Looking Glass of Memories
by: Megan Dunbar Period:3 3/16/10
A girl of about 18 enters her bedroom and in the dark stands before a mirror. The tears glistening in the small light from a single candle are inflicted by the cold and harshness of the world. She kneels before the mirror, the mirror of her memories and life. She looks into the mirror. A thin, pale girl looks back at her scared and discouraged.
Then the image changes. She sees a young 14 year old girl, innocent, shy and frail. The look of pure teenage youth about her. The girl recognizes the image. The image is of her. Determined, unknowing, and curious the female image stands before her a look of joy on her face. The girl sheds a few more tears that gently fall down her face.
The image changes again; where a teenage girl once stood now stands a 26 year old woman. She has pale skin and is carrying in her arms a baby girl. The image still held some of the same features of the 14 year old. Her eyes glimmered with youth and happiness. Something else lies in her eyes too. It is wisdom. She holds determination and confidence in the folds of her body. She smiles at the girl kneeling before her.
The girls tears stop falling and she gazed long and hard at the woman in front of her. This woman, she knew, was her future; the teenager her past. She stood up and reached up a hand to wipe the tears away from her face. A pale hand touched the cold surface of the mirror. Immediately the image vanished, leaving only the reflection of the girl. No longer did they hold distress, or even fear, but courage, determination, a will to succeed and live to the fullest.
She does not entirely hold the curiosity of adolescence. She has not entirely lost it either there is still a glimmer left in her eyes. She still has the same youth and wisdom that restes on her brow much like the woman she would become. The girl steppes back from the mirror. Her skin has returned to its pale color and her eyes sparkle in the now gentle light of the candle. She watches as her fragile figure appeared in the mirror. The once discouraged girl gives a smile. She tells herself silently that she would not again fall into the depth of discouragement, pain, and sorrow. She straightenes her body pulling herself up to her full height and slowly, silently walkeds on bare feet to a small end table where a lit candle sat. She loweres her body towards the table and quietly with a small smile on her face blew out the candle sending the room into darkness.