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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#225: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

From Narcissus falling in love with his own reflection to the speaking mirror in Snow White, mirror images have always been a popular motif in literature, commonly used to introduce questions of identity or self-consciousness. But they can also be used to create a split between reality and illusion: is what we see really the truth, or are our eyes — or indeed minds — playing tricks on us? Taken one step further, one might even argue that texts themselves are a reflection of their author and the world they inhabit.


This week’s prompts invite you to reflect (pardon the pun) on topics of self-image, twisted realities, and outer appearance that may or may not capture what’s going on beneath the surface.

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone buying a cursed — or perhaps blessed —mirror from an antiques store.

Fantasy – 74 stories

Write a story about someone trying to paint (or otherwise create) a self-portrait.

Character – 66 stories

Write a story about someone coming across their doppelganger.

Mystery – 48 stories

Write a story about a character who one day notices that their reflection has taken on a life of its own.

Fantasy – 50 stories

Set your story in a house of mirrors and make the atmosphere increasingly eerie.

Horror – 42 stories

Stories

“Reflection Unbound” by Lloyd Napier

Submitted to Contest #225

Reflection Unbound In the quaint, sleepy town of Marlowe's Hollow, nestled between rolling hills and whispering woods, there lived a young woman named Clara. She was an artist, known for her captivating landscapes that seemed to hold secrets within their painted depths. One evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a golden hue over the town, Clara stood in front of her bedroom mirror. It was an antique piece, its silver frame adorned with intricate carvings, a family heirloom passed down through generations. As she gazed i...

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“I am a Mirror” by C.L. Stephens

Submitted to Contest #225

I am a mirror. I have been to many places throughout my life while being passed from hand to hand, job to job. I’ve seen countless bedrooms, even more antique stores, and I’ve even been employed out of doors once. One of my favorite jobs was in the subway. I got to see new people every day when I worked in the subway. I saw people walking past checking their reflection inside me. I obliged because I am a mirror. I see people and things as they are. I reflect back to them exactly what they want to see - no more, no less. That’s what a mirr...

1 comment 1
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“The Enchanted Mirror of Mystic Beach Lighthouse ” by Kristi Gott

Submitted to Contest #225

"Gateways to moments suspended in air, Time's threads in the fabrics it weaves, Blessed with enchantments, unseen and rare, The Mirror makes Magic for one who believes."Luiza Maria felt a shock as she looked at the strangers around her wearing clothing from over 100 years ago. She remembered gazing into the old-fashioned mirror from the antique store. It's wood frame was intricately carved. She recalled reading the poem engraved on the back of it.Luiza Maria recalled looking into the wavy glass of the old mirror and seeing her dark eyes...

6 comments 6
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“Time to Reflect” by Cory Fossum

Submitted to Contest #225

I never told the woman behind the register that I couldn’t see my reflection in this mirror. I just placed it on the counter as fast as I could without dropping it and stuffed my hands back into my coat pockets. If she had seen how they were trembling, she would have asked questions. And I had no desire to answer them. “Why I never thought I’d live to see the day,” the woman said, as she searched the mirror for the price tag. She lifted the mirror up between us and looked directly into it, admiring both her elderly reflection and the craft...

3 comments 3
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“What the Mirror Wants” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #225

“What’s wrong with me? Do I even exist?” Selma gazed at her reflection in the medicine cabinet mirror. Her irises contracted as she peered into her pupils. “Anybody home?” She chuckled. ‘Of course, I exist. I blink; therefore, I am…’ But somedays she struggled to own that even to herself. Remembering her college biology class, ‘I’m alive. I move and breathe. God knows I excrete…’ It is one thing to choose anonymity. Quite another to feel ignored. Even a dismissal requires recognition of the banished. No unicorn ever felt dismissed. But for S...

8 comments 8
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“Twin or Doppelganger?” by Rudy Greene

Submitted to Contest #225

Layla was awfully affectionate when I returned from work today. She had that postcoital glow about her. When I asked her what was up, she looked at me with those moony eyes, I only see after intense love making. She seemed to think that I should know the source of her bliss. Yet I was clueless, so I had to ask: “What’s going on? You seem to be on cloud nine.” Layla gave me a warm smile and answered: “You know.” I shrugged my shoulders and answered: “No I really don’t.” “That was some gift you gave me at lunch.” Layla embraced me and kissed m...

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“The Turnstile at the End of the Hall” by Alex Solomon

Submitted to Contest #225

I awoke in a hall of mirrors with the strange sensation that I'd been asleep for a long time. Moreover, I had no idea where I was, or how I'd gotten there. My head felt like a snow globe filled with dust. Conversely, the mirrors that surrounded me were so clear, that they could have been carved from slabs of crystal. Even the floors were made of brilliant glass that reflected off a glimmering mirrored ceiling.  I got the sense that this was the first of many chambers. It was shaped like the inside of an igloo, leading to an archway, th...

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“The new house” by Layla Friend

Submitted to Contest #225

The first few steps through the hall are always the best. The worn-down floorboards creaking under her feet and the grandfather clock echoing throughout the house. She walks down the narrow hallway keeping her eyes glued to the walls, seeing her warped reflection in every battered down mirror she walks past, the thick dust that has been collecting over the years creating a protective layer. Four altogether, two on each side of the hall, balanced upon hooks that have been hammered into the walls, put there by the owners before her, as well as...

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“Mirror, Mirror on the Wall ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #225

When I was released from the hospital, the discharge informed me that I had been in a coma for eight months, but something inside my brain told me it was for a lot longer.  Upon my discharge from UW Medical Center in Seattle walking on the sidewalk to city transit felt as though I was walking on some distant planet.  It felt as if I did not belong here any longer.   The fact I had been the cause of both my wife’s and daughter’s death did not make matters any better.  For twelve years we lived in marital bliss, Dora ...

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“Antique Shop on 27th Street” by Sophie Parmaby

Submitted to Contest #225

It all started in the antique shop on 27th street. Eleanor was, by no means, a connoisseur of antiques. In fact, usually she would grimace at the oddly scattered items that appeared worn down, and well, looked like the idea of them had aged better then the item itself. This morning, however, had been an exception. She had been passing by on her way to the market when she noticed a peculiar looking mirror through the window of the antique shop. It looked out of place next to all the dusty furniture that probably had bugs crawling across every...

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“Misunderstanding ” by Clarisse King

Submitted to Contest #225

Giana’s beauty, hypnotic in its perfection, never dulled. Even when she scowled, she was glowing. I met Giana in the sixth grade. This was the same year that I read a study in some vicious Cosmo. The study claimed that ninety percent of a randomly sampled population found frowning to be unattractive, aesthetically unappealing to the eye. So ladies, the magazine had urged, remember to show those pearly whites. I had self-consciously consumed the piece with fervent desperation; I needed to be loved as those pink-cheeked, grinning models were...

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“The Art of Lost Keys” by Jarrel Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #225

I stare out the window at the overcast sky and the air looks like a prolonged orgasm. I haven’t left my apartment in thirty-seven hours, during which thoughts of me forgetting how to conversate with another human being fill me with a nameless dread. I need to break free from these walls.  I reach for the car keys I sometimes leave on my writing desk, but my fingertips shuffle around medical bills, and I listen to some of the pages flip flop to the floor. My keys aren’t under my sombrero, either. I think about where else I would leave th...

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“Hi, Mom” by Danielle LeBlanc

Submitted to Contest #225

I was answering my forty-seventh email of the day as I hurried my way down that bustling NYC street. My Stuart Weitzman knee high boots raised me six inches off the pavement, and I was counting down the seconds until I could get home and kick them off. Stopping me mid-hustle, the mirror in the window of the antique shop caught my attention. “That would look stunning in the upstairs hallway.”I’d become somewhat of a shopaholic over the last couple of years, and my tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth once I saw the handwritte...

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“Reflections Unbound” by Jennifer Farina Stewart

Submitted to Contest #225

The wind howled through the twisted, gnarled branches of the ancient trees that encircled the abandoned mansion. As it blew, it whispered secrets of the past, casting eerie shadows on the crumbling facade of the once-grand estate. Alex, Maya, and Jake, united by their fascination with the macabre, stood before the mansion, their breaths visible in the chilly autumn air. They were drawn to the decaying mansion, rumored to be a place of unspeakable horror and secrets.With trepidation, the trio pushed the creaking front door open, which groaned...

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“reflected.” by Lara Deppe

Submitted to Contest #225

Paisley screamed Alder’s name but it was drowned out by the whine of the ambulance as it rushed her down the mountainside. The EMT was trying to calm her but she was desperate to know what was happening to her husband. The last time she had seen him conscious was only a reflection behind a thick pane of glass. They should never have come here. She wished they had never taken this job.“No way!” Paisley exclaimed as she pulled the blanket off her legs where she was snuggled on the couch. The couch creaked with age as she stood in the darkening...

2 comments 2
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$250

Prize money

280

Contest entries

106

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 24, 2023 EST

Won by Olivier Breuleux 🏆

Title: The Day Alfred Googled Himself

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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