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 Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:22 am
 solo one
word count 736
summary what vreni fears most is not change, but the lack of change.
other drabble contest entry, theme: alice in wonderland
there is a mirror in the darkest corridors of your dreams
and some people say that if you stare into it,
the mirror will show you your deepest desires.
mirror, mirror, on the wall...
Vreni hated mirrors. It wasn't a matter of appearances, she did not dislike her appearance, it was just a distaste that she could not -- did not want to -- explain. Mirrors haunted her, both in her life and in her dreams.
Some days she sank deep into her dreams, into a world that was both familiar and distressing. An empty hall that was lit only with candles. The pale flickering light that illuminated all the mirrors that lined the hall, stretched on seemingly forever. When Vreni woke into this dream, she never appeared the same. This time, she was bare-foot in a blue and white checked dress that fell above her knees. Her hair flowed freely around her shoulders. It didn't really matter. The mirrors never seemed to reflect her appearance. They showed something else, something from the past that inevitably haunted her.
When she was six, she chased her cousin's dog around the house before running straight into her cousin. The dog darted between the elder girl's, but Vreni was too big and she ran into her cousin. The mirror in her hand dropped to the ground and shattered. The sharp edge of the mirror cut into her leg, as it did her cousin's, the thin trails of red running to meet the wooden floor. Her cousin stared at her, indignant, and she stared back. Vreni told herself that she must not chase dogs anymore.
When she was eleven, the boy who sat across from her in class gave her a kiss on the cheek. Vreni's face burned red and all during lunch she was in the bathroom staring at her face in a daze. Her step-cousin found her there. She had tears in her eyes and her hands were bundled in her shirt and Vreni knew. She had known because they'd lain together under the same blankets telling secrets deep into the night but still. She knew, she knew, and still. Family first. Family first, Vreni repeated to herself.
When she was thirteen, one of her cousins jumped from the top of a building and Vreni stood. Unmoving. She could not bear to look at herself after that. Her cousin would lie in that hospital bed, sometimes asleep, sometimes awake, but always smiling for her. He would repeat the same assurances, over and over again, while accepting her offerings of apples and water. From the corner of his table, the small round mirror would reflect her face and the bile would rise in Vreni's throat.
When she was fourteen, she lived in her great-aunt's cousin's house. Her room was above the garage and directly across from her bed hung a mirror. It was edged in white and pink, made in the shape of flowers and butterflies that she was too old to appreciate. She would often wake from her nightmares and stare deep into that mirror. And in the darkness, the mirror had never given her any comfort or any answers.
After all, she have never really needed anyone or anything to give her the answers she already knew.
Today, in the blue and white dress, she finally reached the end of that shadowed hall. She could not count how many times she had walked the length in her dreams, but she knew with a certainty that she had never reached the end. At the very end was a great mirror that stood eight-feet tall. It was framed in gold wrought in shapes that she did not recognize. Vreni reached out to touch the surface of the mirror. It was cold beneath her fingers, and though she expected something to happen, nothing did.
To tell the truth, Vreni's hatred of mirrors had started when she was ten. By then she was old enough to understand her faults, old enough to try and change. To become better. Yet, the mirrors never changed what they showed: her reflection. She stared into the depths of the mirror at the end of the dream and --
Her reflection stared back, unchanging.
(what lies beyond the looking glass)
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Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 9:00 pm
 solo two
word count 683
summary some nights she dreams of curving paths and numerous doorways, and she is scared. scared of where they might lead.
other memory loss from meta event
the mind may forget, the heart may forget
but there are things that the body
will never forget
Vreni remembered doors. A circular room filled with doors. Doors surround her from all sides, and nothing lies between them except for darkness. Encroaching darkness. She felt it swirl around her legs, as if the darkness itself was cold mist. A shudder ran down her spine and Vreni felt a sense of fear, foreboding fear, as if something horrible were to happen.
There was a chime, a clear, pure note that seemed to part the darkness. Vreni turned on her foot trying to located the source of the sound. Floating in the darkness was a single bright light, a pinprick that almost seemed like a star. Her throat clenched. She did not remember what it was, could not recall it's shape or its feel or its appearance, but she knew that, without a doubt, that light was something important to her. Without thinking, she lunged forward towards it, but the moment Vreni took a step, the light stopped hoovering in the air. Suddenly, as if gravity decided to act upon the object again, it plummeted downwards into an abyss that she could not fathom.
"Wait!" She screamed, a futile effort as the light did not heed her, nor stop its downward descent. It twinkled brightly before disappearing from her sight.
Y-you'll never be able to get those b-back, n-not without my help...!
The voice echoed through the room. Try as she might, Vreni could not locate the source of the voice. She spun around looking every which way but nothing met her eyes except for darkness. Darkness, stretched out around her. In that darkness, she heard, faintly, the creak of a doorknob, the silent footsteps and the slamming of a door. Suddenly, lights appeared above the doors, illuminating each one as a street lamp illuminated the street. She could see now that the room was circular, held up by pillars, and all around her there were doors.
She flung open the door. A gust of wind blew past her, but when Vreni opened her eyes, nothing lay beyond the door. Only darkness. The girl blinked twice. And then, she stepped through the doorway.
Suddenly the scenery changed, as if the door had not been nothingness, but a portal to some unfamiliar realm. Vreni stepped through and felt the gentle breeze tug at her hair, the folds of her clothes. She felt the sun against her skin, gentle and warm. She was at the bottom of a hill of grass. Yellow dandelions and white daisies and other wildflowers she did not know the names to, spotted the hill. The wind shifted and Vreni felt an odd tugging at her heart. It said, if you look now, you'll see something amazing. She turned her head, and there on the top of the hill was a silhouette illuminated by the sun.
"Mother?" She said hesitantly, and then, louder again. "Mother! Mother, wait!" She cried out, scrambling up the hill. "Mother! Please! Please, wait for me! Mother!" She ran faster than she'd ever thought she could, ran with a desperation that she did not know she possessed. She ran until she reached the top of the hill, and almost, almost she thought she could reach out and touch the specter. But just as Vreni reached the crest of the hill, the bright sunlight glared against her eyes and she looked away for just a moment. A moment was all she needed. A moment, but it was a moment too long and when she opened her eyes, she was back in that circular room with the doors and the darkness.
Vreni woke with a sob in her throat. She swallowed the sob as she had learned many many years ago and slipped out of her blankets. Down the stairs, left into the kitchen. She was familiar enough with the layout of the room to know where the cups were without fumbling. A hand touched her wrist lightly, and she turned to look Katherine in the eyes. The older woman looked worried.
"Vreni, is something wrong?"
And though it was night and the moon hung high and bright in the sky, Vreni thought that she felt the familiar warmth of sun in Katherine's touch.
"It was nothing. Just a dream."
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