt about the mirror, they hid it in the
attic for they never needed it again.
