he couldnt be sure thehell
he was surehe was damn sure
the
huge ornate woodframed mirror in the entrance hall that overlooked the great
room and library beyond watched him and
whatever it sawhowever it understood what it saw it dissemenated its postulates
to the other mirrors throughout the house and apparently they accept its perceptions
as Gospel
the most vexing mirror for foundhe
couldnt speak for the rest of the householdif they were even awarethey never broached
the subject with him although that said he
visited only in the Fall to relish his time with them in the countryside and to
be intoxicated with the pure joy of its autumnal profusionconcussion its ripe rich
coloured leaves the hazyblue river valley meandering in long lavish curves along
the picked over and ragged caned cornfields the unseen river whispered under the harsh cawing
and fury of black birds gobbling in the fields and the hundreds and hundreds of
Canada geese flying overhead in chevrons of unnerving precision
ahyes the
mirror that troubled him it hung in the bath off his bedroom it reflected
the tartan shower curtain at his back the wide transom above it that watched
the east
and while he shaved when he troubled his straight razor at his
throat the mirror flinched or went darkly opaque became a dishonest piece of glass
What is this he asked some new tyranny subjugation
a willing adherent to the forlorn despot watching in the entry hall Are
you taking a knee
then stepping away from it he
mused out loud What kind of desperation
is this . . .
. . . wondering if he referred to
its desperation or his or theirs
the antique mirrors hanging inside
the house werent twodimensional
and if the
truth be known they were the real reason
why he returned year after year at his friends standing invitation they seemed unaware of what roiled in the
glasses depths
or perhaps the glass was unfazed
by them
but Alice informed him
Lewis Carroll informed
himdisabused him of any common notions regarding lookingglasses
they looked
they saw
now perhaps they were considering
their silvers were scarred distemperate their ruins sifted like grains of sand on sepia
beaches swept by long low winds
when he ran his fingers over their
blemishes he could feel queer heat an cool through the glass a sensation of swelling
the glass bulgedan sometimes though rarely a blemish cackled and slipped out from under
his fingertipssometimes passing out from under his entire hand as if blown by a
sudden silken sirocco and sometimes something
resembling a hand appeared opposite his and
sometimes a face appeared icyblue underwater
obscured by a veil of undulating seagrass vintage fabric the charblue current snaking around over and
through it
things shivered on their other
side
they were sly and furtive
they watched
they made him anxious
unconsciously he
grabbed up anything of substance nearby that he could defend himself with he fingered his razorfound scissors in an unused
bureau a keen letter opener from the desk under the window he stood and took down heavy candlesticks from
the fireplace mantle in his room
he armed himself
in his valise he brought a
billyclub a blackjack things he hadnt
carried since he worked as a repoman
he was on guard
he saw these threats through the
prism or humidity or atmosphere of the odd physics where they stayed
frankly he
watched for them to invade
anif they sought him he hoped that they would be confused by their
inversion through the glass they cautiously watched his
right anif they were fooled by their
perception as he hoped his practised left would surprise them anif their confusion was insufficient hed strike
them firsta suckerpunch hoping to blind their eyes before they could blind him
for inside their glass he watched how they
flinchwatched how they avoided looking him in the facelooking into his eyes which seemed to hint something awkward about
themsomething untoward
it seemed their hesitancy revealed
a facet of their temperament and in their
shivery glances he saw involuntary shudders an raw agitationbaleful remorse
if he was correct their obfuscation were desperate attempts to
assure themselves that outside the glass was the same as inside of it
anif they ever mustered the courage and came
outcame out at the command of the hallway mirror hed put a spike right through
their heads
1735, Saturday, 22 7. 17
2325, Sunday, 23 7. 17
