The Mirror. Themed Photo Shoot. Toledo Model.

It was a pretty piece left over from a gilded age. The young girl's mother had found it in the attic and thought it would look nice in her little bedroom. It hung unobtrusively on the wall waiting for the tot to be tall enough to see into its shiny mercurial depths.

When the little girl was big enough she would push the red velvet footstool against the wall and climb up on it. She could only see her eyes at first, but that was enough. Not long after that first reflection the mirror began whispering to her. When she told her mother, she smiled at her daughter and proceeded to tell her about all the imaginary friends she had when she was little.

The little girl decided that the mirror must be her imaginary friend and decided to call her Me-Me, after all, it was as though she was friends with herself.

As she grew taller and older, her reflection in the mirror told her all sorts of stories about the people she had seen over the centuries. Pompous kings with their powdered wigs and passionate princes with their wiskery mustaches and beautiful princesses. The girl loved to hear the stories and often spent hours listening to her imaginary friend in the mirror.

When she became a young woman something began to happen to her reflection in the mirror. Shadowed lines began to appear around her eyes. At first she thought it was something on her face, but when she looked in one of the mirrors in the bathroom there were no lines. It was only the mirror in her room. The mirror told her that one day soon something spectacular would happen.

Now, the young woman knew that talking to her mirror and having it talk back to her was not what most would consider normal, but she had been in the habit for so long that she found herself still going back to that imaginary friend in the mirror. Especially when she found it hard to make friends or find someone to love.

One morning when she woke up she heard Me-Me calling to her. When she went to the mirror she saw her reflection had a beautifully crafted black mask on it. It was so real she had to feel her face. But the mask was only on the reflection in the mirror.

Me-Me said, "Today, is the day. Get dressed, then find a bag large enough to carry me in. We are going for a walk in the woods."

The young woman listened to her most trusted friend. She got dressed, then carefully took Me-Me off the wall. Placing it in a large sack she left her room and went into the woods.

After a long time, Me-Me instructed her to open the bag and hold her out so she could see her.

The young woman held the mirror out at arm's length. Suddenly her image began to change and she felt her head start to pound. It was as if her skull was being crushed. Crying out, she dropped the mirror and fell to her knees. Closing her eyes she felt wind swirl around her pulling at her clothes and hair. She felt as though she were going to be torn apart. Then it stopped.

Opening her eyes she saw the sky and the tops of the trees above her, then she saw Me-Me.

She was smiling down at her where she lay...inside the mirror.