Page 96 - Musings 2021

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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Akshat Anand
2019A4PS0466P

She ran as fast as she could, not even stopping to look back, not even pausing to take a
breath. She had been running away for what felt like an hour now. Her legs were about to
buckle but she decided it was crucial to put some more distance between her and whatever it
was that was chasing her.

Olivia had not imagined how her life would turn upside down in a matter of days. A blonde
woman of average stature, she had always been friendly with everyone. She was
opportunistic but sensitive towards the feelings of others. Being a compassionate listener and
someone whom you could turn to when in need, all her friends and family loved her.
Additionally, she had always been good at her job. Getting promoted suddenly to become the
boss of her peers among whom she had the least tenure was certainly a way to turn people
against you. But it was not the case here. Her recent promotion was supported and celebrated
by her colleagues among whom she remained quite beloved.

She had been successful at most things she set out to do. This was widely attributed to her
intellect and more importantly her foresight as she always seemed to somehow get the desired
results even if her actions worked against them. But unknown to everyone, she had a secret to
which she owed all her success.

It started when she was 14. Coming out from the shower, young Olivia noticed the writing on
the bathroom mirror. It read, “Don’t take the bus to school.” Dismissing it as a prank by her
annoying brother, she hurried to get ready for school. An important assignment was due that
day and she couldn’t afford to miss the deadline. On the way to school, a traffic skirmish
caused a long jam and she missed the first period, in turn, missing the deadline. That cost her
an A grade. From then on, she learned to trust the mirror and the person looking out for her.

The mirror helped her ace high school and later college where she passed at the top of her
year. It also gave her relationship advice. When she moved out, she made it a priority to get
the mirror safely to her new house. In her second month at work, an advice to take the train
instead of the bus caused her to reach late but as she found out later on the news, her usual
bus was involved in a major accident that day, which killed 4 people.

On Monday, the mirror advised her to get lunch at a particular restaurant quite far from her
office. Sceptical at first, but completely trusting the mirror she did exactly what was asked
and there she ran into two of the most sought-after clients in the city. Over lunch, she
managed to sell her idea and bring in an investment of 10 million dollars to her company, the
biggest by a single employee. The next day her peers had a surprise party for her where her
boss announced her promotion to Associate Manager. Her life was going as good as she
could have hoped for.

The writings on the mirror were usually clear instructions written in a neat font and a fixed
size that appeared near the bottom left on the mirror right at the break of day. This morning
however, there was no message and she assumed it to be one of those days where not a lot
happens. By the evening she would realise how wrong that assumption was. After work,

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