Mirror, Mirror...

The mirror showed a reflection that was not my own. Upstairs in the attic of my great aunt Greta's house stood a large mirror. It was round. It was mounted to a stand made of cherry wood.

The reflection looked a lot like me, but the clothes and hair weren't quite right. Aunt Greta was loaded, so I just thought it was a costume or trick mirror. That thought went out the window as soon as the reflection reached out and grabbed my hand.

*PAUSE* Let us rewind a bit to how I got I got to this point.

It started as a normal Friday. My alarm went off to wake me up for school. I peeked out of the window to check the weather. A beautifully sunny April day. I always picked my clothes out for the whole week on Sundays. I liked to start with Fridays outfit first and work backward. I am not really sure why honestly. "

"A white tank top, jeans and a flannel shirt with a pair of sneakers. Chill outfit for a chill day." I thought.

Got done getting dressed and headed down for breakfast. Mom and dad are always sitting at the table. Dad with his coffee and newspaper, mom with her tea and phone. Dad gets his news the old school way while mom uses more modern technology. Today was different. My mom was upset and my dad was trying to console her.

"Mom? What happened? Is everything ok??" I asked in a panicked voice.

"Aunt Greta died!" My mom said between sobs.

Aunt Greta was my grandma's older sister. I didn't know her that well. She was a bit of a recluse. She owned this huge (and scary) Victorian house on a hill. It sat on the hill alone. She had a lot of money from all 5 husbands dying.I don't know how she was able to meet and marry 5 different men because, like I said, she rarely left the house. No one even knew she was married until the guy died! Whatever works I guess. She never had any children of her own. My mom was her favorite niece. When aunt Greta was younger, she used to leave her house. Whenever she went out, she picked my mom up to tag along. My grandma accidentally told me she was a little jealous at times. My mom grew up and went away to college. Greta got married. Her husband died about a year after they got married. The insurance money from each husband contributed the huge property. My mom came home from college engaged to my dad. My parents had me not long after they got married. Even though mom and Aunt Greta stopped hanging out, mom called her every Sunday at noon.

"Oh no! Mom, I'm so sorry." She was so heartbroken. I decided not to go to school so I could stay with my mom.

"Dad, you go ahead to work, I can stay here with mom." I said.

"Are you sure honey?" My dad asked.

"Yes dad. It's fine. I have substitute teachers in class today anyway." I replied.

Being Jewish means we have to bury our dead quickly. She had passed on Friday, we buried her on Saturday and the will was read on Sunday. I wasn't surprised that Aunt Greta left everything to my mom, but the rest of the family was. Some members were angry. I learned that death can bring a family closer, but it can also bring out the worst in people.

My poor mom was so super sad. I felt helpless because there was nothing I could do... The days started to fade into each other.

"I'm ready to go to her house." My mom said one night at dinner.

It actually caught us off guard because she had been so quiet lately.

"Are you sure?" My dad asked.

"Yes, honey I'm sure. I haven't been up there in years. I wanna see what all is in there. I might as well, right? It IS my house now. Well, ours." My mom continued.

I was curious myself. Like I said, Aunt Greta had money. I mean like Taylor Swift money!

"ok. We'll go tomorrow then. That sound good?" My dad asked, patting my moms hand.

"Sounds like a plan." My mom said as she tried to force a smile.

Aunt Greta's house was on a big hill, remember? The driveway was almost 2 freaking miles long! We made our way up to the front door and mom used her key to open it. It looked even bigger from the inside. The ceiling was so high. There was a huge chandelier that looked to be made of gold and diamonds. When step further inside the house, beyond the chandelier, there are a set of twin staircases leading upstairs. According to my mom, the house had 7 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms an outdoor pool and a tennis court. One of my aunt Greta's husbands liked to fish, so there is also a large pond with imported live fish on the property as well.

We separated. My parents walked around downstairs on the first floor. I decided to go upstairs. I just walked up the hall poking my head into any room I came up on.

"Aunt Greta had ok taste to be an old lady." I thought as I went through the closet of clothes in one of the rooms I had stepped into. This room was the biggest one I had seen so far. I figured this was my aunt's room. The closet was a walk-in closet. I was in awe. Dresses, gowns, purses, jewelry and shoes as far as the eye could see.

I looked through and even put on a few things. She had feather boas and fancy hats too. The clothing rack seemed to swallow me up. As i drifted further to the back of the closet, I saw a small door. Of course I opened it. After I opened the door, I saw a ladder. You guessed it, I climbed the ladder. I wanted to see where it led to. An attic. This space was large too. There was only male items in here though. Mens clothes and shoes. I saw bottles of cologne and hats too. In a corner near a small round window was a mirror. The mirror I started telling you about. Here is where things got weird. I walked up to the mirror to see how I looked with a top hat on, I figured I would get a good laugh out of it. Boy was I wrong! Looking into that mirror changed my life.

I saw myself at first. Then the reflection began to change. It, like, morphed a bit kinda. Then, the reflection moved on it's own it looked like. I was a little scared, but also intrigued. Clearly I should have run away as soon as I felt something was off. When I finally turned to leave, the reflection grabbed my hand and pulled me into the mirror. As I am being pulled in, the "reflection" me is stepping out. I bang on the mirror as hard as I can while yelling at the top of my lungs.

"HEY!" I yelled. "LET ME OUTTA HERE!!!"

The "reflection" me does a good stretch, smiles and walks away. All of a sudden, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around slowly. It was my Aunt Greta?

*to be continued*