Mina shrugged her shoulders in response and pointed to her ears, symbolizing she couldn’t hear him. Jared cursed, or at least she thought he did. Clenching his fist, he slammed it against the mirror over and over in frustration and desperation. She saw the mirror twitch a little each time he hit it, or maybe she just imagined it. But either way, it looked like Jared was trapped in the mirror.
Jared became still and walked toward the glass. He leaned forward bringing his mouth close to the other side of the mirror. Taking a deep breath, he slowly breathed warm air onto the invisible barrier leaving a large circle of condensation. Quickly, he reached out one finger and began to write furiously backwards.
The words appeared on Mina’s side, simple, and short: HELP ME!
She reached her hand out to touch the words and felt the coolness of the condensation on her side of the mirror. How was that possible? She touched the mirror and left a small fingerprint in the disappearing condensation. Whatever he was doing was moving through the mirror and having an effect on her side. Mina imitated Jared’s actions and breathed on the mirror. She watched as his eyes widened in hope.
She took her finger and drew three letters. HOW ? But she forgot to write them backward so it looked like, WOH to Jared. He quickly read the letters, and his shoulders dropped in disappointment. Obviously, he didn’t know the answer and was hoping she did. He took a step away from the mirror into the darkness that was surrounding him. He was leaving!
“NO!” Mina yelled. “Don’t give up!” Desperately she grabbed the first thing her hand rested on, a bronze vase. She climbed onto the countertop and raised the vase over her head to bring it down.
Jared saw her actions and began to violently shake his head no and wave his arms, but it was too late. The vase connected with the mirror, shattering it. The force of the blow brought the frame down with it.
Mina stared at where the mirror had hung and was confused by the plain blank wall behind it. She looked around at the shards of mirror on the floor and didn’t see a single reflection of Jared in any of them. She put the vase back down on the counter and stepped back to the floor. Letting her back slide against the cupboards, she sank into the mess of glass. Not caring about her scratched and bleeding hands, she picked up a piece of the mirror and called Jared’s name. Nothing. He didn’t appear. He was gone.
Footsteps sounded loudly on the stairs, and the bathroom door flew open. Dr. Martin came into the bathroom and wrestled the piece of glass out of her hands. Mina argued with him and tried to get it back.
“Stop it!” he commanded angrily. “I will not let you harm yourself. Do you understand? I don’t care what happened; it is no reason to take your own life.” He reached for a towel and pressed it against the cut across her palm.
Mina stilled at his words. He thought she had broken the mirror and was trying to commit suicide. It was completely absurd, but she couldn’t argue when the evidence spoke against her.
“No, it’s not what it looks like! I wasn’t trying to-I don’t know how to explain-I wasn’t…” She bit her lip when he pulled open a drawer and poured peroxide on the cut. He began to wrap the wound with bandages from the same drawer. She had to hand it to him; the good doctor sure did keep his supplies stocked.
He paused and looked at her carefully. “Then try and explain what happened here. Otherwise, I’m calling your mom and you are going home. I don’t care if you are Nan’s best friend. I don’t want her hanging out with someone that is a bad influence.” On the word influence, he pulled the bandage a little too tight and her leg flinched and she thumped her head against the bathroom cabinet in sudden surprise from the pain.
“Ow!” she mumbled, rubbing her head carefully. “Would you believe that I am just that clumsy?”
“Then what was with the glass?” He held the piece of mirror that he had taken from her; it still had a few specks of blood on it. But it gave Mina the proof she needed.
“It’s only spots of blood. I was washing my hands when the mirror detached from the wall and fell on me. I used my hands to protect my head when it fell. Look around. Other than a few scratches from the glass on the outside of my arms, I have no injuries. I cut the inside of my palm when I tried to clean up the mess. That’s when you came in.”
She held out her arms, exposing her wrists and flipping them to show the back of her hands. “All the damage is on the back of my hands. Proof I wasn’t trying to hurt myself. You have to believe me when I say I am extremely clumsy and have inherent bad luck.”
“Hmm,” he intoned, before slowly regarding the bathroom and broken mirror thoughtfully.
“Where’s Nan?” Mina asked quickly before he accused her of anything else.
Dr. Martin didn’t look at her; he continued to scrutinize the wall where the mirror had hung earlier. She could tell he was weighing the possibilities, still deciding if he was going to believe her. “Out on the dock with Veronica--they are getting ready for a boat ride.”