The Other Side of the Mirror

Bedtime Story

No one's PoV

A young, five year old girl lay on her front on the floor as she played with her dolls. To anyone who watched, the dolls seemed like life-less objects but to the girl, they were real and alive. They lay neatly across the fluffy lilac carpet, each with an elaborate outfit and an intricate hairstyle.

The room was dark, the only light coming in from a small gap in the curtains. But the girl didn't notice, she was too engrossed in her complicated game to notice the passage of time and the decrease in light, as the sky faded from a pale blue to a deep black.

The door handle turned and light suddenly came streaming into the room from the hallway. An old woman stood there, specifically, the young girls grandmother.

"Time for bed Viv." Her voice was soft and warm.

The girl finally looked up, startled by the voice and bright light.

"Ok grandma."

She collected up all her dolls and placed them one by one back into their box, making sure none were squashed.

Her grandmother smiled as she watched in admiration of how much care she took of her possessions.

She sighed happily and reached for the hairbrush sitting on the table.

"Good girl. I'll brush your hair and then read you a story if you like."

The girl put the lid on the box then obediently sat down to get her hair brushed.

She had an unruly mop of red curls which were always tangled no matter what, yet she never complained when the brush was pulled through the knots.

Her grandmother wrapped a hair tie around her curls before placing the hair brush back on the table.

"Into bed now poppet."

The girl stood up and slid under her duvet with her favourite teddy bear.

"What story would you like me to read?"

The girl shrugged.

"I think you've read most of them, can you tell me one from your head instead?"

The grandmother thought for a moment.

"Ok then."

The girl lay down and propped herself up on one elbow, listening intently.

"Once upon a time, there lived magical creatures called Wisps, who walked among us humans. They weren't much different from us, except they could change their appearance whenever they wanted. It is said this power was caused by a gene passed down through families which is very rarely dominant in a person."

The girls bright green eyes widened, as she listened.

"What happened?"

The grandmothers head bent.

"Humans began to hunt and kill them because of our envy of their ability."

"But how did we know if someone was a Wisp?"

"Good question dear, you see, the eyes of a wisp were brighter than normal human eyes, and they would change colour depending on the emotion the Wisp was feeling."

The girl nodded in response.

"We continued to hunt them until, eventually, the Wisps vanished, no one knows where they went. Some say we captured them all, but I don't think we did. I like to think they escaped to another dimension where we can't find them."

"I hope they escaped."

"Me too dear."

A comfortable silence fell between the young girl and her grandmother.

The girl yawned and her eyes slowly began to drop.

A light chuckle came from the grandmother.

"Best get some sleep dear, I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight grandma." The girl murmured sleepily.

"Goodnight Vivian."

She kissed the girls curls before turning the light off and leaving the room, closing the door behind her and tip toeing down the landing.

The girl pulled her teddy bear close to her chest and snuggled further into the duvet before closing her eyes and drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

Author's Note

So a short first chapter to set up this story.

Hope you enjoyed it, more chapters to come soon.

Thanks so much for reading and will see you in the next chapter :)