Heather was getting ready to go out to a dance with her friends, waiting for Amy and her dad to pick her up, when she stopped to look at herself in the mirror. The sequined top was sparkly and perfect for celebrating New Year’s at a dance with all of her friends.
Or so she had thought when she grabbed it from her closet.
“Time for a New Year’s resolution,” she muttered to her reflection.
She poked at her stomach. There was no response.
She sighed. “Like I expected you to say anything back.”
Dejected, Heather sat down on the bed and continued to stare at herself. Losing five or ten pounds would make her feel better, wouldn’t it?
“My resolution this year will be to lose some weight and go on a major diet! Starting with no snacks tonight,” Heather said loudly, but with a frown on her face.
“That sounds awfully lonely and boring to me,” said a voice from nowhere.
“Who was…?”
Heather started as she spun around to see if Amy had come upstairs without her hearing. “Who’s out there?”
Heather jumped from the bed and looked out the hallway.
Nobody. Not even her cat was outside her door.
She came back inside and the sparkle from her blue sequins reflected in the mirror.
Except that wasn’t how she was standing to look at herself.
“What? You act like you have never seen me before,” the reflection said. She placed a hand on her hip.
“But I….” Heather looked down and saw neither of her arms were bent. “I… I….”
She didn’t know what to say. Was her reflection really talking? It was wearing the same sequined top. It had the same long, brown hair curled at the ends.
“It’s okay,” it said. The voice even sounded like hers! “You’re probably a little shocked that I have a mind of my own. I’m usually quiet, but I couldn’t stand around and listen to your berate yourself for no reason.”
“Berate? What are you talking ab–?” Heather began but heard her mother coming up the stairs.
Her mother asked as she walked by the open door, “Who are you talking to?”
“Umm, just singing,” Heather replied quickly.
Her mom already thought she acted crazy sometimes. She didn’t need to know that her mirror was talking.
“It’s okay. She’s gone,” the reflection said after freezing for a second. “I don’t want your mom to hear me anyway.”
Heather peeked behind the mirror to see if it was some sort of movie her friends had rigged up. Leave it to them to play a trick like that on her.
Only the mirror wasn’t hooked to any cords or cables. It was completely flat, held up on the stand like always.
The reflection continued to speak while Heather frantically crawled on her hands and knees and looked up the legs and down again. “You can keep looking back there,” it said, “but you won’t see anything. I’m real. Right here on your mirror front. Little ol’ me.”
“How is the sound coming out?” Heather muttered to herself. “There must be…”
She ran her hands up the back of the mirror and along the wooden legs holding it in place.
“So, can I speak while you are still verifying if I’m real? Because I did have something worthwhile to say to you. That is the whole point of me coming to life and all, you know? Hello?”
Heather stopped on her knees and looked up at the mirror. She was looking at herself, still standing in the mirror. And her reflection was crossing her arms looking miffed. At her! What in the world?
Heather said, “How can you be me? I’m right here and…”
Heather didn’t know what else to say. Was she dreaming?
“This can’t be happening to me. I am going to take those vitamins just like mom said. I must be vitamin A deficient or something. This is–”
“You are just fine,” her reflection said. “And that brings me to what I was going to say to you, Heather. That top? It looks great on us. You shouldn’t think you are fat and need to lose weight all of the time. It just isn’t healthy.”
“Wait. So, is your name Heather, too? Where do you live when I am not home?”
Heather sat on the edge of her bed and continued to look in the mirror.
“This is too weird,” she muttered under her breath.
“It is weird, I know. And I live inside the mirror when you aren’t around. I’m kinda on call, all of the time, in case you show up and need to see a reflection.”
“Wow,” Heather said. “In my mirror. Who else is in there?”
The reflection laughed. “No one that you would be able to see. They all have their own assignments in the reflection zone.”
“Assignments?” Heather said. She was getting weirded out.
“Yes. And my name is Monica, not Heather. But you got me off the subject again. Stay focused.”
“Sorry. I think.”
“You were saying you needed to go on a diet and lose some weight. I disagree,” Monica said. “You look very good in the top and the other clothes you have. Quit trying to look like all of those models you see in magazines or the ones on TV. You are beautiful, just the way you are.”
“That sounds exactly what my mom would say. Did she put you up to this…?” Heather got up and looked behind the mirror again, but there were still no cords or any electronic items coming from the back of the mirror.
“Nope. Real life reflection. I was awakened and allowed the power to speak for a little bit to deliver the message to you,” Monica stated. She had her arms crossed over her chest again and waited for a response.
“I’m pretty sure you’re, like, a reaction to some bad food.” Heather said, “Maybe I should be to stop eating for a while so–”
“No way!” Monica interrupted her. “Skipping meals is NEVER an option. You need to eat every meal. If you are feeling badly about the meal, eat just a little bit of it. Then grab an apple or a banana to fill you up the rest of the way. Don’t ever starve yourself in an attempt to get skinnier or lose weight.”
“But I… I just feel so fat in this shirt. I thought it looked a lot better on me when I was at the store and tried it on. It looks tight now,” Heather moaned.
“Stand up,” Monica said. “Stand in front of me and look right at me.”
Heather did as instructed and looked to where Monica was pointing.
“Do you see anything wrong with the shirt here? Or here? Or here?”
Heather shook her head as Monica pointed to her shoulders, her stomach and then her arm. “Well, no, but…”
“No buts, Heather,” Monica said. “You are a beautiful girl and you need to stop being so critical of yourself. There is nothing wrong with the way you look tonight or any day for that matter. Speaking of, though, have you seen our butt? Probably not that well, since you have to keep twisting and turning to get at it. Here.”
Monica turned. She shook her hips.
“Look at that. That is a tiny butt!”
Heather rolled her eyes. “Now I know you must be some secret message from my mom.”
She said and flopped back down on to her bed.
“Listen here!” Monica said, “I have a mind of my own, maybe not a body, but a mind and eyes that see perfectly fine. You need to knock off the nonsense about losing weight and find something else to think about. Like… who are you going to ask to slow dance first tonight?”
Monica smirked.
“I’m not asking any boy. They have to ask me first!” Heather laughed. “I can’t believe I just answered a mirror’s question.”
“Eh, you’ll get used to it. Most people don’t believe it the first time. You’re actually taking this pretty well,” Monica said.
“Yeah, I guess…”
From downstairs, Heather heard her father speaking to someone. Then he shouted up the stairs. “Heather! Amy’s here!”
Heather sighed and glanced at the mirror one more time.
Monica smiled. She clasped her hands in front of her.
“Go,” she said. “You look beautiful. Have fun tonight and sparkle nice!”
Monica twirled, her hands in the air. Then she froze, mirroring Heather who stood there smiling back.
Her dad called again, “Amy’s waiting!”
Heather shook her head, snapping out of the trance. “Be right down!”
She grabbed her coat, took one final look at herself in the mirror, and nodded to her reflection.
“This is going to be a great night,” she said.
Heather bounded down the stairs and out the door, having made up her mind: no New Year’s resolution needed this year!