Into The Mirror
They said to grandpa: “It is fun here.”
Grandkids, visiting one summer.
It was an old colonial house.
Perfect for grandpa & his spouse.
A neat house for teens to explore.
It was still odd though, just like before.
There were no mirrors in the home.
They knew why, yet, they moaned.
“How could such a story be true?”
Grandpa said it was. “We’re not fools.”
One day the kids were exploring the basement.
Tom told his sister to be patient.
“We’ll check out everything here.”
They only saw one thing that was queer.
In the corner was a large steamer trunk.
Buried under a bunch of junk.
They uncovered it and took a look.
It wasn’t locked, only hooked.
They opened it & found old clothes.
They even found shoes with wooden soles.
Down in the bottom they found a mirror.
“There is barely room for it in here.”
Carefully, they lifted the antique out.
Propped it against the wall & looked about.
No one was there. Just the basement.
An antique frame, the mirror was encased in.
They looked into the mirror & got a shock.
They were there, but the basement was not.
They saw what looked like a castle wall.
They couldn’t believe what they saw at all.
Tom touched the mirror itself.
His hand went into the mirror, he felt.
“Becky, did you see that?”
“Yes, your hand went out of sight”
“No, it went right into the mirror.”
“Are you sure? That seems queer.”
“Remember the stories grandpa used to tell?”
“They said the mirrors were a door to hell.”
“Let’s go in & see what really is there.”
They both stepped into, who knows where?
They were in like a storage area in a castle.
They snuck down the hall without hassle.
They heard voices up ahead.
It was coming from a side room instead.
A man, who looked like a wizard.
Was speaking to one who looked like a lizard.
“Egore, the mirror spell is almost completed.”
“I think I have just what I needed.”
“The mirror will be our doorway to the future.”
“I will no longer have angry men after me.”
“No more villagers trying to kill me, see.”
“With my magical powers I will rule the future.”
“No more freeloaders. no more moochers.”
“Only problem, someone from there must
come through first to show they have trust.”
“Then our portal will never be closed.”
He then made an evil laugh through his nose.
“My descendants will pass down the mirror.”
“ 400 years must pass before there is anything to fear.”
Tom & Becky had heard enough.
They hurried back to the mirror in a rush.
They came bursting through.
Then tore upstairs to tell their grandpa too.
He said: “oh oh. I forgot about that mirror.”
“Now, where do we go from here?”
“I have an idea,” grandma said.
She put down her needle and thread.
She got the family Bible & a brass cross.
“We will rebuke this at any cost.”
At the mirror, they held them both in the air.
“God, rebuke this evil from here & everywhere.”
At first nothing changed.
Then, the mirror started smoking, in flames.
The stone walls inside started melting.
They heard a voice from within the hell scream.
“It’s on fire Egore, grab all you can bring.”
“I can’t save the mirror. I can’t get in the room.”
“Run for your life, or we are doomed.”
After awhile, the fire went out.
All was ash and blackened grout.
Then the scene snapped out of sight.
There was only a reflection of the basement light.
It now seemed to be an ordinary mirror.
They had stopped the evil. That was clear.
Grandpa took the mirror to the dump anyway.
He still doesn’t own any mirrors to this day.
———————————————-R. W. Johnson—–(2015)