Page 89 - Musings 2022

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.

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