Magic Mirror

With a heavy heart, the day has come to pack away my dear grandmother's belongings.Her beloved Imbuia wood dressing table with winged mirrors,Where she spent every morning sitting in front of, Flawlessly applying her makeup and perfectly styling her silver hair, and finishing up by adding her pearl earrings and matching necklace before leaving the house.She always said as long as she had her earrings in and lipstick on she didn't need anything else to feel fully dressed.

After putting away all her trinkets and silver jewelry box my fingers trace over the vintage embossed pattern on the back of the silver handheld mirror.Picking up the mirror feeling the cold of the metal on the palm of my hand, My grey eyes reflect back at me in the mirror …

As I blinked, a magical garden started to come alive around me, The sight of iceberg rose bushes filled my eyes,Lush green grass tickles my ankles and the smell of lavender.A Flagstone pathway lays out in front of me, The cool surface of the stones caress the souls of my feet with each step I take.Fairy moss has taken up residence in between the grey stones and toadstool mushrooms hug the path.

Woodland creatures playing in the low shrubbery.

The path stops in front of a monumental Imbuia tree.The trunk of the tree is covered with intertwining ivory vines which make up the spiral staircase which leads up to the log cabin style tree house that is nestled in the tree top.I slowly step onto the staircase and make my way up the beautiful tree.The birds have made nests in the lower branches and I hear their beautiful songs on my journey.My fingertips dance over the grooves in the dark bark.

Out of the corner of my eyes I see a glimpse of sparkling light, but when I stop to look there is nothing there. 

I finally make it to the tree top and the views are absolutely breathtaking, A magnificent crystal clear lake unfolds in front of my eyes, seems to have no end in sight, It's like a mirror reflecting the blue sky with golden clouds.The crown of the tree is an almost perfect ombre' of different shades of green and it spans far and wide. 

The door to the tree house is a work of art, Brass embellishments such as an acorn door knocker, Detailed hinges and vintage door handle compliment the deep textured lines running all the way through the polished wood.A slight gold hue spills out from under the door, almost calling to me to enter.

Slowly opening the old wooden door and stepping inside the familiar smell of Royal Secret perfume fills my nose.

As I gaze around the room it is filled with so many different items that not everyone would ever see.In the corner by the window in between two rocking chairs stands a group of old wooden walking sticks, One of the walking sticks has a twist in the wood that comes to a ball you place in your palm, from my best guess and another dark wood with a gold band.There is a bookshelf on the one wall and it is filled with books.The closer I get the clearer I see these books are very old and leather bound.On the next shelf up from all the old books stands an old photograph of a little girl with short hair and is dressed in a White Anglaise dress edged in green, patent leather shoes and white socks.I carefully took the photograph down and on the back was written Joan taken 1936.Different size crystals hang from the large front window catching the sunlight and exploding tiny rainbows all across the room.As I make my way around the room another unique piece of furniture stands out.It is an old style writing desk,in the front draw there are old pieces of parchment and key,Seeing the lock on the top of the desk I Slid the key into the lock and to my delight it opened.I slowly opened the desk and allowed it to rest on the wooden arms.Inside the antique desk was an ink pot and writing quill. Sitting at this desk made my imagination go wild, how many people through the years had sat at this very desk and wrote with that quill and ink pot or how many love letters were created at this very desk?. 

How many tales and secrets could this desk tell? 

My eyes catch the end of a white envelope sticking out one of the small cubbies. 

My fingers trace over the writing

 My Dearest Granddaughter

Now that you have found this letter, and I always knew you would because you too shared the love of all things magic.I thought since I cannot be there with you any longer i thought I'd leave a special piece of magic you can carry with you throughout the rest of your life. 

I will forever be by your side 

Your Fairy Grandmother 

Xx

Wiping the tears from my eyes, a small Sapphire winged butterfly elegantly flew through the open window and landed on a small square wooden box with a dark trim and swirl shaped latch.Knowing my grandmother always had some form of magic up her sleeve, I went over to the box to see what could be hiding inside. 

The box was filled with HISTORY!.A leather pouch filled with all sorts of old letters, wedding invitations and postcards.Next was a small leather sewing kit that the soldiers carried in 1912.An old hair brush,Silver cigar case with Initials engraved on the front, A small brown leather bound wallet of wit, an old wooden pipe that belonged to my great grandfather as well as a pile of old medals from world war 1.At the bottom of all of these items was a familiar silver metal Ring box which I had seen sitting on my grandmothers dressing table all my life.Inside side sat the The silver banded ring with blue Sapphire and two diamonds that she always wore and now bestowed upon me. 

After spending all afternoon exploring inside this magical tree house the late afternoon sky had started to resemble a painter's masterpiece the almost perfect ombre' fade which looked like it was done with meticulous brush strokes the lighter tones fading into the darker ones.Slowly making my way down the spiral staircase back down to the flagstone path something had changed it was lit up with fireflies and glow worms and fairies fluttering from flower to flower.I was completely spellbound.Clearly the woodland creatures I had seen were more than just that. The pathway ended and I was back on the grass where it had all started.When the same sapphire butterfly landed on the rose right next to me .That is when I knew my grandmother was there and will always be watching over me .

With a smile on my face and my heart bursting with love I took a deep breath in and once again found those two grey eyes staring back at me in the mirror.

 My gran always told me it was her magic mirror … Well now I believe her .

Written by Candy K

This story was written in loving memory of my beautiful and always loving fairy grandmother who I have recently lost.