The Rose Mirror

Daily writing prompt

Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth. What became of it?

I can still remember the inside of the video rental store in Walsenburg.

The way the shelves were lined up. My excitement every time we would go in and my mom would let me pick a movie to watch that night. My hope that she would buy me some bubblegum cigarettes.

I remember staring at the cover of some of my top choices to rent, because let’s be real, I cycled through like the same 5 movies.

The Little Mermaid
Back to the Future
The Mask
Homeward Bound
Beauty and the Beast

That last one. Sometimes I feel like I watched that movie so much I convinced myself I was a character in it.

Ever since I saw it for the first time, I have gotten goosebumps during the opening scene, listening to that hauntingly beautiful music as they show the enchanted castle for the first time. No matter how many times I had seen it, I was excited to watch it again.

Then, one day, I found a wooden mirror in my parent’s room, with a beautiful red rose carved into the back of it. I was convinced that it had to be some sort of sign.

I was part of Beauty and the Beast and that mirror was magic.

I would stare into it and imagine that I would see something that I wanted in its reflection.

Ironically, the mirror had been purchased long before that movie ever came out.

My mom and dad had gone to Georgetown, CO on their honeymoon trip and my dad had bought that mirror for my mom as a gift.

For most of my childhood, I would constantly take the mirror out of its drawer and stare into it.

Eventually, my mom let me have it.

I’ve kept it safe ever since.

When I pulled it out of the drawer I keep it in to take this picture, I was reminded how precious certain items are to me, while others hold little to no meaning or value.

It was a reminder that as I continue to purge my stuff that the special items, like this one, should be kept somewhere safe, so that I can easily grab them in the event of any emergency.

It seems silly, but even now, when I hold that mirror, and look into it, I still expect something that I want to be visible on the other side.

❤