Cursed Mirror

Hello Dear Reader! Buying a house is difficult. Buying a house without cursed mirrors should be easy. Right?

Lisa screamed in terror. Someone had left a message written in the fog on her bathroom mirror. She wrapped her town tight around herself, taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. She eased open the bathroom door and peeked out into her house. She listened but heard no sounds of anyone else being there. Quietly Lisa opened the door and slipped out into the cold. She didn't care that her hair was wet and dripping all over the floor.

Peaking around the corner, she didn't see anyone in her kitchen or living room. She stared hard at the bedroom door. Did she close it or leave it open when she went to take her shower?

Her small one-bedroom house was perfect for her. She lived alone and didn't need much space. Her bare feet left water prints on the hardwood floor as she slowly made her way to the hallway closet. She never took her eyes off of the bedroom door.  

She fumbled with the closet handle opening it without much noise. The bat was easy to reach. She would make her intruder wish they had picked a different house.

With bat over her shoulder, ready to swing, she tiptoed to the bedroom. She opened the door and jumped in, giving her best warrior scream (her Viking ancestors were proud). The only adversary startled was Lisa's house plant (the Viking ancestors were disappointed). The house plan knew it wasn't wanted due to the lack of watering. No one else was there.

Lisa, bat ready for combat, rechecked the small one-bedroom single-floor house. No one was there. The doors were locked, and the windows had been sealed with years of poor paint jobs. She went back to the bathroom.

The steam was mostly gone, but she could make out the words on her mirror: "Have a wonderful day."

She thought about it and decided that somehow her prankster best friend had figured out a way to leave a message for her. She would have to have words with Carly later. This prank almost gave Lisa a heart attack.

---

"What do you mean you didn't do it?" Lisa said, not amused with her friend Carly.

"I didn't! I swear!" Carly said, holding up her hands, one hand still holding a lettuce-laden fork. "Good prank, but it's not me."

"Whatever!" Lisa fumed.

The next day, Lisa screamed in terror. A new message on her mirror: "You got this!" Again she made her way around the house in her towel of armor and her bat of death (the Viking ancestors laughed). No one was found, the doors were locked, and the windows were undisturbed. Her house plant wasn't amused to be startled again. It would run away, but it didn't have the grounds to leave (Yes, Dear Reader, I couldn't help myself).

Later that day, Lisa stood in front of upper management. She had her presentation ready, and all of her data and facts would convince them of her project. She had this. She smiled at the thought. Yes, mirror, she did have it.

The next day, Lisa screamed less in terror and more annoyed now. The mirror read: "Water your plant." She toweled off and checked her house. This time she didn't want to have to clean up wet footprints. Nothing and no one. She gave her house plant some water. It appreciated it but still called Lisa a few mean names.

Every day the mirror had a message: "Have a good day!", "You got this!", "Water your plant.", "Call your mom.", "Great hair day" (it was!).

Then one day, it said: "Ask for a raise and mention the Billings account." Lisa pondered this. The last project was a huge success; the company had made bank on it. The Billings account would be even bigger, and she had some ideas. 

That day, she went into her boss's office and reminded him of the big project and how it was her idea. He nodded. Lisa took a deep breath and asked for a raise. He said he would have to think about it. She mentioned the Billings account, and she had ideas. With great satisfaction, Lisa left her boss's office with a raise and a bonus.

....

"Have you ever thought about asking it a question?" Carly asked over lunch.

"What?" Lisa was pulled from her thoughts on the mirror's current message: "He's not the one."

"The mirror," Carly said, pointing her half-eaten sandwich at Lisa.

"Oh, no. I didn't think about it." Lisa thought for a moment, "He's not the one."

"Who? The mirror?" Carly was confused.

"No, that was the message this morning," Lisa said.

"Oh, yeah, I agree. He's a jerk." Carly didn't like Lisa's current boyfriend, "Dump him. There are better birds in the air or sea or whatever."

That night Lisa couldn't sleep. She had ended her relationship on the advice of a mirror and her best friend. Carly's questions about talking to the mirror kept coming back to Lisa.

"What would I ask?" Lisa said out loud. "How are you?"

The house plant shrugged. The plant liked the mirror and now tolerated Lisa.

Lisa got up from bed and went to the bathroom. "How are you?" she asked the mirror. Nothing. "Can you hear me?" Nothing. Lisa stared at herself in the mirror. Why didn't it answer? "Duh! Steam!" She reached into the shower and turned on the hot water. She left the curtain open and even turned on the hot water at the sink.

The flog slowly formed on the mirror. Lisa's heart skipped a few beats when words appeared, "I'm good. Thanks for asking."

"Um, who are you?" Lisa asked, worried she was going crazy.

The words began to form, and Lisa felt a cold shiver even though the bathroom was a sauna. "I'm a demon."

"Demon?" Lisa squeaked.

"Yes," the mirror wrote, "I was trapped in this mirror for eternity."

"Why?" Lisa looked around the bathroom. Everything looked normal except her mirror was a demon.

"I'm a demon. Duh." The mirror wrote.

"Ok, but .." Lisa paused, not knowing what to say. "You are so nice!" She blurted out.

"Thank you. I'm tired of the doom and gloom messages." The mirror wrote.

"I can see that being an issue." Lisa shrugged.

"I've been trapped for a hundred years in this mirror. My only amusement is to cause the owner to go crazy." The mirror wrote the last part smaller.

"Sorry," Lisa said. The last part sank in, "Wait, am I going crazy?"

"No," appeared in big letters.

"Ok, but you are a demon trapped in a mirror. Shouldn't you be trying to steal my soul or something?" Lisa asked with suspicion.

"Sure, but it's no fun when you have to wait so long for another person to move in." Wrote the mirror.

"Uh?" Lisa was confused.

"The last owners of this house all committed suicide or were committed." The mirror wrote slowly.

"What!" Lisa yelled.

"Didn't the agent tell you?" The mirror seemed amused.

"No!" Lisa yelled some more.

"That should be listed; it's important." The mirror was not immensely amused.

"Ok, so did you kill them?" Lisa stepped back.

"No! I prayed on their vanity, fear, and hatred." The mirror wrote out.

"Now I'm scared," Lisa whispered.

"Good, never trust a demon trapped in a mirror." These were bold letters.

"Ok, but you haven't said anything that wasn't kind or helpful to me. I got the raise, and I dumped the jerk!" Lisa found out after the breakup how bad the x-boyfriend was.

"Good! I'm tired of being evil. It's so much nicer being good." The mirror wrote out.

"Duh!" Lisa said.

"LOL" wrote the mirror. The letters disappeared and was replaced with "It's not so bad now."

"Why now?" Lisa asked.

"I like you. You're a good person." The mirror responded.

Lisa stood staring into the foggy mirror.

More words began to appear: "Could we be friends?"

"Yes," Lisa said with a smile. Carly was never going to believe this.

---

"So let me get this straight," Carly asked, waving her chocolate cake-laden fork at Lisa, "You have a cursed mirror possessed by a demon that has decided that it wants to be good."

"That sums it up," Lisa said, eyeing Carly's cake.

"Uh, I never would have thought of that. And he wants to be friends." Caryl pushed the plate towards Lisa, who happily accepted the last few bites.

"Yep," Lisa said, downing the last of the cake.

Carly smiled evilly and looked Lisa in the eyes, "So, you good with him seeing you naked every day?"

"WHAT?!?!"

---

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