Mirror mirror.
Chapter One
She takes a deep breath and rolls her shoulders back, she’s not afraid. Esteem steps into the Conscious Carnival funhouse, her heartbeat speeds up as she takes in her surroundings. The funhouse has been closed for construction for nearly eight years. The sloping floor is covered in dust and the sign hanging in the foyer reads “See yourself for what you are.” She moves forward into the maze of mirrors.
The first she approaches is covered by a dusty sheet. Esteem, reaches up and pulls it down, letting it fall to her feet, and unveiling the grimy reflector. Her gaze catches on the image present in the mirror. It is a distorted version of her own appearance. She first takes notice to this disgusting version of her face. There is fat bulging under the skin of what was once an impeccably sharp jawline. Unfortunately the bloating doesn’t stop there. Her entire body is swollen, and her clothes are burdensome and tight. Esteem, horrified at what she sees, steps back from the mirror. Her hands search from her thin face down to her slender hips, and though her findings obviously make more sense than those of the mirror, she quickly hurries away not even taking the risk to glance back.
The next mirror she encounters is not unlike the first in size, yet she feels as if it is looming over her as she wipes dirt from its uncovered surface. She stands in front of it and at first sees nothing at all. Esteem steps to her right, giving herself a different angle of view, and what she finds is not an image, but a scene. She recognizes the background, her school cafeteria, and realizes suddenly that this is a scene from her life. She sits alone in the cafeteria, stabbing her Jell-O, her friends had just left her sitting there. She looks up, and the hurt reflected in her gorgeous blue eyes is almost, too, much for Esteem to handle. Tears well in the young girl’s eyes as she watches the clip, she feels sad, ostracized and alone all over again. She can hear her own words playing in her mind “No one cares about you” and “No one will even notice if you die. Do the world a favor and kill yourself.” The repeated scene and harsh words are affecting Esteem’s ability to think straight. She is so absorbed in her own tragedy that she cannot see the absurdity of these thoughts. Again, the mirror is becoming too much for her, and she must move along.
By the time she reaches the third mirror, she is frightened. She reaches up to uncover it with shaky hands and the veil, light as a feather, drifts to the ground after only one gentle tug. Esteem, fearful of what she will find, looks into the mirror. What she sees staring back is herself. She sighs softly in relief, but her breath catches in her throat when she sees the eyes of her counterpart. The eyes staring back at her are not her own. They’re black, ugly and horrible. She then notices that the girl in the mirror’s body is decrepit. It’s too pale, too thin, too folded in on itself. She looks as if she has aged about twenty years. She looks dead and decaying. Esteem understands this to be her soul. She understands this horrible creature to actually be dwelling under her own skin. The girl in the mirror is the representation of the irreversible and unforgivable mistakes that she has made. This is who she is inside, and Esteem feels disgusted, horrified and frightened all at once. She cannot stay any longer; she must leave this place.
Esteem heads for the exit at a running pace, she must get out now. When she is in roughly twenty feet of the exit to the outside, something catches her eye. She backtracks out of curiosity. It is a room containing only one mirror. The mirror is unsheathed and dust-free. It emits a light, much like sunshine, and Esteem cannot help but to feel as if she’s gravitating toward it. There is a small frame bordering the mirror, carved into its dark wood are the words “See yourself for what you are. Do not be fooled by your own perspective. See the truth as it is presented.” Esteem steps up to the mirror, like a baseball player stepping up to bat. She is fully prepared to run if the need presents itself. She sees only herself reflected. The girl in the mirror reflects her movements with grace, elegance and confidence. She is beautiful. Her smile is gorgeous, not faked, but genuinely happy. She seems to emit rays like the sun; they flow from her happiness, like water from a fast moving stream. Family and friends are slowly surrounding the girl; the faces are quite familiar. Esteem realizes that this is who she really is. This is how others perceive her. She is her own worst enemy. With slight hesitation, she turns away from the mirror, and slowly walks to the exit.
The first she approaches is covered by a dusty sheet. Esteem, reaches up and pulls it down, letting it fall to her feet, and unveiling the grimy reflector. Her gaze catches on the image present in the mirror. It is a distorted version of her own appearance. She first takes notice to this disgusting version of her face. There is fat bulging under the skin of what was once an impeccably sharp jawline. Unfortunately the bloating doesn’t stop there. Her entire body is swollen, and her clothes are burdensome and tight. Esteem, horrified at what she sees, steps back from the mirror. Her hands search from her thin face down to her slender hips, and though her findings obviously make more sense than those of the mirror, she quickly hurries away not even taking the risk to glance back.
The next mirror she encounters is not unlike the first in size, yet she feels as if it is looming over her as she wipes dirt from its uncovered surface. She stands in front of it and at first sees nothing at all. Esteem steps to her right, giving herself a different angle of view, and what she finds is not an image, but a scene. She recognizes the background, her school cafeteria, and realizes suddenly that this is a scene from her life. She sits alone in the cafeteria, stabbing her Jell-O, her friends had just left her sitting there. She looks up, and the hurt reflected in her gorgeous blue eyes is almost, too, much for Esteem to handle. Tears well in the young girl’s eyes as she watches the clip, she feels sad, ostracized and alone all over again. She can hear her own words playing in her mind “No one cares about you” and “No one will even notice if you die. Do the world a favor and kill yourself.” The repeated scene and harsh words are affecting Esteem’s ability to think straight. She is so absorbed in her own tragedy that she cannot see the absurdity of these thoughts. Again, the mirror is becoming too much for her, and she must move along.
By the time she reaches the third mirror, she is frightened. She reaches up to uncover it with shaky hands and the veil, light as a feather, drifts to the ground after only one gentle tug. Esteem, fearful of what she will find, looks into the mirror. What she sees staring back is herself. She sighs softly in relief, but her breath catches in her throat when she sees the eyes of her counterpart. The eyes staring back at her are not her own. They’re black, ugly and horrible. She then notices that the girl in the mirror’s body is decrepit. It’s too pale, too thin, too folded in on itself. She looks as if she has aged about twenty years. She looks dead and decaying. Esteem understands this to be her soul. She understands this horrible creature to actually be dwelling under her own skin. The girl in the mirror is the representation of the irreversible and unforgivable mistakes that she has made. This is who she is inside, and Esteem feels disgusted, horrified and frightened all at once. She cannot stay any longer; she must leave this place.
Esteem heads for the exit at a running pace, she must get out now. When she is in roughly twenty feet of the exit to the outside, something catches her eye. She backtracks out of curiosity. It is a room containing only one mirror. The mirror is unsheathed and dust-free. It emits a light, much like sunshine, and Esteem cannot help but to feel as if she’s gravitating toward it. There is a small frame bordering the mirror, carved into its dark wood are the words “See yourself for what you are. Do not be fooled by your own perspective. See the truth as it is presented.” Esteem steps up to the mirror, like a baseball player stepping up to bat. She is fully prepared to run if the need presents itself. She sees only herself reflected. The girl in the mirror reflects her movements with grace, elegance and confidence. She is beautiful. Her smile is gorgeous, not faked, but genuinely happy. She seems to emit rays like the sun; they flow from her happiness, like water from a fast moving stream. Family and friends are slowly surrounding the girl; the faces are quite familiar. Esteem realizes that this is who she really is. This is how others perceive her. She is her own worst enemy. With slight hesitation, she turns away from the mirror, and slowly walks to the exit.
♠ ♠ ♠
Just an allegory I wrote for English.