Families are a pain - Chelsey

Families are a pain - Chelsey

Families are a pain, even if you are the chosen one. My mother says that after that last stunt, she will ground me if I ever bring up the prophecy again. People always think the chosen one is a GOOD thing, but they don’t know how to handle it when the chosen one has a path that is the destruction of the town.  Ground me? Like there was anything she could take away from me! I was already locked up tighter than the town bank!

Why are there still prophecies anyway? I mean, except for myself, the most that has been said about anyone at their birth has been that they would be a good shop owner or a good teacher. It doesn’t make sense to ask the oracle for reading at each birth. Had they given up this stupid tradition no one would know anything. We could be free to make our choices.

I feel I should be allowed SOME freedom if I kept my mouth shut but I am not even allowed that. I was born and the oracle died right after my prediction so only mother and father heard it. Mysterious, right? More like murder that can’t be proven.  When asked what the prediction was, I am supposed to say that I will be a wonderful mother. HA! I would have to know what one of those was before I could be one! My mother is hardly someone to admire. She keeps me on a short leash as one would say. I get to go to school, but I must not stay late, I can not go outside to be with the other young, and Gods take my soul if I am caught talking to a boy. It is too dangerous.

I guess it would be in her eyes. I mean, if a messenger from the Gods told you that your daughter’s first love would cause a blinding light that would destroy everything and everyone you love. Things like that will make you try to keep her from making friends. However, it doesn’t give her the right to keep me locked in this house the rest of the day. I only see my room and the kitchen. I am no better than the scullery maids that I hear about. Not that we could ever have one, that would mean someone else in the house that could put ideas in my head.

She is wrong though. The stories and ideas are there. I read the stories. I read the poems. I have heard of Cinder, Punzel, and Snow. All of them were treated badly and the prince of their dreams still came to find them. I don’t know how the prophecy will happen, and I don’t think magic is real, but heck…. I am supposed to ‘Glow and rise into the air, taking our souls to the highest’ someday. I don’t think anyone could do that. The only ‘magic’ around here is Charlie with that stupid trick of removing his thumb that he showed us at school on Tuesday.

I know with the situation that I am in, mother will never let a prince come find me. With the idiots that are around here, I may have to jump the fence and save him! They are all idiots.

Wait…. Jump the fence and go find my prince? Could it be that easy? Have I been this stupid all along? I mean, mother and father have a very strict time for bed, so I know when it would be best to leave and not get caught. The fence isn’t that high. The road can’t be that long to the next town as father travels back and forth each day. Is getting away and finding myself something that is real? Can I dream that far? I don’t know, but I do know that I have to try. Staying here will only kill me.

However, will it kill those around me if I do fall in love? Is it all worth it for me to be free? Wouldn’t it be better for the world for me to stay hidden away? I am nothing special. Nothing worth fighting for. Nothing worth even looking at if I were to be honest. I just…. I know there has to be more than this house and my tiny room!

The only thing special about the girls I have read about was their looks. Cinder was beautiful even with the ash. Snow was prettier than any girl in the land even in her torn and worn robes. At least they had that. What did I have? Straight brown hair. Brown eyes. And some chub around all the places I didn’t want it. It was nothing to look at to myself.

“Nothing to look at? Then you are looking in the wrong mirror” a voice rang in my ears.

Screaming like there was no tomorrow. (cause I wasn’t sure there was) I dove behind the bed and grabbed the biggest book I owned. If nothing else the voice would get one heck of a bonk on the head! How did someone get in here? Mother will NEVER allow it! I am gonna be killed if not by whoever has made it into my room, but by my parents because this is NOT something that they will ever want to happen!

I slowly lifted my head over the edge of the bed, book at the ready like I had some kind of strength. I looked around the room, but the only things I could see, were there before. There was no one there. Not a soul.

“Ummm…. Hello?” I asked. Barely a whisper above the cover of my bed.

“It’s alright dear, I’ve no plans to hurt you.” Came the voice again. This time, more clearly, and seeming to come from the corner of the room. Which, could not be as the only thing there is…. My mirror? No. There is no way that a mirror could be talking to me. I am not going crazy and I am no evil queen.

“Are you…. In the mirror?” As I walked across the room, looking around the mirror as much as possible, not knowing what I would find, a face started to form. One that seemed familiar, but I was sure I had never seen it before. His wispy hair fell across his forehead in an unfelt breeze. His eyes held mine unwaveringly. The blue color caught me off-guard as it brought back memories of summertime skies. He wasn’t super tall, but he did seem taller than me. His smile was sweet and playful as I looked upon him through the glass. He wasn’t muscle-bound, but he looked far from weak. His build shows that while he enjoyed some comforts in life, he wasn’t afraid of a day’s work. His nose was straight and true, unbroken, unlike the boys at school who had been through too many schoolyard fights. It gave him a noble look. One that showed intelligence and I had to admit that even in my scared state, I could tell he was a beefcake.

“Oh, darling. I have always been here. You have just never had the will to be able to see me.” Said the man in the mirror. “I know what you are thinking. It is one of the things that makes this mirror special. I can hear your thoughts. To say you are nothing to look at, well, that’s a lie.”

How could I be standing here, talking to a mirror with a man inside? This isn’t real. It just can’t be…. Can it? While this is all very odd, there was a warmth to his voice, trust in his eyes, and he just made me feel like he cared, with just a few words he had spoken.

“My dear.” He began again. “Let me tell you what I see since you can’t see it for yourself. I shall start with your hair. It is not straight. It has a slight wave that reminds one of the seas on a calm day. With a color that shimmers from nutmeg to obsidian depending on the light. You have a body that would keep a man warm in the winter when he curls up around you to hold you like the delicate flower that you are. The curves would fit in all the right places like a puzzle piece that was meant to be. Soft in places where it should be and firm in the rest. You are just tall enough that a man could hold you in his arms and lay his head upon yours as you sway in the cooling breeze of summer, enjoying the oncoming night. Your eyes are marvelous to behold. So dark. One could get lost in the deep depths of your endless onyx eyes.”

As he spoke, he drew ever nearer until we stood almost touching save for the cold glass of the mirror that separated us. His words were so strong that I could almost feel his breath as he spoke. Who could this man be and why did he describe me in such a way? How long had he been watching me through the mirror? Oh, Gods…. What had he SEEN while looking through at me?

Embarrassment overtook my thoughts, and I hid my face as I spun around away from the description unlike any I had ever heard. Not only had he said these things to me, but he had SEEN me! I had undressed in this room! I slept here. I lived ninety percent of my life in this room. I had no secrets from a mystical man in the mirror who I didn’t even know his name.

“My darling, please, don’t turn away from me. I can stand it no longer. I am here to take you away. I don’t have much, but we will have love. We will be together. We wi-“

“STOP!” I cut him off. “There are some things you need to understand BUCKO. First, I don’t KNOW you. So why do you think I would just up and leave with you? Do you think I am crazy? I may want out of here but on MY terms! I am not a princess. I know that. I am not for you to whisk away like a doll! If I am going anywhere it is over the fence and off on an adventure to find ME before I blow up the world when I fall in love. I am SURE that is what you want from a wife isn’t it? Someone who will kill everyone around you?” Ok, so I may be getting worked up and rambling. The point still stands right? “I am not a prize to be won!” Oh no… I am as bad as my aunt… now I am quoting fairytale lines! I need to shut up I am sure of it.

“Fine. You don’t want to come with me. I shall come with you. Where are we going? What is the plan?” Said the man who is avoiding the name issue.

“HA! Like I would carry around a mirror while I take off. You would only be in the way. Not happening. Or can you like…. Jump in a hand mirror or something?” I was actually genuinely curious about that, how many mirrors does he visit? Am I one of a hundred girls that he watches? I don’t need a sicko like that!

“You see, I can’t go into any other mirror. When I was born, the oracle gave my parents a mirror and told them it would allow me to be with my soul mate. That I would love her from afar until the time was right and that together, we would change the world. I have only ever seen you. From the moment the mirror cleared to show me this room, there has been no other sight in it.” The man said, almost bashful. Is it possible for a mystical mirror man to get embarrassed by his confession?

“That can’t be. For I was told that when I fell in love, I would rise in the air and I would glow like the stars. The world beneath me would no longer exist. I can’t change the world by falling in love with you. I would just destroy it.” Sad that I was confessing it to someone, I broke inside. I was never to love. I couldn’t. I didn’t love my parents, but no one deserved to die just because I was lonely.

“Oh, my love. I promise, together, there will be no death. Just trust in me. Please” He knelt in the mirror and as I broke inside, I mirrored his actions. As I began to weep into my hands, I fell forward to the glass. The hard surface reminded me that life was hard and unfair. No one would comfort me in my room. The man in the glass could only be in my mind, I was sure. It was just my hopes and dreams manifesting to teach me that I was dealt the crud hand in life that meant that I would grow old alone and stuck in my room. There was no other choice.

“We will find a way” He whispered. His voice gave comfort that his arms could not.

“No, I am not worth that. I am nothing but a problem. This is as it should be. I will keep everyone safe by staying where I am. Just……. Don’t leave me yet. Stay here. I just…. I need to hear a voice.” I was so lost in my tears that the words just spilled forward like a fountain. Nothing would stop them, I was sure.

Warmth. There was warmth on my shoulder. There was weight there as well. Shocked, I spun only to find the mirror man now kneeling beside me, his hand on my shoulder. Tears brimming in his eyes. His hand was placed softly as to give me comfort without pushing any boundary that may still be in place.

“How…… How did you?” I was lost. How did he get out of the mirror? How was he here? Where was the book? I may still need to defend myself! Shoot! Now mother and father really will kill me! As my mind raced faster than even I could keep up with, he leaned forward until we were nose to nose.

“Love will bring us together. If you will have me, we will be together forever, at your pace. This whole thing is in your hands. Your choice. My love is yours to take.” His voice slid over my ears like velvet. So sweet and soft. I had never felt so much pure joy as when he spoke.

“I don’t even know your name,” I said. For the first time voicing that I actually had no clue as to who this was nose to nose with me, staring straight into my soul and capturing my heart. “Please, I need to know.”

“Is it that important that you know my name? Maybe we could make it a guessing game and see how long it takes you to figure it out!” He said with a grin and a sly wink. Oh, great. He had a ‘silly’ side. How could he switch from being so sweet to absolutely annoyingly silly like he flipped a switch? I giggled despite myself. “Good. You do remember how to laugh. I love that sound.”

Despite everything. The threat of death for love. The threat of death if my parents found him here. The threat of being labeled a hussy for having a man in my room and not even knowing his name…. I tipped my head forward and our lips matched up. A warmth grew around us as we kissed. I don’t know if it is supposed to feel that way when you kiss, but I like it. As his had wrapped around and settled in the hollow of my back, I let myself have this one enjoyment. This one kiss. This one moment. This warmth. This….. glowing.

Wait…. Glowing? The light was growing bright and it made me pull away from my mirror man. He smiled at me and we locked eyes. “What…. What is happening?” I began to feel frantic. “We are gonna die! I need to run, let me go!” As I yelled to him, his smile only grew. “Let me go! Are you evil? I don’t want to kill these people you have to let me go! I don’t want you or anyone else to die! Please!” As I pushed him away, his grip only got tighter.

“My dear,” He laughed as he spoke, “You will kill no one. We are soul mates. However, I can not stay here on Earth. We must go to Mount Olympus, for that is where the Gods live, even us minor ones. You must change to go there. Your light that has been hidden away for too long must break free. The light will be bright, and the light will scare those around, but all will be safe and live to see another day. Join me, my Goddess. Please.”