I pulled one of them away. Dust flew, stinging my eyes like needles. I blinked and teared, until the pain wore off. I looked up. It was a mirror, in a rectangular frame. Carved intricately into the wooden frame were complicated floral designs. I continued to pull at the many white sheets. Behind all of them, was the same, identical type of mirror. Mirrors...mirrors all over the wall, covering almost the whole wall. The black moth rested on a mirror. I looked into it, and watched my own reflection...it seemed desolate and lost in the mansion. The black moth fluttered from the mirror, and out of the room. I followed it, like a lost duckling following its mother. Where would it lead me this time?
It led me past other rooms, one a kitchen, one locked, one which stored firewood, which was surprisingly dry and suitable for burning. Then it came to a stairway. The woman's melody was calling me again.
I walked up the stairway, it's wooden steps creaking, threatening to give way. As I walked up the gallery, I continued to uncover mirrors. I finally came to a hallway. I pulled the last white sheet, expecting it to be yet another mirror. Now this was odd. It was a photo. It must have been significant in some way... In it, the woman was sitting, beaming from ear to ear,with a few creases on her face....next to her stood a young man. Too young to be her husband...perhaps the child she was expecting?
At the corner of the picture, the moth rested, batting it's wings for a while, before spreading them out and coming to a rest. I heard the woman's melody once more, this time it came from one of the rooms of the second floor. As I walked down the hall of the second floor, I tried every door, only to find them locked. The only door left, was the last one, at the end of the hallway.
My hand gripped the cold door knob, and the door gave way so easily, it was like pushing air. I came to a bedroom, the bed neatly made, and next to a warped window, was a crib. There was no lighting, so the whole room was dim, shrouded in faint shadows. The only source of light was the broken glass window, from which sunlight filtered through, revealing dancing dust particles in the air. In front of the bed, hung on the wall, was a white cloth.
My fingers felt the soft, dusty cloth. There was a chill in the room that sent even my heart shivering. I hesitated. Inhaling deeply, I shut my eyes, and pulled the cloth away. I opened my eyes...
...and looked into the mirror.
Behind me, or so I thought, the woman in the orange dress sat on the bed,her hands covering her face. I could hear her sobbing.
I turned around. The black moth rested on the bed, but there was no other living being there. The dust that settled on the bed, untouched, was a further indication. Then I heard wailing.
Looking back into the mirror, I noticed a baby in the crib.
The woman looked up, and stared blankly, her eyes overflowing with tears.
"SHUT UP!SHUT UP!JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!"she screamed as she covered her ears. Then, in what seemed like frustration, she stood up, forcefully opened the window, grabbed the baby and sat it on the window sill. I could tell that she was on the verge of pushing it off...ending its life. One simple push...and like a china doll it would shatter into pieces.
She relented. She picked the baby up tenderly, and began to cry once more. Cradling it, she whimpered," my baby...how could I ever hurt you... ...but of all babies..why my own? My darling Lynette...you were supposed to be the fairest...the fairest of them all.." In her eyes, was outright disappointment. I could see it so clearly that for a moment, I was thankful the baby would not be able to remember the look her own mother had. It was a look that would dishearten even the most convicted soul.
As she carried the child, I noticed that one of the child's feet was twisted internally, like a club.
The mother and child slowly disappeared into the sunlight that filtered though the glass window, and from a hole in the broken glass, the black moth flitted out the room.
As it flew out, I heard the sound of splashing water. The fountain? I rushed to the window. The garden had come to life again.
The constant switch between the dream-like world and reality was confusing me. Not to mention the visions in the mirrors. Could it be that spirits were trying to show me something? The history of the house, maybe? One could only guess.
A girlish giggle broke my train of thought. I looked out the window, and I spotted a young girl, with hair like her mother, in an emerald green dress that could compete with the green leaves in the beautiful garden. On her back, was a small bag, that seemed to be hand-sewn.
"Bye, mommy! I'll leave for school now!"
"Wait darling, come back here." The woman said, with some anxiety with her voice.
The obedient child limped back, one of her legs twisted internally at the ankle.
"Now, remember, don't you EVER let anyone know you are my child. No one, absolutely NOBODY must ever know!" she warned.
"But why, mommy?" her daughter was clearly confused.
"Do as you're told, Lynette." The woman reinforced sternly.
The child was silent, and she walked away, vanishing into the distance. Gradually, the garden turned back to normal. Whatever I needed to see had ended, and I no longer spotted the black moth.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and I wandered around the house, exploring the rooms. I inspected the three locked doors in the hallway. Two of the doors looked ordinary, one of them had an L, crudely carved under the door knob, as though it were a child's work. The door had a security lock that ensured that the door could not be opened even when the door lock was unlocked. A separate key was needed to unlock the door known, such that one could actually turn it.
I also found a basement, but I was too afraid to explore it as it was too dark...
Soon, night fell.
The day had been warm, but the night was colder than I expected. It was lucky I had a fire going. I was alone, in the night. I was beginning to miss my friends, Red, Blue and Yellow. Where were they? Suddenly, a strong gust of cold wind blew in through the broken glass window, putting out the fire and sending shivers down my bones.
Suddenly, moonlight became my only friend. It shone it's soft spotlight on the mirror opposite the window. A silhouette fluttered in the dark. The moth? I looked into the mirror.
Seeming to look right back at me, from outside the window, was a sickly, green creature. Behind it, snowflakes whipped around the air furiously. It was winter. It's face had wrinkles like crumpled paper. It's hair was short and in small white tufts. It's skin was comparable to a frog's, olive green in color. The creature was probably even uglier than a toad .
I looked back at the window just to make sure nothing was actually there.
The creature, probably a troll of some sort, groped about in the pocket of his rags, producing a small pink vial. It smiled to itself, and gulped it down, some of it dribbling down his chin. Then, the strangest thing happened. It's complexion became whiter, fairer. It's hair grew longer, and covered its head. Before my eyes, the troll became an old woman.
"Rat tat tat, rat tat tat" It's bony "human" fingers rapped at the glass.
" Who is it?" I heard the woman cry as she rushed down the creaky steps of the stairway.
"Oh dear!"She opened the window hurriedly. There was a woollen, knitted scarf around her neck, and I noticed a bump on her stomach. She was pregnant again, was she carrying the young man in the photo? "What are you doing?! It's a snow storm out there! Come on in!"
"Oh no, it's alright dearie. I just wanted to borrow some firewood...an old woman like me couldn't gather enough for the winter...say...aren't you young Lynette's mother? She described you well in the marketplace, in front of everybody...a beautiful young.."
The "old woman" couldn't finish "her" tale, as the window was slammed in her face. The woman was livid.
"That stupid, STUPID girl! I knew I should have KILLED her when she was young. She's disgraced me! How can I face the others in society!? I've been humiliated! Disgraced!" She stormed off, and as she disappeared from the mirror, the troll laughed itself, turning back to walk away, slowly turning back to its original form.
Who was the troll? Why did it do something like that? What magic was at play here?
There were so many questions on my mind, and so few answers...making each and every question more burning..
But there were more important things to think about for now...yes, much more important things...
..for I soon heard screaming from the second floor.
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