THE MIRROR-CHAPTER TWO: The Unveiling

CHAPTER 2

THE UNVEILING

Tom swung up into the driveway of his and Anna’s two story farmhouse; eggshell white with a deep emerald trim. They had sat for hours, late into many nights planning and detailing their dreams and made each one come true when the purchased and renovated this house. They were sold of the fact that it was built in the 1700’s; all though there wasn’t any documentation to prove so, But, it was rumored to be the oldest house in the state.  Now, watching Anna’s slender body emerge from the front door he remembered his reason for rushing straight home after the big purchase.

                “Tom! Tom is everything all right” Anna called in a questioning tone of worry? While she knew he could not answer her immediately, his abrupt turn into the driveway had given her a quite a startle knowing Tom was an overly cautious driver.

Then the thoughts returned to him as he noticed the panic in Anna’s face.

What am I doing? The change in my behavior has given Anna a scare. I mustn’t let on that anything is wrong; besides “The Mirror” She’ll want to see the mirror.  She is just as, no even more beautiful than the time I literally ran into her that day in college, so many years ago and offered her hand to help me back up. After that week, we officially became known as a “couple” and four months later we married. It’s hard to believe we’ve been married over twenty five years and still be so in love. Tom swiftly jumped out of the car to quell her unnecessary distress.  “Anna everything is okay!”  “On the contrary, I have wonderful news” Tom’s voice rang out as he hurried to the back of his pickup truck. Now he could start to see the excitement rise up in her dark brown eyes. “Hurry, come over here and help me with this thing that I bought from the flea market” he said trying to unsuccessfully hide any emotion.  “Here, you grab the one end, and I’ll grab the other, and we’ll carefully lift off the truck.” Tom had cleverly also purchased an old tarp to wrap the mirror in, leaving no room for Anna to discover his secret until it was safely in the house.

                 “Tom what is it?” “It must be something utterly fantastic.” Now she was teasing him, and he knew it, and loved when she did this.

                The old tarp wasn’t enough to disguise the shape of the mirror, leaving Anna’s mind to begin speculating on all the possibilities. She knew full well that Tom was planning a grand unveiling. When Anna lifted the mirror she felt some kind of small jolt. It wasn’t electrical in nature or sizeable enough to hurt her, but still she felt it, and wondered if Tom had felt it also.

                It was probably static electricity from the carpet or perhaps there’s a storm coming? She had heard that sometimes the air can be charged with electrons or something and then she quickly dismissed the thoughts even though she noticed no clouds in the sky.

                “Be careful, don’t drop it” He instructed. “You hold the door; there now let’s take it over to the kitchen.” Tom wanted to make sure that everything would be perfect. “Honey can you run up and get the camera while I hang up my coat?” He asked.

                She raced up the stairs to retrieve it and back down just as speedily. He was already standing behind the mirror with his hand on its worn out covering.

                 “Okay, ready the camera and 1…2…3… ta da!”

                “Wow, Tom it is magnificent!” was all she could say. Anna was completely taken aback. By this time she had figured out it was a mirror. She had remembered all the times they spent looking at one mirror after another. Six long months, and they never even found one of them near to their liking.  “It’s so beautiful, all of that hand carving around the frame. Whoever did this was surely a skilled craftsman. It must of taken years to finish.” During the renovations to their home Anna had picked up some expertise in the field of fine antiquities.

The relic was a free standing mirror, no more than four feet in height. The age still disputed had been placed somewhere around the late fifteenth century. This made it close to six hundred years old. Most noticeably were the swallows and dovetails met as they flew around the hand carved frame, occasional landing on some type of vine? The legs themselves were less elaborate, but also hand carved. The price tag had read four thousand dollars, but it instantly was obscured by the overwhelming beauty of the antique mirror. Not only that, but it had a sweet strong smell of aged wood mixed with cherry. And Tom and Anna a special place reserved for this long awaited “mirror” in the main bathroom. If there had been anyone peeking into their windows at this particular time they would’ve thought they were parents in awe of a new born baby.

“Oh, Tom… it’s so, so… perfect. It looks like it may have been crafted by angels. I just don’t want to take my eyes off of it!”

And the shock of the statement manifested itself into something more as if tiny needles were dancing behind her eyes and she literally couldn’t look away.