An angry man punches a mirror… and finds a whole new world behind it.

Bob awoke from his afternoon nap to hear some clanking outside his front door.  Packages…?  Suddenly, he snapped out of his stupor.  Yay packages!!  My rocket science kit is here!  He rushed to the front door and opened it, only to see his neighbor thundering away with a massive box in his hands.  Again? Ugh!

“Hey! Give those back to me!  Those are mine!”  Swiftly, Bob lifted his baseball bat from its place next to the door and charged after his neighbor.  Unfortunately, his neighbor hopped into his rusty sedan and zoomed far, far, away down the sticky black road. 

“Curse my neighbor!  Stealing my packages!”  Bob stormed back into his home and slammed his hand into the mirror hanging on the wall next to his front door.  Immediately, he regretted his decision as his cut hand dripped blood onto the ceramic floor.  “Ow!  I despise my neighbor!”  Clutching his bleeding hand, Bob grabbed a roll of gauze from his kitchen drawer and quickly bandaged his hand.  Then, he went to clean up the shining shards of broken mirror.

As he approached the mirror, he expected to see the black mirror-back where he had broken the surface.  Instead, he saw… green pastures?  Why would there be green pastures behind my mirror?  Driven by his curiosity, Bob slowly extended his hand into the hole in the mirror.  To his surprise, instead of his hand contacting solid metal, it passed through the mirror; he could feel a slight breeze blow over his hand.  Wow!  I wonder what this “mirror-world” is like!  Bob immediately smashed the rest of the mirror with his baseball bat and stepped through, ignoring the most pressing question: how he would return.

As he walked through the mirror-portal, he could feel the cool breeze and soft green grass underneath his feet, contrasting with the warm stuffiness from his house.  However, when he turned around to return to the normal world, there was only more green pasture and some trees behind him; the mirror-portal was completely gone.

“What?  Oh no, the portal is gone!”  Shocked by the lack of return, Bob immediately panicked and began running in all directions.  “Help!”  he cried into the empty wilderness. 

“Help!  I need to get home and away from this strange place!”  In his frenzy, Bob collided with a large mass of vines; due to his panic, he interpreted it as a many-tentacled monster. 

“Something is attacking me!  Help!”  Bob clawed at the vines - and then realized they were just vines.  Huh.  I wonder if they have fruit on them.  He carefully inspected the vines, and saw bunches of orange fruit hanging on it.  Then, he quickly pulled one of the fruits off and smelled it.  It smelled like a grape.  He squeezed it, and the juice from within smelled like grape juice.  He popped it into his mouth, and it tasted like a grape.

However, the mirror-world began to swim and bend in front of his eyes, and he felt incredibly drowsy.  Bob only managed to stumble forwards two steps until he collapsed on the grass and fell asleep. 

When he awoke, a pounding thunderstorm beat rain down on his back and lightning crackled in the distance.  I must find shelter… Bob thought as he stood up and looked around.  He walked toward the dark, rustling forest off to the north, hoping to find shelter.

Walking between the darkened trees, he spied a small, cozy-looking fire with shadows dancing around it.  His exhaustion and need for shelter overrode his suspicion, as he tramped through the wet grass and rain toward the light.

Finally, Bob walked into the small circle where the natives of “Mirror-Land,” as he had begun to call it, had set up camp.

“Halt!” the two natives cried, raising their weapons.

Bob stopped short and raised his hands over his head.  “Wait!  I just want some shelter”

The native people lowered their weapons, allowing Bob to get a good look at them.  There was a woman and man and looked just like people in the normal world, except they wore extremely colorful clothing; even in the gloom of the storm their garb glimmered and flashed with all the colors of the rainbow.

The woman looked at Bob.  “Have a seat, friend. Hide from the power of the storm and regale us with some of your tales.”

“Well…” he took a seat next to the fire.  “I came here by walking through a broken mirror.” 

The man and the woman gasped.    “You are from the Ether?”

Bob looked quizzically at the two people and their reaction.  “Ether?  What Ether?”

Quickly, the two natives rose and smothered the fire.  “Come, we must return to our settlement quickly.” 

What?  Why is there suddenly so much hubbub about just me? 

Bob and man and the woman, who he learned were called Garret and Josefina, slogged through the mud and rain toward a larger settlement of cabins on a cliff overlooking the sea.  A small river ran through the settlement, cascading as a waterfall into the sea.

As they neared the cliff, Bob gazed out over the sea.  He watched as a massive manta ray leaped out of the ocean and sailed through the air before slipping back into the water.

“Wow!  Look at the huge manta ray!” he shouted through the booming thunder.

Garret’s eyes widened at the sight of the Mantasaur.  “It is the great, benevolent Mantasaur, which only surfaces when great happenings occur!”

Looks like I’m a big deal in this Mirror-Land, Bob thought as he watched the dark shadow of a Mantasaur disappear beneath the crashing waves and swim away.

Josefina walked to the largest cabin teetering on the edge of cliff and rapped solidly on the wooden door.  “It is one from the Ether,” she spoke into the door. 

Moments later, the door to the cabin swung open and a man with a long, gray beard stepped out.  “Come in from this terrible rain!  I see there is one from the Ether.”

The three people stepped inside the warm, candle-lit cabin.

“Portals from the Ether only open once every hundred years in the form of a shattered mirror.  The only means of returns to the Ether is through the Mantasaur when the sun is at its peak while grasping a Mantasaur talisman.  What is your name, One from the Ether?”

Wow.  Very complex.  Bob listened intently.  “I’m Bob.  Since I can’t return home now, can I see what the inhabitants of Mirrorland do for a living?”

“Tomorrow in the morning we can show you around.  For now, you should rest,” said Josefina.  “There is a guest cabin on the fringe of this settlement.

-----

True to Josefina’s words, Bob was awakened at the crack of dawn by the sound of jangling bells. 

He dressed in the iridescent clothing of Mirrorland and followed the inhabitants past the burbling river. 

He saw manta rays swim through the river and jump from the cliff into the ocean. 

He helped Garret catch crayfish in a glittering pond. 

He admired the sunlight streaming through the trees and the birds chirping in the background.

He helped dig chunks of clear, glittering calcite out of a small mine.

He carved a chunk of mineral into a small manta ray figure to use as a talisman.

Bob and the other people ran back to their settlement.  The sun was at its peak, right when he could return the real world.  Standing at the edge of the cliff, Bob clutched the clear, sparking manta ray he had just carved and looked down the sapphire waves. As he looked, the shadow of another Mantasaur pass underneath.  The wise man nodded and pushed Bob forward slightly.  “Now is your chance, Bob from the Ether.  Return now, or return never.” 

This place seems like paradise… should I go?  But I have friends waiting for me at home…

Suddenly, he leaped from the edge of the cliff and plummeted toward the water.  At the same time, the Mantasaur rose out of the water towards him, its gaping mouth positioned directly underneath Bob.  This feels so wrong…

Bob’s eye’s snapped open as he lay on the couch in his living room.  Out of the doorway, he could see the intact mirror leaning on the wall.  But, as he lifted his hands to rub his eyes, he saw something in his right hand: a glittering calcite manta ray.