The Magic Mirror. Lucille has heard of it of course, but she’d never really thought she’d find it.

She peered at the mirror pensively. It was said that it showed the audience their deepest desire.

How did she get here? How did she know that this was the Magic Mirror? It’s was as if these questions didn’t matter, she just was there and this was the mirror, and that was how it was supposed to be.

Wondering how she knew what to do, Lucille closed her eyes and knelt in front of the mirror. Holding her breath, she looked up, and staring back at her were the glowing eyes of a disgusting demon. She screamed and scrambled back. So did the demon.

“What the hell!” Lucille watched as the demon’s lips formed the exact same words.

She crawled back to the mirror, eyes wide with fascination and the demon matched her movements.

Suddenly the surface rippled and swirled and the scene changed. Now, the demon sat in a fiery chasm, surrounded by doors. Lucille realized that she was just supposed to watch now.

The monster began walking toward a large black door. Throwing it open, Lucille gasped as she saw it led to her family’s home. It was an exact copy, from the threadbare upholstery to the awful lack of windows. And children covered every surface. They hung from the curtains and climbed on every table and chair. There were so many that there wasn’t enough floor space and Lucille saw children who lay on the ground, being walked on, or crawled over. And in the middle of the great cacophony sat her mother, knee deep in kids. She desperately was trying to change the diapers of 3 of the babies at once and shushing at the toddlers who sat around her and cried for attention. There were deep black bags under her eyes that Lucille could only assume came from not being able to sleep for weeks. No sound or smell could be heard from the mirror but she could only assume that it would have been too grotesque. From the one window in the entire house, people could be seen walking about, happy and laughing. Her mother stared longingly at the scene for a moment, before being forced back to the reality of her own situation.

“Good,” Lucille thought grimly. This was the same mother who refused to stop having children, and refused to take care of them. Who had forced a 7 year old to take care of all of her younger siblings, and chose to spend the days going shopping instead of cooking dinner. Who hadn’t cared when Lucille had been forced to drop out of school at 12 to take care of her 11 siblings. This is what that foul woman deserved.

Suddenly the demon, who had been standing passively at the door, turned and left the scene.

It moved to a smaller, green door with a brass handle and opened it with relish. From her point of view, Lucille could see a lavish banquet hall, with tables that groaned under the weight of roasted eggs, decadent cakes, and steaks larger than her own head. Men and women dressed in the most extravagant apparel sashayed from table to table, filling their plate with every bite they could possibly eat.

Then, she saw the small, ugly man who stumbled around the room, but every time he reached for the food it would just dance from his grasp. She recognized him with ease. Her father’s hungry gaze swept over the room in anguish, and he tugged on the nearest passerby’s dress. Lucille couldn’t hear what he was saying but read his lips with a crystal clarity, as it was a phrase she was too used to saying. “Just a bite, please. I just need a little.”

Her proud father on hands and knees begging for food was perfect.

The demon continued its journey through hell, giving Lucille a delicious view of everyone in her life getting exactly what they deserved. Scenes blended together, mixing into swirling colors until Lucille found herself being shaken awake by her youngest brother, back at home. The mirror and the forest were nowhere to be found.

Normally the morning was a dread filled routine but today was different, it was hopeful, because she knew her dream hadn’t been just a passing flutter of imagination.

No, she had been promised.

I was born with a purpose. A reason and a destiny. Some consider the System a blessing, but for me? For me it is a thinly veiled curse.

You see, I am meant to be a mother. Not the kind that feeds their children and gives them baths. Not the kind that reads them stories at night and holds them after a scary nightmare. I am not the mother that cries when they see their child leave for school for the first time.

I am the mother who will always walk down the street, wondering if every person I see is my child.

I have given birth 30 times. Ever since I turned 13 I have been impregnated every 9 months. I carry a baby so that other women do not have to, so they do not have to risk their lives and health.

I have never seen a baby after birth. My body is ruined. They tell me that I bring unimaginable joy into the lives of everyone, and am highly respected. I don’t want their praise or respect. I want to feel the happiness of a mother.

Amy gently closed the door behind her, stuffed her hands deep inside her pockets, and turned to face the family who huddled together.

“Well doctor?” The small mother whispered.

“Don’t worry Mrs. Clark, the crash did a number on him but he’s expected to make a full recovery.”

“So his arm?”

Amy smiled, “He gets to keep it.”

Amy walked away as the group rejoiced behind her, and she was quickly joined by her best friend and colleague, Miranda.

Miranda shook her head, “ I don’t know how you do it, that boy’s arm was pretty much already torn away after that crash and you managed to save it all by yourself! You didn’t even have a crew!”

“Well I didn’t spend all that money on medical school for nothing.” Amy replied while giggling.

Miranda patted her arm, “You go rest, I’ve got a patient waiting for me.”

A few moments later, Amy stood panting in front of a bathroom mirror. Her hands trembling in front of her, still faintly glowing. Healing that boy had taken a lot out of her, but it was worth it. That boy’s family was just on the edge of poverty, but he had managed to get himself a full ride to a local college off of a football scholarship. She had saved his future.

She chuckled at the lie she had told Miranda earlier, she actually hadn’t even gone to medical school. When she had gained her powers 5 years ago, she knew that the world couldn’t wait for her to take years of medical school. So she’d forged documents and gotten this job at a small local hospital, to gain experience and learn more about her amazing powers.

A few rooms away Miranda patiently studied files over the last few years. She had already discovered the forged documents, and the fact that Amy had never gone to medical school. She hadn’t informed the hospital board yet. She had a theory on how Amy was helping these people but, she hoped she was wrong.

May 18th, 2015; Amy healed the broken leg of a John Stewart in 10 minutes. June 7th, 2017; Amy restarted the heart of Diego Sanchez 15 minutes after it stopped. June 21st, 2018; Amy completely healed a 3rd degree burn, without any scars on a Jade Thomas. The list of miracles went on and on.

This kind of healing power was... magical. Miranda has to dig deeper. May 18th, 2017; John Stewart was diagnosed with prostate cancer. June 7th, 2019; Diego Sanchez was diagnosed with leukemia. June 21st, 2020; Jade Thomas was diagnosed with breast cancer. After a few more hours of research, she realized that every single miracle patient treated by Amy had been diagnosed with one form or another of an aggressive form of cancer exactly 2 years after seeing her.

Miranda leaned back in her chair, she had seen this pattern before. When she too had made the stupid mistake of making a deal with the Devil.

The misty path stretched out before them, at the end lay a graveyard filled with fog. Three girls stood at the of the path. This was the start, the beginning of a story that would be told for generations...

“Oh hell naw,” said Betty as she turned around and headed back to their car, “I didn’t sign up to walk headfirst into a creepy graveyard.”

Dora nodded in agreement, “My grandma is dead, I don’t really care what happened to her.”

Emma grumbled as she started the car, “I don’t even know why we’re out here, the author did an awful job of giving us any motivation.”

“Is this seat taken?” Max turner, pulled off his earbud and smiled at the pretty young woman who stood behind him, gesturing at an empty seat.

“Don’t have a clue sorry.” He said with an apologetic smile, “But I don’t see anyone’s stuff so I think you’re good.”

She thanked him, quickly sitting down with her suitcase and pulling out a Kindle. They were at the counter of a coffee shop in the Seattle International airport.

She seemed nice, and Max was tempted to start a conversation, but it was clear that she was lost in the story that she was reading, and Max was socially adept enough to understand that she probably didn’t want to talk.

A few minutes later, he picked up his stuff and left for his gate, his flight was boarding in 30 minutes.

He didn’t even know her name.

I have no masks but I am faceless in your eyes I’m anonymous

“...earlier today a catastrophe struck, may we have a moment of silence for an American hero...”

Joe could all but imagine the news reports playing frantically back home. Maybe his ex would see them, and break the news to his kid. Maybe she would have to learn in school. It wouldn’t matter for much longer, Joe was already getting so cold.

“...the repercussions for NASA and the international space programs are predicted to be astronomical...

He didn’t have many regrets as he continued to drift in the darkness. Everything has been fulfilled except for one. The very reason he had gone to space.

He could imagine his daughter’s face, when she realized her dad was the Joe Sharp, America’s astronaut sweetheart, and the hug where he would whisper all of his apologies. He would have asked if it made everything he had done ok, every birthday he missed, every time he ran away, every time he even denied that she was his. He would have asked that despite everything, was she proud?

He knew it didn’t matter. It never really had, because now he was going to die. He was going to die without ever holding his daughter. He was going to die, drifting in the vast expanse of space, forever doing what he did best.

Running from the one thing that actually mattered.

The lone man walked across the flaming fields. He spotted a shadow on the ground, traveling in lazy circles. Covering his eyes with one hand he looked up.

“Hey, Brad! Over here!” He yelled at the flying demon, who swooped down and gave him five.

“What’s up dude, when’s the meeting?”

Jesus furrowed his brow, “What meeting?”

The spirit shook his head in amazement, “You’re meeting Satan, the tormentor of souls, the most dreaded being in the universe, who is taking you to heaven himself, yet you forget you have a meeting with him?”

“Well shit man, when you say it like that you make me sound stupid or something.”

Brad laughed and shoved him over, “You are stupid.”

Jesus chuckled as he held out a hand for Brad to help him get up. What he didn’t notice in his mirth was the demon’s face light up when their hands touched. Or maybe he did.

The pair were an odd sight to see, if any of the mortals had eyes that hadn’t been plucked out had seen them. As they traversed across the levels of hell, anyone could see that they were close as, well, hell. Well, again anyone who wasn’t screaming in pain at the time.

They walked for hours, talking, laughing, bumping into each other on occasion, and listening to the symphony of screams echoing around them.

The couple seemed casual and lazy, but both knew that they were avoiding the inevitable, eventually pulling up just outside of Lucifer’s castle.

“Well this is me,” Jesus nervously stammered, lightly tugging on his beard.

“Um, good luck with everything I guess.”

“Thank you”

They stood there for several painful moments before a choked up Jesus pulled Brad into a hug.

“Try to to keep my memory alive down here alright?”

“How could I ever forget you?” The demon whispered, his hot breath sending a shiver down the messiah’s spine. Suddenly Brad gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and took off.

“Well that was unnecessarily sexual,” the deep voice of the Devil uttered behind the breathless man.

Jesus spun around in panic, “Oh shit, how much did you see? Don’t tell mom!”

“That you’re a raging homosexual?” Lucifer’s laugh boomed. “Don’t worry about it, we’re not exactly on speaking terms.”

“Let’s just get this over with,” Jesus sighed and held his arms out, ready to be taken into the cold world of “heaven.”

“Put your damn hands down.” Lucifer snapped. “Let’s make a deal hmm? I’ll let you stay down here...and you stay and torture souls in the fields?”

“And why would you do that?”

“It’s perfect! All these souls pray to you, beg you for favors in return for their ‘belief,’” he spat, “and what would be the most crushing thing to see in hell? Their savior working for Satan himself.”

Jesus raised a brow.

“And what can I say?” Lucifer laughed as he rocked back onto his heels, “I’m a sucker for a good love story.”