The Other Side of the Mirror

The Woods

"Welcome to the other side of the mirror!" The girl exclaimed with excitement.

I looked around in awe. We were surrounded by tall oak trees which loomed over us. Leaves covered the ground like a blanket and crunched beneath our feet as we moved. A sapphire blue stream wound its way through the trees, the small pebbles dancing in the water like glitter and the twigs spinning elegantly on the surface. The setting sun light reflected off of the shallow waves, giving the stream a magical feel.

My eyes followed the stream down to a clearing further along in the woods where a magnificent weeping willow tree stood, it's branches tickling the green grass below.

There were several gleaming lights among the blades of grass. The lights, belonging to fireflies, danced around above the ground, casting a soft glow on the grass.  It was like something out of a children's story book.

"Vivian?"

I closed my eyes and listened to the soft murmurs of the gently flowing stream. It was so peaceful.

"Vivian!"

"VIVIAN!!"

I jumped slightly as I was brought back to reality, I was too busy taking in this amazing place that I had completely forgotten about the girl.

She laughed slightly at me. "I can see you like the woods."

I nodded firmly. "It's truly beautiful here."

Her eyes turned a golden yellow as she smiled widely. "It really is, I never tire of admiring these woods."

We stood in silence for a few moments, admiring the landscape, the only sounds being the leaves rustling in the soft breeze and the running water of the stream.

"If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

She seemed slightly taken aback by my question. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even introduce myself!" Her eyes turned a pale blue colour, as though to express shame or slight embarrassment.

I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. "It's ok, don't worry about it."

She smiled at me, her eyes returning to gold. "My name's Nyx and I'm one of the many Wisps who live here."

My eyes widened. "Nice to meet you Nyx! I can't believe you're a real life Wisp!"

She giggled slightly. "Yeah, after people started hunting us we had to find a hiding place. We
discovered this other land beyond the glass of a mirror. This mirror acted like a portal between the two lands, it was truly magical."

"It's so sad people hunted you, it was horrible of them. So do you live here in the woods."

Her eyes lit up and glowed even brighter. "Yes I do! There's a lovely hollow tree that I sleep in and there are plenty of berries in the woods to eat and the stream provides water."

I frowned slightly at her. "What about you're family?"

Her face crumpled and she sat down on the ground with her back to me. I sat down next to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "Are you ok? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

She brought her hand up and wiped away the tears which were trickling down her red cheeks. "It's ok, it's not your fault."

I reached into the pocket of my pyjama bottoms and retrieved an unused tissue and offered it to her. She sniffed and accepted the crumpled tissue and carefully dabbed her eyes.