The Mirror

grey_whiskers | 06-24-2012 | grey_whiskers



Once upon a time, there was a mirror.

And the mirror was bright, and polished, and pure, without any flaw; and it was said the the mirror would return the very image of its beholder without distortion.

And it happened, by chance or malfeasance, that the mirror fell, and was shattered: and it was broken, sparkling, into countless shards scattered throughout the earth. And the fate of these shards as they were scattered differed one from another. Some indeed retained their brilliance, such that they sparkled like a rainbow in the sun, but all their powers to return an image were gone; some others were sullied, losing even the luster of reflected light, becoming mere sharp edges and a danger to the unwary; still others were verily ground into powder and lost.

Yet there persisted into later days, or maybe they were visions of various men, but whether that of seers, prophets, or madmen no-one could tell, stories of an ancient time when the all the pieces were yet one, the mirror unbroken, presenting a vision clear for him who had a heart to stand, and eyes to see and behold, the mirror.
Many doubted these tales, saying that those who listened were mere fools, for such dross as could be still be found was not sufficient in quantity, nor was it of a type, that it should ever have come from a mirror. Besides, they said, even of the brighter shards, should they be found and assembled, was it not clear from their shapes that they had never fit together as a whole? And was it not readily to be seen that none of the pieces gave a distinct image? How then, could the union of such detritus, such fragments, ever be more than the wished-for imaginings of the gullible, and of those who deceived them?
And yet there are those who, guided by the reflections of the light, believe that there was a mirror, lost in the depths of time. And they look forward to the day when the shards are gathered, and re-formed, and the mirror once again reflects the august, creative image of its maker.