Beyond Reality

• Elissa Pomeroy, Grade 5, Mount View Primary School -
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Write Along 2018' competition

It lay there against the wall, untouched and gleaming despite its age. Anna leaned forward and placed her finger upon the smooth glass of the mirror in front of her. Not a single fingerprint was visible on the milky surface, and the frame was as shiny as the purest diamond. The mirror was cold and hard under Anna’s fingers, and from the moment her skin brushed the glass, a sort of chill ran through her veins. But what Anna didn’t know, was that there was a world, waiting to be discovered. Nestled, hidden, behind a single pane of glass, waiting to be found...
All of a sudden, Anna jerked in her sleep, shaking her awake. Realising that she had fallen asleep in front of the mirror, she jumped up and brushed herself off. Wanting to discover more about the phenomenal mirror, she places her hand on it. An unearthly voice ran out across the attic. ‘Anna, Anna, Anna...’ it said, growing more and more faint. She glanced back up at the mirror. There, reflecting off nothing but air, was a door.
As though it had been carved into the mirror, the door awaited its opening. Anna stretched out a clammy hand, and touched the handle. She grasped around the sides of the handle, and wrenched it open. The door swung open. Anna stepped cautiously through the doorframe. Craters jutted out of the ground, as far as she could see. She gingerly moved closer to the mirror, unable to speak. She grabbed hold of the handle again and turned it.
Engulfed in fog, Anna stepped back into the attic. She paused, and let out a sigh. She froze.
Anna stared at the mirror, occasionally glancing at her watch, noticing that neither hands moved ever so slightly. Suddenly, her own reflection appeared, reaching beneath the folds of its clothes, pulling out a golden chain. Anna too groped around her neck, and sure enough, a golden chain coiled delicately into her hand. An hourglass hung limply on the chain. Without thinking, Anna flipped it. The second the last particle of sand hit the base, everything froze. The steady rain outside was no longer audible, nor was the ticking of the clock. She was whisked away from the past. The present. The future. She was travelling in time.