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.