The Mirror World

“Kukdookooooo”! The rooster signalled the beginning of a new day. The view of the sun rising and then shining bright in the sky was a sight to behold. Sravan, Prakash, Anita and Vanshika started their day with a piping hot cup of hot chocolate. This was something they cherished as a gang. “The best word in English is holiday” stated Prakash almost as if it was the gospel truth. It was the first day of their vacation and they were excited to say the least.

One by one, each of them revealed their holiday plans. After gulping down the last sip of the hot chocolate, they waved goodbye to each other and returned to their respective homes. Eighteen days later, they met again and by then they had all returned from the places they had visited during the holidays. Vanshika showed her dearest buddies the rosewood mirror which she had received as a gift from her grandmother.

The mirror was extremely beautiful and all her friends gaped at it in awe. Soon, they all decided to play their favourite game “catch- catch” with a foam ball in Vanshika’s room. While playing, Anita dropped the catch when it was her turn and the ball rolled and went inside the mirror. The children were flabbergasted and wondered aloud how the ball could go inside the mirror. It seemed so bizarre. Since it was Vanshika’s mirror, her friends thought she might have an explanation but she was clueless. Then. Sravan tried to touch the mirror and realized that his hand was also going inside it. His curiosity was piqued and he tried to go inside the mirror and he was able to do so.

They all followed him and finally, the whole gang was inside the mirror. They were alarmed and spooked out. They all read Vanshika’s book which was lying on the table. Everything was written opposite in the book. Like the word ‘dog’ read as ‘god’ and ‘bad’ read as ‘dab’. At last, Sravan interpreted that this world was a different world – a mirror world - because everything in there was a mirror image of real world objects. Anita thought of making the mirror world as their secret place and then she described her plan. Vanshika said that she would tell her parents about the mirror world. All her friends chided her for the thought and asked her to promise that this would be a secret between them only.

Everyone kept the promise. No one revealed anything to their parents about the mirror world. The next day when they met, without wasting time they left for the mirror world and kept playing there for a long time. This went on for a few days as they were totally fascinated with the mirror world by now. One day, when the children were fatigued, they tried to return to the real world from inside the mirror but the mirror glass through which they entered and exited was not there. They were shocked and also terrified. They all spread out and searched in each and every one direction but to no avail. They sat together and tried not to panic. They discussed ways by which they could come out of the mirror world.

Suddenly, Prakash screamed in pain because something poked him. He turned around to check what it was and saw the smithereens of the mirror. He rubbed his eyes to ensure it was not his imagination and the broken mirror fragments were clearly visible.”OMG!”, exclaimed Prakash. The children started sobbing because they felt that since the mirror was broken, they would never be able to return to the real world.

After a while, as they all sat gloomy, they suddenly noticed that the smithereens of the mirror were flying and the mirror was back in its shape. They did not have time to think about how this happened, so they simply ran towards the mirror and then returned to Vanshika’s house. When they were in Vanshika’s room, her mother came in and her expression clearly stated that she was now aware of their mirror world secret. They had no choice but to tell her everything. That is when Vanshika’s mother revealed that when her maid was cleaning the mirror, she broke it inadvertently.

Then a person was called from the shop where it was purchased and he repaired it. The children put two and two together and understood the reason behind their unwanted adventure of that day.

The children apologized to Vanshika’s mother. They went to the lawn and thwacked the mirror on the ground.

Their school was to re-open for the next session on the following day. During their assembly, they were informed about a group story writing competition and their group decided to take part in it. With collaborative efforts, they wrote and submitted their story titled “The mirror world”. The results were declared after a week and they were ecstatic to learn that they had secured the first position in the competition. They received a certificate and everyone applauded their imagination to create such a wonderful fictional story. No one knew that it was, in fact, a true story. Even if they told anyone about it, none would believe them. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.