In my closet there a stands a large bronze mirror. It's a kind of heirloom passed down from generation to generation, but no one in the family knows where it came from nor who acquired it. The only thing we know is that we shouldn’t ever look inside… but, I was never told a good reason not to.

I listened simply because others told me so, but after years of constantly being told no, I’ve grown curious. I mean, how could I not? Ever since I was young I would dream of taking a peek inside, but before I could I would wake up. Everyone could feel the mirror's temptations but no one was ever willing…

I don’t mind looking inside, I don’t mind being the bad example used for future generations, I just want to know what’s inside…

I’ll open the closet door and take a step inside, I’m sure no one will mind, right?

Click!

The sound of the closet door closing gave me a slight thrill, even more so when I looked at the cover hanging over the mirror.

As I held onto the dusty black cover, I could hear my heart thumping with excitement, I’ll see what lay on the other side of it very soon…

Taking a step back, I pulled the cover down, a cloud of dust flying into the air, the dim lighting just barely illuminating it.

I turned my head to sneeze before looking back.

“Hah~” I let out a sigh of disbelief as I stared inside.

My reflection was inside of the mirror, but I looked much more beautiful than I remembered?

My reflection moved to place her hand on the mirror… and without question, I did the same… I could feel my warmth permeating through glass…

it felt so incredibly soothing… however, in the next moment, right as I was about let sleep wash over me, I heard a horribly deep and grainy voice.

“Thank you, dear”

And in that moment, I realized that the background differed greatly to what I should’ve seen, not to mention… my reflection no longer looked like me… no, it never looked like me…

It yanked me inside with extreme force while moving past me at the same time.

As I tried to push myself up, four hands reached out to me. I gazed up at those hands, only to see the disfigured faces of my family members.

“We told you not to look inside” they said in perfect synchronicity, their voices just as deep and grainy as my reflection.

I felt my heart drop to my stomach when I realized what seeing them meant. I quickly turned around and in my vision was exactly what I feared.

There, on the other side of the mirror, was my blood, staring in disbelief as they watched me, what used to be me slowly move towards them…

I knew. I knew I shouldn’t have looked inside, I was told countless times and yet… I still did.

I felt a smile slowly creep onto my face as I recalled what I saw.

when I looked inside the mirror… she and the ashes looked… wonderful… and soon, we would too.