School played out as it normally did for Charlie. She went to her classes and quietly did her work without ever uttering a word, she pretended not to hear other students whispering about her and she ignored the insults thrown at her, she had lunch, made sure that she packed everything she needed to do her homework, then walked with Vaggie over to the elementary school where they would pick up Octavia.
"I'm sorry I can't go to the art gallery with you tonight Vaggie." Charlie apologized as they waited for the elementary school to let out. "Stolas has me on babysitting duty again."
"Not a problem, I understand." Vaggie said. "My mom probably wasn't even going to let me go anyway. It's a school night and on school nights I'm supposed to be in my room studying. Then again it's not like she'd know if I went or not. She doesn't get home til after midnight."
"She might quiz you in the morning though. Stolas does that to me sometimes."
"She doesn't quiz me but she's constantly on my case about school. Are you ready for the test Vaggie? When does your report card come in? Have you started looking at any colleges yet?"
"And how long before you tell her that you've decided not to go to college?"
"I'm still waiting for just the right moment. Mom's had her heart set on sending me to a university since I was in diapers. Finding out that I'm going to become an artist when I graduate, will come as a shock to her. But I'm sure she'll get over it."
"Are you still going to spend that money your grandparents left you on an art studio?"
"That's the plan."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life but maybe you should hold on to that money and give college a try. You can get a degree in art, you know."
"Yeah but my dad always said that you can't get artistic inspiration from a professor or a textbook or a study, you can only get it from experiencing life. I'm not going to waste my time learning art in an emotionless classroom."
"Well whatever you decide to do, you have my support all the way."
"Thanks. But what about you? What are you going to do after graduation?"
"Honestly, I've always dreamed of going to Julliard and becoming an actress like my mom. I remember watching her perform on stage as a kid, and she always looked so beautiful and free with herself. It was like she could enter another world and become another person, and everyone would cheer her on. I thought it was the most amazing thing ever."
"Hey why don't you sign up for the school play? Audtitions start next month?"
"What show are they doing?"
"I think it was called The Loneliest Heart."
Charlie's eyes were suddenly twinkled like a night sky full of stars.
"The Loneliest Heart?! Are you serious?!" She asked raising her voice to an excited tone, which was the first time it had ever happed since she came to this town.
"I'm guessing you're familiar with it?" Vaggie smirked.
"I know it by heart. It was the first show I ever saw my mother in and I loved the story so much, that she gave me the playwright book. For years I have memorized each and every word."
"Then you're a shoe in to get a part."
"You think that I could the lead? My mother played the lead."
"You have as much chance as anyone else."
"Oh Vaggie, if I actually performed in that play, as the lead role, it would be a dream come true. I'd probably never ask for anything again as long as I lived. High school wise that is."
"I guess that means you'll be at auditions next month."
"I can't wait."
About ten minutes later, the elementary school finally let out and Octavia ran to meet the two older girls. Then the three of them walked home together. Traffic was particularly busy in town that day so Vaggie suggested that they take a short cut through the overgrown meadow that was located behind a large clump of trees. Charlie had never been this way before, Vaggie had come across here countless times, Octavia had walked by about once or twice. They were just passing underneath an acorn tree when Charlie noticed something.
It was an old bank of a stream only a few spaces from where they stood and a wooden bridge had been built over it. A bridge thickly shaded by overhanging trees which cast gloom about it even in the daytime.
"What's that?" Charlie asked pointing over to the bridge.
"Just an old bridge that was probably built by the pioneers of something." Vaggie said.
"Did you ever go across it?"
"No not really. I guess I never thought about it."
"You think anyone would mind if we took a look at it? Maybe see what's on the otherside?"
"I got time to kill."
"No." Octavia opposed quickly. "Daddy says we're not allowed to cross the bridge."
"I never heard him say that." Charlie said. "He told me that one day when we were coming back from the market. He said he never wants me to go on the bridge because it's old and it could break."
"Well he said you couldn't go on it." Vaggie said. "Not us."
"But you probably shouldn't. Besides Charlie, we're supposed to go straight home."
"No one will mind if he stop and look at a bridge for five minutes." Charlie said.
Charlie and Vaggie then approached the bridge with curiousity. Octavia followed behind them nervously, and she became even more nervous once they reached the bridge entrance and the wind suddenly started to blow in that direction. Almost as if it wanted them to cross the bridge.
"I don't see much on the otherside." Charlie observed. "It looks like just a patch of dirt land."
"I don't wanna cross it!" Octavia said. "It gives me the creeps!"
"Don't be such a scaredy cat Via." Vaggie said.
"Charlie let's go home." Octavia pleaded. "I don't like this bridge! And it'll be dark soon! If we're not in the house by dark I'll tell Daddy and you'll be in trouble!"
"You're such a tattle-tale Octavia." Charlie scoffed. "But we probably should go now. We'll look at it some other time."
"How about a time when we don't have a scared, little, baby with us?" Vaggie asked.
"I am not a baby!" Octavia argued. "I just do what my daddy says, and I don't think your mommy would want you going on that bridge either Vaggie."
"How do you know what my mom would want squirt? You've never even met her."
"She's overheard Stolas talking to her on the phone, so she thinks she knows everything about your mother." Charlie explained. "And by the way, what has Stolas told you about evesdropping and making assumptions?"
"It's not a bad assumption." Octavia said. "And it doesn't ruin anyone's reputation. Whatever that means."
"God I'm glad I'm an only child." Vaggie said.
The girls then left the bridge and eventually Charlie and Octavia parted ways with Vaggie when they reached the old house. Once inside, Charlie and Octavia did their homework and Charlie put a videotape in to keep Octavia busy while she re-read her the playwright book titled The Loneliest Heart.
It was the story of a goblin king who rejected the advances of a witch so she tried to steal his heart, she could rip it from his chest but she couldn't own it for he did not love her. So she hid the heart and the goblin king became cold, bitter, and cruel dictator who could never be happy. One day he invaded the fairy kingdom and the kingdom's princess offered to live in his castle and try to make him happy if he spared her people. The goblin king consented because conquering other lands had not made him happy, he decided to try something new. The fairy princess spent her days singing and dancing for the goblin king, telling him stories about her kingdom and her people, and over time her beauty and goodness softened him. Then one day the goblin king's heart appeared in her hand signifying that he had fallen in love with her and that had finally made him happy.
Charlie sat in front of her vanity, reading the small book that contained the play's contents and she would look up from the pages several times, trying to repeat the lines by memory. She would also glance at the photograph and poster clippings of her mother Lilith that she had pinned to the mirror and would compare her appearance to Charlie's own reflection. Lilith Morningstar had been a gorgeous and glamorous actress. Her daughter thought that she had been the most beautiful woman in the world and so much wanted to be beautiful like her.
She removed the band holding her blond hair up in a pony tail, allowing the golden locks to fall down to her back, wearing it the same way her mother wore her hair. Next she took a lipstick from the vanity drawer, put a little on her lips, and rolled them together as her mother would do before every show or date or party. After that she moved her face close to the mirror and smiled, hoping to see some resemblance between herself and the woman in the clippings. She could see no resemblance at all, and frowned.
"I know that it's what's on the inside that counts." She told her mother's picture. "But I really wish that I could be beautiful inside and out like you were Mom."
She then turned her attention to a framed picture of her father that sat on her nightstand.
"And as smart as you were dad. Mr. Adare says that my grammar needs a lot of work. I guess that means I'll never be the literary genius that you were."
She started to feel awfully blue again, so she picked up the music box her mother had given her and turned the key. She watched the little dancer in the frilly dress twirl in pirouettes as a tune twinkled from within. The music touched her in such a wonderful manner that she found herself rising from the chair, closing her eyes, and dancing about in her bedroom. She imagined that she was in another place entirely. At a grand hall where was she dressed elegantly and dancing so gracefully that all who saw her were awestruck. She began to picture a handsome stranger staring at her longer than anyone else in the room and so very much wanting to ask her to dance with him.
For a moment she actually thought someone was watching her and when the music stopped she opened her eyes, looking directly at the mirror. She saw only her reflection and the reflection of the bedroom in the glass, nothing else. Yet she had the the strangest feeling that something or someone was on the other side. This feeling was so strong that she slowly approached the mirror and looked for something other than a reflection.
She didn't see anyone, and why would she see anyone? This was her room and she was the only person there. Logically she wouldn't see anyone other than herself in that mirror. She was alone. So why did she feel like she wasn't?
"Hello?" She spoke to glass. "Is somebody in there?"
Charlie cautiously placed her hand on to the reflective surface. Nothing happened from her point of view.
"What am I doing? I'm talking to a mirror." She thought as she pulled her hand away. "No wonder people at school think I'm nuts."
However if she didn't know better, she'd swear that she could sense a hand on the other side trying to touch hers.