Heroes Mirror

The broom was old and losing its straw daily, but it tenaciously held onto its function as if that was the last strand of its life. And, in truth, it was.

"I should buy a new broom," Azio muttered. "One of those new-fangled swifters . . . or swiffles . . . or somesuch thing that I see advertised." He swung the broom carefully into the corners of the ceiling, swiping away the cobwebs. "Don't know how they ever get made so quickly," he complained to no one but himself.

It wasn't easy to get to the corners, though. The room was full of antiques, some piled on top of others. Scattered throughout were tables, chairs, desks, dressers, vanities, plates, books, magazines, and just about anything and everything. He had to weave his way among the items to get close enough to scatter the cobwebs with the old broom.

A tiny bell rang as the front door opened, and Azio quickly stopped and looked. He edged a bit closer to the door, checking out the person that had entered. The man was big, muscled, and walked strongly into the room. He hit a book and sent it flying off of the desk. Stopping, he looked around, shrugged and continued inwards. The woman behind him excused her husband and walked in. She was small, petite, and very pretty.

"Please, come in," Azio told them. He watched them carefully for a moment and then sighed. Dragging the broom behind him, he walked over to the counter and sat behind it. "Are you looking for anything specific?" he asked. They were normal customers just looking around. His shop held everything from useless junk to valuable antiques, but you had to pretty much search for everything. Even Azio couldn't remember where everything was located, but he did keep strict records of what came in and what was sold. So, he knew if it was in the shop, just not exactly where.

"Just looking," the man said. They spent the next few minutes moving around with the woman oohing and ahhing while the man muttered. "There are no prices on anything," he complained.

"Make an offer," Azio replied. The woman picked up a nice serving platter.

"Oh, look," she said to her husband. "This is part of my set."

"Huh," he muttered and glanced at it. "Yeah, looks like it."

"How much is it?" the woman asked. Azio sighed. "As I was just saying, make an offer."

"Ten dollars," the man said.

"That is far lower than the price I bought it," Azio replied. "However, it has been sitting there for quite some time. I can let you have it for fifty."

"We bought four dishes for that," the husband whined. "No, fifty is too high. How about twenty?"

"Twenty-five and it is yours," Azio said. He knew they would take it. He could have gone as high as thirty but he wanted them to leave. They weren't the kind of customer he was looking for. As they paid for the platter, another customer entered. Azio handed the man his change and leaned around him to see who had entered. It was a young woman.

"Thank you," Azio said and dismissed them. The man gave a harrumph and dragged his wife out the door.

"May I help you?" Azio asked the new woman. She was slightly plump but he could see the development of some muscles in her arms. She was working out in some form. Neatly trimmed short brown hair was kept clear from her face. No lipstick or any makeup at all allowed a nice contrast between her high cheekbones and her small, sharp nose.

"I never saw this place until today," she said. "I like to shop for antiques as presents." Her smile was genuine and there was a twinkle in her eyes.

"This room has most of my inventory, but I do have some mirrors in the back room," Azio told her. He could tell she was one of the chosen.

"Mirrors?" she asked. "What kind?"

"Oh, all sorts," Azio replied. "Most of them are fairly large but some are smaller. I have all shapes and sizes."

"Could I see them?" she asked. "I've always loved old mirrors."

"Certainly," Azio said. "Please follow me." He turned and walked to the back of the room and opened a door. Stepping inside, he waited for her. She took one step into the room and stopped.

"Oh," she rasped as she held her breath. The whole room contained mirrors. Most of them were fairly large and were propped against the walls, but some stood on their own. There were ovals and rectangles and squares and odd shapes. Something caught her eye and she moved to a large rectangular mirror against the left wall. "What?" She turned and looked all around her. "Where?"

Azio looked at the mirror and smiled. She was one of them. The image in the mirror showed a large rolling meadow. "They are magic mirrors," Azio explained.

"Magic?" she whispered and looked around again to see if some trick was being played on her.

"Touch it," Azio said. She tentatively stepped forward to the mirror and let her hand run along the wooden frame. "No, the mirror." She watched as her hand slid down and into the mirror.

"Augh!" she yelped and jumped back. "You're not kidding." She stared at him with her mouth open. He saw a fairly nice set of teeth with only one slightly crooked.

"There are things in this world that no one can explain," Azio told her. "These mirrors are gateways to other worlds."

"Why aren't all the others showing something?" she asked. Azio knew she was intelligent from the gleam in her eyes earlier.

"Only one activates when the right person is near," he said. Her eyes grew wide. She picked up things quickly. "Let me explain a bit more. There is a chair over there if you'd like to sit." She shook her head, so he continued. "There are a lot of worlds out there that have problems. The balance of good and evil has tipped to the side of evil and no one on that world can change it. Somehow a gateway was created in these mirrors to allow a person through who has the potential to change the balance."

"A hero," she said with disgust in her tone. "That sounds silly."

"Not a hero, necessarily," he replied. "Just a person who has the potential to change the balance towards good."

"Potential?" she asked. "Is it real?"

He knew she was asking if things were set and if she could die out there. "Nothing is set in stone and all things can be changed. So, a person who goes through can succeed or fail. And just as they can do that, they can also live to come back or they can die and never come back." This was the critical part. He had some who turned and left after being told that information.

"But, the person . . . me, I guess. I have the potential to help people?"

"Not just people, but save the whole world," Azio corrected her. "Each world is different and each circumstance is unique, so sometimes a hero is needed but at other times it requires a different sort of person."

"Wouldn't they still be heroes?" she asked.

"If no one knows that you saved the world, would you really be a hero?" he asked her. "In your eyes alone you would merely have done that which needed done. To the rest, the world merely changed."

"And what am I?" she asked.

"I don't know," he answered. "Only you will know that when you cross over."

"It seems all so silly," she told him.

"Yes," he agreed. "Until you get there and then the seriousness of it all hits you rather hard."

"And you want me to just step through?"

"Yes," he said and waited. He knew she would, but was waiting for her to come to that conclusion on her own.

"Anything I should know?" she asked. "Or take with me?"

"I don't have any knowledge of the world except that it just requires your presence."

"How long will I be gone?" she asked.

"The average time is a few hours, although from what I'm told, a whole lifetime can take place while you are there."

"Told?" she asked, but then the light in her eyes flared. "You've had many others do this. I should have caught on sooner." She hit her forehead with her palm and laughed. There was a trace of hysteria in her laugh.

"Yes. I record their adventure when they come back. You can read any of them once you're back." He didn't tell her that the ones who come back never wanted to read the other adventures. Their own was usually enough for them.

"Have they all come back?" she asked.

"No," he answered. "The mirror shows the view while they are there. If they die, the mirror goes black."

"What's the success rate?" she asked.

"Of coming back alive or of changing the balance?" he asked.

"Both," she said.

"Coming back alive is about eighty percent," he informed her. "You can read about the other answer when you come back."

"If," she corrected him. "If I go or If I come back."

"If," he repeated.

"You know I'm going," she stated. Azio nodded.

"God help me," she whispered and walked into the mirror. Azio watched her appear in the meadow on the other side. ◊

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What happens next is up to you! See the editorial for details about continuing this story.