In Pieces

13 | Lost and Found |

I gasped and hid behind the door when Gio's head merged from of the mirror. Mom howled and jumped in her place.

"Hi! I'm Gio," he chirped, extending out a hand.

"What the—" Mom sucked in a deep breath, held her belly, and scrunched forward.

"Oh, you are pregnant. Congratulations."

"What are you?" Mom raised her head and cried to his clueless face.

Gio gingerly wiped her spit from the corners of his eyes. "I'm a djinn. I live in a pocket dimension inside your mirror. I've been serving multiple noble families with magic mirrors for centuries, and—are you okay?"

Mom was panting. She suddenly fell onto her knees and crouched over her belly.

Tears were burning my eyes, but all I could do was stand and watch, knowing I couldn't change anything or ease the pain I was causing her.

"I can take away the pain if you want," Gio offered.

"Yes!" Mom screeched. Following Gio's head tilt, she took a deep breath and clambered back onto her little chair. "Can you take her away too, while you are at it?" she asked, pointing at her belly.

A couple of warm tears fell on my cheeks.

Gio twisted his lips in disgust. "I don't trade living things."

Mom's brows arched in question. "So, what are you? A charming elf who lives inside my family heirloom and trades magic mushrooms?"

"Perhaps you should summon me another time."

"Stay," Mom breathed out. "I never knew I owned a magic mirror."

"There must be a reason why your mom never mentioned it to you," Gio commented, narrowing his eyes with disapproval. "Corinne was a contractor of mine."

"Mom passed away a couple of years ago. She and I didn't get along that well—couldn't stop me from inheriting the castle, though."

Gio nodded.

"How does it work, then? What sort of contracts do you sign?" she asked, reaching for the cabin under her table. She took out a bottle of an amber-colored drink and bit the lid off.

"You really shouldn't be drinking. You'll hurt the baby." Gio stuck his head out of the mirror to check her belly.

"Holy—" Mom jumped in her seat. "Stay in the mirror, will you? You are creeping me out." With another grunt, she took a large sip from the bottle and stretched her back.

Gio pursed his lips. He sounded cautious when he spoke again. "I grant wishes in exchange for worldly things, like crops, seeds..."

"What good are you if you can't make my wish come true?" Mom scoffed, taking another long sip and then another.

Gio reached out of the mirror and grabbed the bottle, but Mom hurled her arm away. "Stay in the mirror, genie!"

"You are in labor. You need to go to a hospital."

Mom's head dropped between her wide-open legs. "Shit."

It wasn't shit, though—it was water. Water was pooling around her chair.

Gio's silver eyes glowed for a brief moment. "Let's make a deal. If you go to the hospital now, I'll make not one, but all of your wishes come true."

"Really? All of them?"

Gio's nod made his ears quiver. He sliced the air and pulled out a scroll. The paper rolled open with a buzz and crunched when Gio dangled it before Mom's face. "I'll grant you one wish every day for eighteen years. I don't trade livestock, and I can't hurt or heal anyone. I can't make anyone fall in love either. I'll do anything else if you call someone and go to the hospital right now."

More tears flowed down my eyes. Mom wasn't the reason I was alive. Gio was.

Mom's lips twitched into a wicked smile. "I want to stay young forever. And three wishes every day."

Gio shook his head. "You'll go to the hospital right now and take care of your baby for the next eighteen years. In return, you won't age a day for the duration of our contract, and I'll grant you one wish every day."

Mom opened her mouth to bargain, but when Gio tilted his head, she folded in half with a sudden strike of pain. "Fuck!"

"Take the deal," Gio waved the paper before her eyes. "Take the deal, and I'll take away the pain."

"Okay!" Mom cried, squeezing her belly. "Okay! Where do I sign?"

Gio smashed Mom's bottle on the wall. Mom pricked her finger without giving it a second thought. She didn't seem to mind the droplets of blood that spilled onto the scroll, either, as she howled with cramps again.

"Done." Another tilt of Gio's head, and Mom exhaled with relief. "Now, call someone and get the hell out of here."

Just like that, Gio was gone, and the mirror was still again. Mom grabbed her belly and hurried to the door.

Every heavy step she took shook me to the core. Tears were streaming down my face when the world around me began crumbling. The walls cracked. The windows behind the bed burst. Mom leaned on the door I'd been hiding and peeked over to look me in the eye.

My red face and broken heart reflected through those dark, round holes as she stared into my soul. Strong silver threads that once bound us together were tearing one by one, whipping the air.

"No..." I whispered while tiles rumbled under my flip-flops. As heartless as she was, I couldn't leave her to perish here. Darkness was going to consume this world forever.

"You have to come with me." I grabbed her hand and stepped out of my hiding place.

"No!" She was trying to free herself.

"Mom!" I cried, clinging tighter to her. "Come with me! This world is dying! Can't you see?"

The lamps were shaking from side to side, and so were her closet doors. Her shiny clothes fell onto the floor as the ceiling cracked and shadows started streaming in.

"I'm not your mom! I'm only twenty-one! How can I be your mom? How can I be anyone's mom! Leave me the hell alone!"

I screamed and pulled her harder. "No! No! No!" I cried, drowning in my tears. "We must leave, Mom! Please! Listen to me!"

Her slap flashed across my cheek. I fell on my knees. My body was shaking with sobs as she walked past me and stepped out the door. All I could do was stare at the crumbling corridor while Mom fell through the cracks and disappeared into the darkness.

"NO!" I cried at the top of my lungs. My heart was throbbing painfully, trying to break my ribcage.

Mom was gone—along with a part of me. A big chunk of my childhood cracked open like the walls as memories flooded my mind. The days that I ran after her, seeking a simple I love you or a pat on my head... The nights she called Gio to make a wish instead of running to me when I cried out her name... The drinking, the yelling, the fighting, and shoving me into my bedroom... Every memory burned. Their ashes flew and followed Mom down the abyss she fell into.

No more silver threads.

But then I understood. Being in this mirror world wasn't about finding my piece. It was about letting it go.

As I sat on my knees, warm tears kept raining down my eyes, filling, mending the cracks of my broken heart one drop after another. I guess, sometimes, to find a piece, you had to walk away from another—no matter how painful it was.

Still weeping, I crawled toward Mom's makeup table. The worn-out wooden floor crumbled under my touch. I wasn't going to be consumed. I wasn't going to die. Not today. I pulled myself up to stand, climbed up on the table, and took a final look over my shoulder.

Darkness. There was nothing else.

My shaky breath left fogs on my messed-up reflection. My face was bright red and burning. My eyes were puffed. My lips were swollen. I kept wailing for the piece I'd lost and the freedom I gained from the lack of it as the mirror's surface rippled...and then, I dived in.