Turn Back Time

“I like this mirror! Ooh it makes me look thin!” Tammy slowly turned as she looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn’t one for shopping, and she certainly didn’t often shop for a dress or a skirt, but they had that reunion coming up so she thought she would look outside her comfort zone.

“You are thin Tammy. Mirrors don’t lie.” Sharron browsed through blouses just outside the dressing rooms.

“Well get your fat ass in here and see for yourself.” Sharron’s derriere was certainly not fat but Tammy wanted to get a rise out of her.

“I don’t like mirrors.” Sharron snapped back. “They burst my bubble, rain on my parade…”

“Alright alright. So what does my butt look like in this skirt?”

Sharron grinned at her as she pushed the curtain back to the dressing room, “There’s the bubble that burst.”

“Oh aren’t you the funny one,” Tammy chuckled.

“Yep. That’s me. Fun and games and never tame.” Sharron was ready to go, and this little back and forth was getting old.

Both women were beautiful. Shannon blond, or bought blond, and curvy. Tammy dark hair and eyes, slim and athletic. Despite the thirty years they had been together, they had fun everywhere they went, found joy in everything they did.

“Come on Tam. The RV is double parked.” Sharron said, popping her on the backside, closing the curtain.

“What does that even mean? Guess never having lived in the city, that phrase just baffles me.”

“It means blocking people in. And no, we aren’t actually double parked, but if we were you might hurry the hell up.” She wasn’t mad. The tone of her voice and the slowness of her words might reveal a bit of impatience, but it took a lot to anger Sharron.

“Look, I just felt like buying a cute little skirt. Don’t ask me why. I don’t have a single skirt in my closet. Guess I wanted to play the fem wife for a change when we go to the reunion.”

“Sorry honey but you have the athletic figure but wear clothes like you were going camping. Not much fem in cargo pants.”

“Well first of all, we are camping in case you hadn’t noticed, my love. Second, I would have to carry a purse or bag if I didn’t have all those pockets, and you are always needing something that just happens to be an item in my pocket. See? You need me.”

“Of course I need you but it’s not because you have pockets.”

“I’m buying the skirt,” tammy said firmly.

“Good,” Sharron replied.  “I can borrow it.”

“Whatever lifts your skirt.”

“Kids don’t say that anymore,” Sharron stated.

“I’m not a kid,” Tammy snapped back.

Tammy quickly changed back into her cargo pants and oversized t-shirt that stated I can’t help the way my face looks when you are talking while Shannon paid for the skirt. Shannon had a plan for the day, and they were already behind schedule.

“I want to stop by that antique mall they told us about, the one right outside of Lake Oswago,” Sharron said when Tammy caught up with her.

“Okay Darlin’. You be the navigator then.”

Out in the parking lot they climbed into their F-150 that was hooked up to the RV. They had traveled about one hundred miles today, but they were not on a schedule nor timetable. Both having retired two years ago, they spent most of their time seeing the country, visiting friends and meeting news ones as they traveled the back roads. It was their dream, having planned for it most of the thirty years they had been together. Although they were different in many ways, a slow, laidback existence was all they wished for. Sharron was a triage nurse, working in emergency rooms at six different hospitals across the country the past three years. She loved the fast pace of it, never a dull moment she often said. When the pandemic hit, nurses were in demand, so she went where the money was. Doing so allowed them to retire five years before originally planned. During that time, Tammy was often able to travel with her since most of her work was done remotely.

Tammy was an engineer for Intel, and most of her work was leading a design team, all done with Zoom or similar group meetings apps. It was the perfect fit for them. They bought the RV and moved to whatever city Sharron had a contract. They would find a camping park outside the city, set up camp in a quiet area, pretend they were deep in the woods, living the life they dreamed they would have when retired. They worked hard for three years, Sharron working the seven am to seven pm shift at the hospital, and Tammy guiding her team from eight to five, give or take a couple of hours depending on what time zone they were in. It was a nomad sort of life, but worked well for them not being tied down, three rescue dogs being their only children. They had sold their house, put most of their belongings in storage and took only basic needs that would fit in the truck or camper.

The three years flew by and their travel paid off in spades. The extra income cut five years off their timetable for retirement. At that point they bought a small cabin on Lake Martin, close to their families, but stayed there very little because there was always an adventure, towns they hadn’t seen, mountains they hadn’t climbed. Both were in top physical condition, energetic, loved to hike and wanted to make the most of every day while they were still able. No sitting down for them! Well, that’s not to say they didn’t relax because they did. They would spend hours sitting around a campfire, gazing at the stars, and thanking the lord they had this life and had each other.

Now they were planning to spend a couple of weeks around the Portland area. Had some friends there, and although they both had visited the city in the past, there was still so much of the area yet to see. They found a campground outside Lake Oswago, just thirty minutes from downtown Portland. They planned to visit Mount Hood, several fruit farms and spend some time with their friends, Lori and Ian.

They had arrived at Treasured Past, the antique store Shannon had wanted to visit.

“Are you looking for something in particular, or are we simply going to spend the afternoon looking at treasures from someone else’s past?” Tammy asked, chucking at herself. She did that often. Made a not-so-funny-joke and then laughed that contagious laugh, that regardless of the joke, you had to join in with the laughter.

“Cute little play on words there, Tam.” Sharron held the door for Tammy as they entered the dimly lit building. “I’ve told you a dozen times I’m looking for a wall mirror for the bedroom.”

 “Oh I just assumed we would buy one of those commercial mirrors they sell for RVs”

Sharron scrunched up her nose with distaste. “Hell no! We are getting something for our home, or home away from home, but I want it to feel like that. Got it, sista?”

Tammy laughed and replied, “Yes, darlin’. Whatever you want. You bought the skirt, and although I have no doubt it will cost me dearly, I’ll buy you a mirror.”

They walked arm in arm through the antiques, staying on the perimeter of the building where mirrors and paintings lined the walls. There were mirrors of every size and shape, plain and ornamental. Sharron glared into and touched each one, petted it like it was a puppy.

“You know it doesn’t matter what you are shopping for, you approach the it in the same way. You have to touch it, run your fingers across it. It’s kind of sexy,” Tammy grinned and goosed Sharron in the ribs.

“Stop it. It has to feel right. I can’t explain it.” Sharron batted Tammy on the arm. She walked towards the wall, eyeballing a mirror with a hand-carved frame. She walked in front of it and froze. She was staring at herself in the mirror, but her gaze was as if she could see beyond it.

“Sharron what is it?” Tammy asked, walking behind her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

For a moment Sharron didn’t answer. “I don’t know. There’s something about this one, just drawing me in.” She walked closer to the mirror, continuing to stare as if in a trance, reaching out to touch the frame. When she ran her hand around the curves and grooves, she wasn’t looking at the frame, she continued to stare at her reflection.

“We’ll take this one. Find someone that works here.” Sharron turned towards her. “I’m serious. We’re buying this one.”

“I’m not arguing with you honey, but we might want to take a look at the price tag before we make a decision,” Tammy replied.

Sharron seemed irritated but turned back to the mirror and reached out for the little tag hanging from a string on the bottom of the frame. “$375. We’ll offer $350,” Sharron stated.

“Well I think we should start lower than that but you’re the boss.” Tammy could tell that Sharron had become a little irritated and she was confused how the conversation when from fun to flat so quickly.

“I’m not going to spend time haggling, Tammy. We’re buying the mirror.” Sharron stomped off in search of a salesperson.

“Okay then,” Tammy said under her breath. She looked at the mirror, still not understanding what Sharron saw in this particular mirror since it looked very similar to the four or five they had already passed. She walked over in front of the mirror and looked at her reflection. The lines around her eyes seemed to have smoothed out since this morning, she swore she looked younger. It looked like a picture does on SnapChat, using a softening filter of some sort. Okay, Tammy thought. Now she could see the attraction, but how does it do that?

Sharron was walking back with an older man, assumably the salesman. “It’s this one,” Sharron said, walking over and touching the frame again. “We want this one.”

“How much is it?” Tammy interjected.

“Let’s see,” the man replied, lifting the tag to check the price. “I can let you have it for $350.”

“Sold!” Sharron stated emphatically.

“Hold up one second,” Tammy said. “We’ll pay $300.” Sharron cut a nasty look in her direction, but Tammy ignored her.

The man pursed his lips, paused for a moment and then replied, “Sold!” 

The sour look on Sharron’s face changed to a smile from ear to ear. Good thing because Tammy thought she was ready to clobber her for interfering.

“Oh thank you thank you thank you,” Sharron pumped the man’s hand like she was trying to draw water from a well. Tammy just stood there wondering what the heck just happened. Sharron was acting like they had just won the lottery. Oh well, Tammy thought. If she’s happy, I’m happy.

She helped the older man take the mirror off the wall as Sharron asked him about mounting hardware. “Oh we have some up front that would work just perfectly,” he replied.

Once they paid for the mirror and the hardware, Tammy carefully carried it back to the RV as Sharron unlocked the side door and put down the steps. “Careful,” she said.

Hell, Tammy thought, I don’t want seven years or however long they say you get of bad luck if you break a mirror. She didn’t really believe in the superstition, but she also wasn’t going to try her luck.

Once she got it to the bedroom she saw how much bigger the mirror looked in their small room. “You sure about this?” Tammy asked?

“Yes!” Sharron snapped.

“Take it easy honey. I was just asking.” Tammy stepped back into the hall.

Sharron let her shoulders drop, not realizing how tense she had gotten. “Sorry sweetie. I don’t know why I’m so irritable all of a sudden.”

“It’s okay. Let’s just get this mounted for you,” Tammy reached into the drawer where they kept all the tools and grabbed a hammer and screwdriver. “This anchor and screw should hold the weight.”

They held it up, moving it this way and that and finally determined the exact spot. The wire on the back was double and sturdy and would make it easy to balance on the wall. She hated hanging something that required making sure two screws or nails were at the same height.

Tammy, being the wife that was handy with tools, made quick work of inserting the anchor and screw. She lifted the mirror, guided the wire onto the screw and then leveled the frame.

“It looks good,” Tammy said. When Sharron didn’t answer she turned around to find Sharron with that hypnotic stare, eyes glued to her reflection in the mirror.

“Honey you okay?” Tammy asked

Sharron seemed to snap out of it then. “Yeah, I’m good. It’s just that, well, I don’t know. It’s like I look younger and don’t recognize my face in this mirror.”

“I thought the same thing,” Tammy said. “Weird, huh? Younger is better and well worth $300, don’t you think?”

They locked up the RV and climbed back into the truck, punched in the campground address into the GPS and soon found their destination. After setting up the power and other attachments for the RV, they showered and dressed to meet their friends Lori and Ian for dinner. Twice Tammy found Sharron blankly staring into the mirror as she dressed. In the past, Sharron probably looked at herself in the mirror more than Tammy, but she wasn’t a vain person. This was definitely odd behavior.

Dinner was lovely, the couples noticeably excited to see each other. Lori commented on how young they both looked, Tammy and Sharron both giggled, believing Lori was simply being the complimentary person she was. They enjoyed the seafood and wine and each other’s company, the hours flew by until they were notified by the owner that the restaurant was about to close. Such good company, it surprised both couples how late it was.

After making arrangements to meet Lori for lunch the next day, the couples parted and headed back home. When Sharron and Tammy returned to the RV, Tammy took the dogs out for a walk while Sharron began closing the shades and preparing to go to bed.  After the walk, Tammy rustled the dogs inside, and when she entered the bedroom, Sharron was once again staring into the mirror.

“Should I be jealous of the mirror or worry that you are becoming narcissistic and in love with your own image,” Tammy joked.

Not having even noticed Tammy had come in, Sharron jumped a bit at the sound of her voice.

“Sorry sweetie. I don’t know what it is but I swear I look younger in this mirror.”

Tammy agreed. “I know. I thought the same thing in the store. Of course, I am younger, than you anyway.”

“Very funny. Two months doesn’t count. I’m serious.”

“I am too. About both of my statements.”

“Alright Mz comedian of the year, let’s go to bed.”

The next morning, they slept in since it had been almost two am when they got home the night before. After coffee and a quick shower, they dressed, and in Shannon’s case, a couple of stares into the mirror, they left to meet Lori.

Lori was already at the little café they had planned to meet, on the riverfront in Portland, just a quick drive from where they were staying in Lake Oswago. Lori stood and hugged them both, stopping for a moment and staring into Shannon’s eyes.

“I’m serious. You guys look younger than the last time we saw each other. Shannon, I swear you look younger than you did last night!” Lori exclaimed.

“We have a magical mirror,” Tammy replied. “Shannon has been spending a lot of time staring into it.” All three women chuckled, but she had to admit, she thought the same thing about Shannon this morning. Magic. Can’t put a price on that.