Five years later... I lived in a Arlington Texas. A suburb of Dallas? Hardly. Arlington has a life all of its own if one has the patience to look for it. True, its not so flashy as Dallas but it has its charm. I lived in a rented house near UTA (university of Texas in Arlington). What can I say, the trees there are beautiful, alone with my dog Erik. So named because of a peculiar white "mask" on the right side of his otherwise black face. Coincidence, I think not. Other than Erik, I had my little sister to visit from time to time so I kept an extra room for her. Of course it was decorated to her liking complete with n'sync poster and pink bedspread. Not exactly something I would have in my bedroom but I had given my word that she could decorate it any way she wanted. Personally I think she took advantage of my generosity.

Now on to my friends. Our group consisted of Ashley, Jessie and me. First off Jessie. Ah Jessie what can you say about her? Nicknamed the "queen bee" for the obvious reason that wherever she goes she seems to naturally attract people to her. As her best friend, I kind of use this to my advantage, meeting new people through her. She's the party animal in our group, always ready to have a good time.

And then there's Ashley. Ashley is an Actress...need I say more? Ok Ashley stop hitting me and I'll elaborate! Sheesh! Are they all like this? Ashley is an award winning actress/poet and proud of it! She can be quite cocky at times. Ouch! On stage I mean. She has a good sense of humor, good enough to get my jokes. And although she doesn't share my passion for phantom, she understands and respects it. (Don't worry guys I'm working on getting her hooked.) Both Ashley and Jessie played a part in my story so just bare with me. P.S. If I say "ouch" at any point in this story it is probably because I have offended the great and powerful Ashley.

It was a day like any other, Ashley and I were out in our garden. Ashley was tending to the flowers while I was adjusting the new gazing ball. Meanwhile Jessie was in the house talking on the phone to her boyfriend. " There." I said sounding very satisfied with myself. Ashley looked up from the forget-me-nots she was planting. She nodded her approval before wiping her nose with the back of her hand a leaving a very noticeable smudge of dirt. I bit my lower lip trying not to laugh. " Come on Ash, I think its time for a break."

"Ok."

We walked in through the back door and headed for the fridge to fetch some goodies. " Who's up for a heart attack?" I asked as I rummaged through the fridge avoiding the various " good for you foods" and heading straight for the junk food. Jessie must have heard me announce food because when I had come up for breath she was standing beside Ashley. "I see somebody has finally decided to grace us with her presence." I said jokingly as I set the junk food out on the counter.

" Na, I just heard someone say something about food."

I rolled my eyes at her and gave her a snickers bar and a Dr. pepper.

We were about halfway through our meal, if you can call it that, when the doorbell rang. Nobody moved and it rang again. Ashley and me looked at Jessie expectantly. " All right I'll get it!" she yelled as she got up and made for the door. " Ember, delivery for you!" she yelled at me not bothering to come back from the door. Hmm the UPS guy must have been cute. I sighed and got up to head for the door. It was probably just another "care package" from my grandma. She had been traveling the world recently and sent me the occasional postcard and stuff she thought I needed to survive. I signed for the package and left it in the front hall, if it was one of her care packages it could wait.

"Dinner" continued with the usual conversation that came with it. Stupid stuff to everyone else but to us it was just normal topics.

"Ya, so I heard this new coffee shop was opening up on cooper st. Zombie coffee I think it was. It sounds cool we have to go there. Oh, and the new Potter book is out we got to go get it." After dinner it was on to the living room to watch the Simpsons. Quality television. While we were enjoying one of Homers classic slip ups my package was still waiting for me by the door. Ashley and I said goodbye to Jessie, she lived down the street but she had a date that night, and started to get ready for bed. Ashley was staying with that night me, as was tradition for us every Friday night. It was just a reason to take a break from everything.

We played a few games of super smash bros. on the 64. I had to beat her a few times with Link before she finally yielded and admitted that he was better than Yoshi. Ouch! Long live Link the champion! Ouch!

Around the fiftieth match I looked at the clock. Twelve o'clock. "Snack time!" I announced throwing the controller to the floor, not before pausing the game, and heading for the kitchen. "I though we weren't supposed to feed you after midnight." Ashley said following me to the fridge. " Ha ha, very funny." Halfway to the kitchen I caught a glance of the package I had gotten earlier. Realizing I had not opened it yet, I told Ashley to go ahead without me while I took a look at it. I walked over to the box and finally noticed how big it was. Had it been standing upright it would have been six feet tall and about two and a half feet wide. I opened the top of the box with my keys and took out the post card she always sent with her packages. It was a picture of the Paris Opera house. She must be in Paris and she knew how much I loved Phantom.

Dear Ember,
Its me in Paris. The people here are so nice. I love partaking in the "people watching" here at the local cafe. One thing I have noticed about the people is that no one wears tennis shoes. Just a funny thought. I visited the opera house as you have probably guessed. Besides this postcard I sent you a few pictures. If you haven't got them yet you should get them soon. I hope you enjoy this little present. I went antiquing and I had to have it for you. I wish you were here with me.
love,
Grandma

No tennis shoes? My Grandma was an odd one. Rumor had it that she had been a biker chick when she had been younger. I had pictures of her on her old Harley Davidson, very cool. Her care packages were full of fluffy pink things that usually ended up in my little sisters hands, but this wasn't a care package...it was a present! How does one describe her presents? Odd, intriguing, unique maybe. No matter, I knew that nothing normal come out of that package and I tore at it with excitement. What could it be, what could it be!. An authentic painting from a real life French artist who might be famous one day...when he died, or a antique hand-woven rug. Ha! Knowing her it was probably a piece of the opera house itself. I wouldn't be surprised.
Finally the wrapping was off. The moment of truth. And there, on the ground, surrounded by the brown paper wrapping was a...mirror.

A mirror? It was surrounded by a silver frame made of tiny metal vines. Bunches of grapes hung from the vines and birds swooped downed on them with a metallic gleam in their eyes. I cocked my head to one side and lifted a brow. Well it was beautiful, It was just that it was so...so...normal... I shrugged my shoulders. Ah well, at least it wasn't alive...or something... You could lose a limb from one of my grandma's presents.

Ashley had crept up behind me. "Oh that's pretty Ember. Another present from your crazy Grandma? I'm surprised the birds don't come to life and peck our eyes out." She said looking over my shoulder. I turned to look at her. "How do you manage to carry all that food!" She shrugged and walked into the living room laden with Dr. Peppers, chips, dip, cookies, popcorn...Ouch! She's hitting me again! And I think I spied a tub of ice cream too. What do you mean Ash, Ouch! It was too that much food! I did not eat most of it! Sheesh...aaannnyway...
The games, and the feast of junk food for that matter, continued long into the night. We got tired of Super Smash Bros. pretty soon so we popped in Wrestlemania. Ah...Wrestling...now there's a sport... Great now your going to stop reading, just shut your computer off and say, "Man what a hick! Wrestling...honestly!" Hold on a minute. Most people who say that have never actually seen a wrestling show. Is it staged? Yes. Do the wrestlers have bad acting skills? Absolutely! But, it does have a plot I assure you. Love, hatred, alliances, betrayal, excitement, all the things that make life interesting all rolled into one two hour special of long haired men and silicon stuffed women. And the best part of the whole thing: Kane. Kane is the seven foot "big red machine". He can take on almost any of the other wrestlers, he's strong, he doesn't listen to anybody, and the best part in my opinion, he seems to be modeled totally after Erik. Kane's character has mismatched eyes, his face was burned and permanently scarred in a fire when he was younger, he wears a mask to hide those scars, his family loathes him, he's had his share of tragic betrayals by women, and he's been titled as a monster and a freak. Very Erik-like.

Ashley finally won a round and we decided it was time to go to bed. It was late and we had to prepare for Saturday. Sure we lived like genuine geeks on Friday, but Saturday was the day to party!

I set up the mirror so that it faced my bed. Had I been a superstitious person, I never would have done that, it was considered bad luck. But I wasn't, so I did. Superstitions, blah! Couldn't scare me with all that voodoo nonsense, not then not ever.

I yawned and drew back the blankets on my bed. I was hoping it wouldn't be that cold in there that night...I hated the cold. The pillow was soft against my cheek and soon enough I was fast asleep.

And then came the dream. The beautiful dream. I dreamed that I had woken up to find Erik in my room singing to me. Beckoning me to rise and follow him. I swooned at the sound of his voice and before I knew it I was lifting the blankets and standing in front of him. He beckoned me, willing me to follow him. Where? I asked him silently. No answer, just music, in his voice, his eyes, his movement. And he moved toward the mirror and I followed him, arms outstretched, fingers just brushing his fingertips. I followed him, and he seemed to pass through the wall into another world. A world of fog and tiny lights, a Paris street. And I realized that he had gone through the mirror. I tried to follow him but I touched only glass. And as I bumped my forehead on the glass his voice stopped and he seemed to grow fainter and fade away till I saw my self in the polished mirror. My reflection and I could see tears in my eyes and I hated it. I hated that he had led me on and then left me here, and I pounded my fists into the mirror. I pounded and pounded until finally the glass broke and shattered. Pieces of mirror went flying all over my room, reflecting a hundred rooms, and all of them my own, not the Parisian street I wished they were.