The Old Man's Words

I spoke the words the old man had taught me and at first I was disappointed. Nothing seemed to be happening; the mirror merely showed me my reflection, mocking my inadequacies. I thought back on how I had been taught to pronounce those foreign syllables, that awkward language. I replayed those words, the infliction of each, and the way my mouth had felt when the old one had cackled gleefully assuring me I had the incantation perfect. As I pondered for that moment where and when I had spoken wrongly it occurred to me his final advice, patience, patience was the key. One did not rush the ancient ways. One waited, held one’s breathe and then reaped the rewards.

The mirror shimmered, a black shadow-like sight that unnerved me. I had not been warned of how this arcane passage would affect the world around me, only told that this was how my life would turn around. As the shimmer passed the image within the mirror swirled and then shifted. What became revealed was a glade where the trees seemed darker, the leaves orange like flame and the great pool of water the color of the sky. A hot wind emanated from the mirror as if I had opened a window, my long dark locks blowing about my face.

I stepped through the mirror and squeezed by the ebony frame. My feet squelched into a thick, purple mud. Pulling a face at the uncomfortableness I tried to turn back. Too late the purple mud seemed to come to life, sucking my foot and then leg deeper and pulling me away from the mirror frame. I felt my other leg slip into this new and frightening world and before I could struggle and attempt my escape I was up to my waist in the ooze. Two eyes appeared at the edge of the pool, eyes of florescent pink. They began to move along the surface of the ooze, one resting on my left side and starring around. The other eye continued to dive in and out the purple mud.

“Release me!” I demanded.

The eye to my left focused upon me and continued to stare.

I could see my room through the mirror frame, not two yards from where I remained stuck. Safety was so close and yet so excruciatingly far. My room, with its four white-washed walls, faded ceiling and the plain single bed with sagging mattress and woolen blanket coverings. A moment ago it had seemed so boring, a dull world, somewhere I was so desperate to escape. Now I so strongly longed to return, to recite the reverse of the ancient spell and close away this new world I had discovered.

Almost as if the pair of eyes could sense my longing the one at my left began to skim toward the mirror, the window opening that now existed between worlds. As I blinked in surprise two tiny leather wings of lime green protruded from that ocular and it withdrew from the purple mud with a sucking PLOP.

“Hey!” I cried, disbelief causing my outburst.

The eye with all the grace of an elephant span and bounced its way through the ebony frame and then was gone from my sight. My ears twitched as I caught the sound behind me of the other eye releasing itself from the muck. As the wings speedily began to flap I felt the breeze above my head. Raising my hands as quickly as I could I caught the eye and held it tightly. The wings flapped about, protruding out from between the gaps in my clenched fingers. As the underside of the leather touched my skin I felt the sting of the suckers and the pulsation as my crimson lifeblood was drawn out of me. I squeezed my hands tighter and heard what sounded like a scream before a distinct crack. I felt within my cupped hands that the eye had then begun to break apart. Cautiously opening my hands to peek I discovered a nest of tiny worms slithering away to escape. They fell from my hands as I shook them free; the sound of their escape was a childish, faintly whispered “weeeeeeeee…”

With wild abandonment they dove down into the purple mud, vanishing from my sight as they hit the surface and tunneled.

It was at that moment and not a second before that I realized I had stopped sinking. Although I could feel no firmness below me I was surprised and relieved to discover my descent had ceased. Stepping toward the window I felt the mud tug me from behind. As I strove to gain access to the still open portal I felt a stronger pull draw me away. A personal tug of war I suffered and try as I may I was losing and losing badly. I spotted the eyeball that had escaped into my world, flying by the mirror. It bounced off the ceiling and I could clearly see an orange smudged stain where it had struck. I tried to move through the mud with extra effort and found the warm water lapping at my legs. The eye with wings then clipped the top of the mirror and the window between worlds fell to the floor. The last sound I heard was the shatter of glass as the spell and mirror both simultaneously broke.

I wept, one foot in mud, the other feeling that odd sludge wash way. I felt trapped, destined to stand within this strange land, unable to return to that dull normalcy. I felt my foot, the one within the purple gently shift toward the water. Within a minute I was free. My tears dropped into the sky blue pool and hissed as steam arose from the surface. I stared down into the water and wondered why, why I had listened to the strange old man, why had I so badly wanted to leave my life behind. Finally I wondered if there would be a way I could ever get home again.

Above me three suns, each a varying shade of magenta began to fall toward the edge of the horizon. It was about to grow dark and if I did not think fast I was to experience my first night. As the last of the dying light began to swiftly fade I risked it all and cited the incantation again. Of course my hunch was correct and the body of water shimmered, this time a grey-ghost-like white. As the scene within the pool changed I discovered my room reflected back at me and through the body of water I fell.

Luckily my drop was cushioned by that sagging mattress, the whole thing collapsing as it took all my weight. Untangling myself from the mess I then searched for a sign of the eye. It bumped and bashed off ceiling and wall, marking each as it struck. Springing from bed to sky I managed just to grasp it as it clumsily floated by. Again I felt the satisfaction of crushing the orb between my palms. Looking around I sighed in relief at the sight of my humble, safe room. But as the tiny otherworldly worms slipped from my fingers and into the tiny cracks between the floor boards I pondered the question; what were their fate and what was mine? I had an eerie feeling I would not have to wait long to discover the answer.