Week 13 Story: The Magic Mirror

Once upon a time, there was a king who had a wife and a daughter. The Queen, Stella, took her daughter, Piper, down to the local market to spend some quality time together as they browsed the stands. They came across a shop of beautifully crafted wooden antiques. But there was one thing that really grabbed their attention. On an easel sat a spectacular oval-shaped mirror with iron trim. Regardless of price, Stella was ready to buy it because she just knew it would look perfect above her vanity. She paid for the mirror, and once they were back home she hung it in its new setting.

(The Mirror)

That evening, Stella sat at her vanity while she watched herself brush her hair in the mirror.

"Oh, mirror. Aren't I the most beautiful woman you have ever seen?" She asked.

A cloud of black and purple consumed the glass, and out came a voice. "Oh heavens no. Your daughter, Piper, is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. " And it reverted back to its normal form.

With this response, Stella was infuriated with jealousy. She suddenly hated her daughter, and wanted her dead. She became sick with this anger, and spent the next month in bed. Every night, the mirror gave her the same answer as before. In this time, Piper had married a handsome man and went off to live with him across the lake. The concerned king asked his wife what she needed to feel better again.

"Oh, my husband, I just want to see my darling daughter again. I miss her so. I believe a hug from her will get me out of this bed and walking around again."

"Of course, my dear. I shall send some men over to bring her home for a day." And off he went.

Stella was excited. She was excited to finally get a chance to act out her plan she devised during that month. Without the king noticing, she quickly got dressed and left the grounds wearing a hat, a large coat, and sunglasses so that she would not be noticed.

She arrived at the alchemist shop. Inside, making sure she hid her identity, she asked the alchemist if he had anything that would kill a large animal.

"I think it's a boar that has been ravaging through our crops and killing our livestock." She lied.

"Oh, yes!" he exclaimed. "I have the perfect thing that will kill anything or anyone who consumes it."

The queen handed over a pouch of gold coins. In exchange, the alchemist handed over a small glass bottle. She thanked the man, and quickly hurried back home and crawled into her bed. The next morning, one of the king's men notified the queen of Piper's arrival.

"Please do bring her up to see me, sir. I would also like a kettle of tea to be prepared and brought up to my room so that my daughter and I could enjoy some."

"Of course, my queen." he said, and left the room.

A few minutes had passed before Piper arrived at Stella's bedside.

"Oh, mother! I am so sorry you have been sick for so long! I do really hope you get to feeling better soon."

"My daughter, I believe I am feeling better already with you by my side," the queen stated.

There was a knock on the door, and in came the man with the tea for the queen and princess. He set it on a small table, and left.

"Dear Piper, can you please help mother up and over to the table?"

Piper happily helped her mother out of bed, and walked her over to the table to sit. She proceeded to pour two cups of tea, one for each of them.

"Before you sit, dear, can you please open the shades. I would love to see the sunlight shine through."

Piper stated, "Of course! Anything for you, mother."

As Piper turned around and started toward the windows, Stella took out the poison and poured it in Piper's cup of tea. When Piper was finished, she returned to the table and sat across from her mother. Before she took a sip from her cup, Piper perked up at the sight of the beautiful mirror above the vanity.

"Wow, mother. That mirror looks perfect above your vanity," she said.

"Thank you, my dear. I do love it. Take a sip of tea. I bet the journey over here was rather exhausting."

Suddenly, the black and purple cloud consumed the mirror again, and the room flashed with darkness. But Stella and Piper dismissed that flicker of darkness as the beginning of a storm. Piper picked up her cup and started to slowly bring it up to her lips, making sure not to spill it. She took a sip, and placed the cup back down on the table.

"Thank you, mother. That tea is delicious," Piper stated. Stella waited a few seconds to see when the effects of the poison would kick in. But they didn't. Perhaps it took a few minutes to do its work. As Piper asked her mother a question, Stella took a sip of her tea. But before she could answer the question, Stella gasped and fell out of her chair, dead.


Story source: Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree by John D. Batten

Author's Note:
In the original story, the queen and princess were wandering in the glen when they came upon a well with a trout in it. The mirror in my story substituted the trout, giving it the more "classic fairy-tale" feel. Also, in the original story, each time the queen thought she killed her daughter, she would go to the trout. The trout would tell her that her daughter was the most beautiful. But when the queen would tell the trout that her daughter was dead, he would say that she is very much still alive. It was a longer story, so I decided to shorten it up and keep the same outcome using a different storyline.