Best in Show

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Location: Library 

Object: Mirror 

Line: They told me not to, but… 

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Mirror Mirror, by Millie Hansen 

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They told me not to, but of course I did. My parents say I’m stubborn, but I like to say I’m strong willed. Yup, that’s me. Hi, I’m Autym, a stubb…uh, strong willed 12-year-old girl. You may be wondering how I got in this weird enchanted library trying to solve a riddle about a bean. Well, this is the story of how I got here. Let me start from the beginning. 

I was out walking my dog, Sausage. I know what you’re thinking, but no, he doesn’t look like a sausage, I named him when I was only 4 years old…don’t judge. That’s when I saw a yard sale. It was a fundraiser for the library to buy new books. There were a bunch of old rickety trinkets and A LOT of old 5 cent books so at first nothing caught my eye, until it did, literally! A bright streak of light hit my eye. It was being reflected from a gorgeous silver hand held mirror. I picked it up, it was warm to the touch from sitting in the sun. 

“How much do you want for it,” I exclaimed excitedly. 

The librarian turned and flinched when he saw what I was holding. “You may not want that,” he said quietly. 

I was shocked. “What? Why? It’s gorgeous,” I questioned. 

“I have been given quite a few reports that weird things happen around this mirror. In fact, some even say that it belonged to that girl who disappeared a few months ago.” “It’s a good thing I don’t believe in that kind of hocus pocus.” Yup, like I said, strong willed. “How much do you want for it,” I asked again firmly. 

He groaned but then said, “2 dollars.” 

“Deal,” I said happily. I reached into my pocket. “Got change for a 5?” He shrugged, sighed and handed me back 3 dollars. “Let’s go Sausage,” I said, and we walked happily home. Once at home I entered my room and gazed at my reflection in the beautiful mirror. Suddenly the features in my reflection started to change. First, my face began to be spotted with freckles. Then my dirty blond hair began to change into a fiery, curly red, until the face looking back at me was no longer my own.  

“What? No it can’t be! Am I going crazy?” I thought as I gazed deeper at the reflection in the mirror. “What is wrong with this thing?” I yelled as I chucked the mirror at the wall. It shattered into a million little pieces, like tiny crystals scattered on my bedroom floor. Suddenly there was a huge gust of wind through my room, but no windows were open. “What is this?” I wondered. 

An eerie purple glow began to shine on my wall. It got bigger and bigger as the wind picked up. It felt as if it were pulling me closer, almost against my will, like a magnet reaching for a piece of metal.

Out of nowhere rainbow swirls danced in front of my eyes, the sound of a vacuum echoed through my room as I was sucked into the light. All of a sudden darkness drained out the light and I was left alone…or so I thought. 

I don’t know how long I was asleep, but as I began to open my eyes, an all too familiar image came into view. Fair skinned, freckled, fiery red curly hair, I was looking at the girl from the reflection. She was towering over me. Her face had curious written all over it. Her raised eyebrow and squinted eyes told me, a girl getting sucked through a portal isn’t something she saw every day. 

“Uhhh…you okay?” she said with the look of curiosity still on her face. 

“Wh…Where am I? How did I get here? Who are YOU?” 

“Woah, woah, woah slow down. Let’s take this one thing at a time. You are in an enchanted library. You got here by breaking the magic mirror which opened a portal to this library. And I’m Parker, I’ve been here a couple of months I think, hard to keep track sometimes.” 

As Parker talked my thoughts raced back to the librarian at the garage sale and what he said about the mirror and the missing girl. This must be her! Am I going to be stuck here forever? 

Parker must have noticed a look of terror on my face because she explained, “Don’t worry, there’s a way to escape.” 

“What? How?” I asked. She looked up and I followed her gaze to the glass dome ceiling that stretched the length of the library. Through it I could see that the clouds formed words. “Within these walls lie stories of three, 

But the first one starts with one little bean.” 

“I think it’s a riddle to help us escape, but I haven’t figured it out yet,” Parker said. So, Yup, here we are, in a weird, enchanted library, trying to solve a riddle about a bean! “Wait a second, we’re in a library and the answers lie in stories. Remember the story Jack 

and the Beanstalk? It all starts with a bean! Parker, what if the next clue is in the book Jack and the Beanstalk? Do you know where it is?” 

“I guess we could try, the kids section is over there.” Parker pointed and off we went. As we walked into the kids section, we saw statues of fairy tale characters and other bizarre pictures, and for some reason the whole area smelled like cotton candy. 

“So how do we find it?” I asked. 

“Have you never been in a library before?” Parker asks more curious than rude. But I still felt my face get hot at the question. 

“Right,” I responded. We run toward the J section and start frantically searching. “James and the Giant Peach…Jumanji…Junie B Jones… Jack and the Beanstalk! Here it is!” As I opened the book an old piece of paper fell out. 

“What does it say?” Parker asked. 

“I’m the largest animal in the sea, 

But you won’t be scared if you see me.”

“The largest animal in the seas is a whale,” I said. “We need a book with a whale.” “Pinocchio has a whale in it!” Parker supplied. As if we were reading each other's mind we dashed off to the P section. “Pa…Pe…Pi! Here it is! Pinocchio!” She lifted up the book and started searching through it. When no paper fell out she began to shake it. When nothing happened, her face dropped as the hope she felt began to disappear. “I’m sorry, I feel like I let you down,” she said. 

“It’s alright,” I reassured her. “It’s still somewhere, it has to be! We know it’s a whale, what other story has a whale?” 

I can almost see the gears in Parker’s head turning as her expression got serious. “My brother read Moby Dick for school, I think it was about a whale. Maybe it’s there?” she said as hope filled her eyes again. 

“Right! It has to be!” I said. “Where is the classics section?” 

Without missing a beat Parker started to sprint towards what I assume were the classics. I followed her. As we entered, I saw a bunch of famous artwork. Van Gogh, Monet, Bob Ross, you name it! And instead of cotton candy this area somehow smelled like moth balls! 

We started searching through the classics, Anne of Green Gables…Of Mice and Men…Moby Dick! “I found it!” Parker says as she held up an old leather-bound copy of Moby Dick. As she raised the book up a piece of paper fell out. She picked it and read: “This next riddle is not too hard, 

Nor is it too easy, 

It’s just right.” 

We looked at each other and knew immediately where this was going. We raced back toward the kids section with hope in our eyes and pep in each step. Once back in the kids section we were practically tripping over each other to get to the G section. We frantically searched, barely looking at the names of each title as we tossed them aside.  

“GOLDILOCKS! There it is!” we yelled in perfect unison. We both reached for it, seemingly in slow motion. Grabbing the book at the same time everything around me went dark again. It felt as though I was still holding onto that book, but when I opened my eyes I was back in my room. It wasn’t the book in my hands, it was the mirror, in perfect condition as if nothing had happened. 

Without missing a beat, I ran into my dad’s office where he was working, Sausage laying at his feet like he usually was. I knew what we had to do. “Hey dad.” 

Looking up from his computer he smiled and said, “What’s up Auty-Bug?” A nickname he has had for me as long as I can remember. 

“Can we have a yard sale in the morning? I have some stuff I want to get rid of.” “Yeah,” He replied. “I have some old books I’ve been wanting to sell.” 

The next morning we set up the sale. With the mirror being the first thing I wanted to get rid of. Lots of people came when we opened. No one really caught my eye, until she did. Fair skinned, freckled, and fiery red curly hair. It was Parker. As she walked up to me, I could tell she

didn’t recognize me. Something in her hand caught my eye. When I saw what she was holding, I flinched. It was the mirror! 

“How much do you want for this?” she asked. 

I told her not to, but… 

THE END