The Mirror by ElanorofNowhere
One-shot, AU…No it's not about that mirror, you know the one in the Golden Wood, but another mirror…
Disclaimer: I am only borrowing what is rightfully Tolkien's.
"Garrett County Auction and Antiques Fair," read the hand painted banner outside of the pavilion-sized tent. This was not how I had planned to spend my first Saturday off from work in a long while. Between both my full-time and part-time jobs, I rarely got to enjoy a Saturday off. This Saturday was originally going to be spent sleeping until noon and then rereading my favorite book, Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." But my friend, Julie, had other ideas. She had convinced me to meet her here, outside of the Garrett County Fairgrounds, bright and early at 8am. And here I stood, waiting for her to arrive, which didn't take long.
Julie came around the corner at a jog, a grin brightening her face when she noticed me waiting.
"Hi, Anne, I half-expected you to not be here," she said.
"And miss this? After the way you talked it up all week? Never. You know I'm the greatest friend ever and wouldn't miss antique shopping with you," I responded with a grin of my own.
After paying our five dollars each at the ticket booth, Julie and I, entered the Fair. Apparently, this was a popular place to be because everywhere I looked there were people crowding into booths admiring the various antiques on display for sale. There was furniture, dinnerware, hand-made crafts and all sorts of knick-knacks to see. And, the smell of Fair food was making my mouth water. It was only a little after eight in the morning and I was craving funnel cake.
Julie and I weaved through the throngs of people inspecting the goods for sale. Julie was especially interested in old teapots. She liked to refinish antique teapots by painting them and using them as vases for silk flower arrangements. The more quirky the teapot, the better. For my birthday last year, she gave me a beautifully painted teapot adorned with the White Tree of Gondor and filled with gold and silver flowers symbolizing the leaves of Telperion & Laurelin.
Speaking of Julie, sudden movement caught my eye as said friend made a dash towards a particularly promising looking booth. I quickly went to follow her. The booth Julie bolted to was filled with various trinkets and a few teapots that seemed to have peaked her interest. While Julie picked through the teapots, I wandered towards the back of the booth to look at some old picture frames, where one frame seemed to stand out amongst the others.
At first, it looked like an ordinary antique picture frame, but upon closer inspection it was not a picture frame at all. It was actually a mirror covered in layers of grime. It was a small oval mirror, about six inches in diameter set in a delicate frame comprised of intricately woven porcelain branches that were probably white underneath the grunge. I picked it up to get a closer look and as I did so, my heartbeat quickened and time felt as if it was standing still. The background noise of the Fair faded away as I concentrated on the intriguing mirror. I turned it over and taped to the back was a small faded note card with small printed lettering that read:
"Pilfered from the House of Elrond in the land of Imladris. Bedchamber of Lord Elladan Peredhil. 12.50."
I had to suppress a chuckle after reading that, which helped release the tension that had built up internally. My pounding heartbeat returned to normal and the booth no longer felt like it was closing in. Well, the price was good, so I purchased the curious mirror. The booth owner carefully wrapped it in tissue paper and placed it in a bag for me. Julie ended up getting a dented silver teapot and we wandered around for a few more hours. After Julie selected 3 more teapots, one, which I insisted, she must buy because she absolutely needed a square teapot, we went to grab a bite to eat.
I finally got my funnel cake and we decided to call it a day. Julie and I went our separate ways. She wanted to start working on her new acquisitions right away and I headed back to my apartment to enjoy doing nothing the rest of the day. Once I arrived at my apartment, I unlocked the door and was greeted by my orange tabby cat, Milo. I sat down at the kitchen table and began to carefully unwrap the mirror. Milo jumped onto to the table to inspect the mirror himself but one sniff of it caused him to emit a low growl and sent him diving for cover under the couch in the other room.
"Strange cat," I muttered to myself as I grabbed a micro fiber cloth from the kitchen counter and set to work on cleaning off the grit that had accumulated over the years on the little mirror. After several minutes of careful cleaning, the mirror began to gleam from its newfound clean state. It was really breathtakingly beautiful once all of the grime had been removed. The branches framing the mirror were an iridescent white and the mirror itself could now reflect again.
Now, I just had to find a place to hang it. I held it at arms length towards the blank wall of my cozy kitchen. Moving it from one end of the wall to the other trying to decide on the perfect place to hang it. As I paused at one part of the wall and looked into the mirror, I gasped. There looking back at me wasn't my reflection or my tiny kitchen. It was a dark haired man with statuesque facial features. He blinked back at me in confusion and turned his head to the right as if to call out to someone behind him. In that instant, the sudden movement caused his long locks to gently move away from the side of his head and I caught a glimpse of a pointed ear. I was so startled, my hands involuntarily began to shake and the mirror slipped from my grasp falling towards the tiled floor, where it shattered.
The End.
Epilogue
Due to the commotion caused by the shattering of the mirror, Milo decided to creep out from under the couch to investigate. As I noticed him low crawling back into the kitchen, I quickly shooed him away to prevent him from injuring himself on the broken mirror pieces. After looking at me with a quizzical expression, Milo ducked back under the couch. I then grabbed a broom and dustpan from the side closet and began to sweep up the mess; all the while, my mind was racing with jumbled thoughts.
"Did I just see what I think I saw or was it my imagination? Was my inexpensive little mirror a mirror at all or something else?" I mused to myself.
After collecting the mirror bits into a paper bag, I decided that I was not crazy. I did just see an elf. And not just any elf but a Perdhil and if the note card from the back of the mirror was correct it was most likely Elladan. Since the mirror was supposedly taken from his room. But how? Maybe my mirror was not exactly a mirror but some kind of window? Well, I guess I will never know.
Instead of throwing out the paper bag with the unsalvageable mirror I stuck it on the shelf in the side closet where I put the dustpan and broom away. I also taped the faded note card onto the outside of the bag. It was the only part of the mirror that survived the fall in one piece. I knew no one would ever believe my experience but at least I could hold onto the pieces as proof to myself that it did happen.