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This writing was accepted for publication in the 84 page perfect-bound issue... Down in the Dirt magazine (v078) (the January 2010 Issue) This is also available from our printer as a a $7.47 paperback book (5.5" x 8.5") perfect-bound w/ b&w pages

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A Special Mirror

John Ragusa

    Bert Randall went to a furniture store named Haints and Sons because his neighbor, Roy Seegler, said it had some interesting merchandise. Bert wanted to buy his wife Mandy a present for her birthday, and he figured this was the ideal place to find it.
    He walked into the store and was amazed at the huge stock on display. There was furniture of every conceivable style and size in there. It all looked very expensive.
    A salesman approached him. “Greetings, sir. Do you want some assistance? I can show you the vast array of items we have here.”
    Bert pointed to a dresser drawer. “I like the look of this. How much are you asking for it?”
    “The retail price goes for $12,000.”
    “Wow! That’s too high for me.”
    “Are you shopping for yourself or someone else?”
    “I’m looking for a birthday gift to give to my wife.”
    The salesman showed Bert a baroque little mirror. “This item is a special piece of furniture.”
    “How so?”
    “When a person looks in it, he sees the face of someone he loves.”
    “You’re putting me on!”
    The salesman shook his head. “I’m telling you the truth. The mirror has magical properties.”
    “Gosh, that’s incredible.”
    “You don’t believe me? Then buy it and take it home. You’ll see that it has a supernatural power.”
    “Well, even if it doesn’t, it still would look nice on my bedroom wall.”
    “Sure it would.”
    “Okay, I’ll purchase it on my credit card.”
    After the salesman rang up the sale, Bert drove home with the mirror, convinced that Mandy would like it.

* * *

    When she saw it, Mandy didn’t seem very impressed with it. “It’s a rather strange little mirror, isn’t it?”
    “I thought you’d be more excited about it,” Bert said.
    “I suppose I could get used to it.”
    “I’m sorry that you’re disappointed.”
    “That’s okay, darling. It’s the thought that counts.”
    “Should I get a refund?”
    “No, definitely not. It’ll decorate our bedroom wall. It looked kind of dull with nothing on it.”
    So Mandy hung the mirror on the wall next to their bed.
    Bert didn’t tell her about the mirror’s power because he didn’t think she’d believe him. He thought it was a lot of nonsense himself.

* * *

    The next morning, Bert woke up and looked in the mirror. He was stunned to see Mandy’s face!
    It had to be a trick. He felt the glass to see if a photograph was glued on it, but there was nothing attached to it. Besides, Mandy wasn’t the type to play practical jokes.
    Could it be that the mirror really was magical? He doubted it; he was probably imagining that he saw Mandy’s face.
    The salesman at Haints and Sons must have thought he was gullible when he told him that gibberish about the mirror. Bert had no belief in the occult. He knew that black magic was superstitious bunk. No one can imbue inanimate objects with magic powers; it simply can’t be done. In the past, ignorant people believed in witches because they didn’t know any better. Today, everyone realized that sorcery is twaddle.
    At that moment, Bert’s son Lex entered the bedroom.
    “Good morning, Dad,” he said. “Are we going fishing today?”
    “Yes, we’ll go later, but right now I want you to do something for me.”
    “All right.”
    “Look in this mirror and tell me what you see.”
    Lex looked in the glass. “I see Sam.”
    “You mean Sam, your dog?”
    “Yeah. You know Sam.”
    “Of course I do.”
    “How come I saw Sam in the mirror?”
    “Because a person sees the face of someone he loves when he gazes into this mirror.”
    “Boy, that sounds weird.”
    “I know,” Bert said. “But it’s true.”
    He told Lex to go fetch his fishing pole for later in the day. The boy obeyed him, excited about the afternoon’s activity.
    Two people had seen the faces of loved ones in the mirror, so it had to have a magical power. Bert now believed fully in the existence of black sorcery. He wasn’t skeptical anymore.
    Mandy woke up then. “Hi, honey. How long have you been up?”
    “I’ve been awake for a while.”
    She got out of bed and stood in front of the mirror. Then she let out a gasp.
    “What’s wrong?” Bert asked.
    “I just saw Roy Seegler’s face in the mirror!” Mandy exclaimed.
    Bert did a double take. Come to think of it, hadn’t Mandy flirted with Roy at a neighborhood block party a few weeks back? She certainly had.
    Bert picked up a heavy glass paperweight from an end table. “Sweetheart,” he said, “come here a second. I have a surprise for you.”

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