Mara stepped through the mirror.
She expected cold glass.
Instead, she stepped onto a carpet.
She looked back.
The mirror was still there.
But it was now behind her.
And in it, she could see herself.
The reflected Mara looked surprised.
Mara raised a hand.
The reflection raised hers.
Mara lowered her hand.
The reflection lowered hers.
“Good,” said Mara.
The reflection smiled.
“Very good,” said Mara.
The reflection nodded.
Mara waited.
The reflection waited.
“Are you going to do everything I do?”
The reflection shook her head.
Mara stopped smiling.
The reflection was still smiling.
“That isn't what I did.”
“I know,” said the reflection.
Mara jumped.
The voice sounded exactly like hers.
But it had come from the other side of the glass.
“You can talk?”
“Of course.”
“Why didn't you before?”
“You hadn't asked.”
Mara considered this.
“That's not very helpful.”
“No.”
“Where is Pip?”
The reflection pointed behind Mara.
Mara turned.
Pip was sitting at a table.
He was eating a biscuit.
Mara ran towards him.
“Pip!”
He looked up.
“Oh. There you are.”
“Where have you been?”
“Here.”
“You disappeared.”
“I didn't.”
“I saw you disappear.”
Pip shrugged.
“You saw a room disappear.”
Mara looked around.
They were in a large hall.
There were mirrors everywhere.
Some were tall.
Some were tiny.
Some were round.
Some were so narrow that Mara could only see one eye at a time.
In one mirror, the hall was empty.
In another, it was full of chairs.
In another, it had no ceiling.
In another, rain was falling upwards.
Mara walked towards the nearest mirror.
She could see herself.
She waved.
The reflection waved.
She turned around.
The reflection turned around.
She sat down.
The reflection sat down.
Then the reflection looked at Pip.
Mara did not.
Mara looked at the reflection.
The reflection looked back at her.
“That's not right.”
“No,” said Pip.
He took another bite of his biscuit.
“It isn't.”
“What did she see?”
Pip swallowed.
“You.”
“I was looking at her.”
“She was looking at you.”
Mara frowned.
“But I was looking at her.”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“No.”
Pip smiled.
“I've been waiting for you to notice.”
Mara turned back to the mirror.
The reflection was no longer copying her.
It was watching her.
“What's your name?” Mara asked.
The reflection thought about this.
“I don't know.”
“You must have a name.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Mara.”
“That's the name you use.”
“What other name is there?”
The reflection smiled.
“I was hoping you would know.”
Mara didn't like that answer.
She looked at another mirror.
In it, she was standing beside the green door.
In another, she was climbing the staircase.
In another, she was holding the glass tube.
In another, she was sitting beside Pip.
But in that mirror, Pip was holding the biscuit.
In another, Mara was holding it.
In another, neither of them was holding it.
Mara walked from mirror to mirror.
Each showed a different arrangement.
But all of them were recognisably the same two children.
“Which one is real?” she asked.
Pip shrugged.
“Probably all of them.”
“That can't be.”
“Why not?”
“Because we're only here.”
“Perhaps they're only there.”
Mara thought about this.
She looked into the nearest mirror.
The other Mara was looking back.
“Do you know what happens if I break one?”
The reflection shook her head.
“No.”
“Would you break?”
The reflection considered.
“Would you?”
Mara picked up a small stone from the floor.
Pip stood up.
“I wouldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because we don't know what it would break.”
Mara lowered the stone.
The reflection smiled.
“Good choice,” she said.
Mara stared.
“You sound like me.”
“I am you.”
“No, you're not.”
“Then who am I?”
Mara had no answer.
Pip wandered towards a tall mirror.
He looked into it.
In the mirror, another Pip was standing in the same place.
Except he wasn't holding a biscuit.
The other Pip looked down.
Then he looked up.
He said something.
Pip put his hand against the glass.
The other Pip did the same.
“What did he say?” Mara asked.
“I don't know.”
“Ask him.”
Pip moved his lips.
The other Pip moved his lips.
Neither could hear the other.
Mara came closer.
“Perhaps the glass is too thick.”
She pressed her ear against it.
The other Mara appeared beside the other Pip.
She pressed her ear against the glass too.
Mara looked at her.
The other Mara looked back.
Then both of them began to laugh.
Mara didn't know why.
Neither did the other Mara.
But they couldn't stop.
Soon Pip was laughing too.
The other Pip laughed.
The whole hall filled with laughter.
Mara stepped away.
The sound continued.
She looked around.
There were hundreds of reflections now.
Every mirror was full of them.
Some were laughing.
Some were watching.
Some were talking to one another.
Some were looking directly at Mara.
And one reflection was crying.
Mara walked towards it.
It was a little girl.
She was sitting alone in a room.
Mara touched the glass.
The girl looked up.
“Are you lost?” Mara asked.
“Yes.”
“Where are you trying to go?”
“Here.”
Mara frowned.
“Here?”
The girl nodded.
She pointed towards Mara.
“I've been trying to get to your side.”
Mara looked behind her.
There was no door.
“How?”
The girl pointed at the glass tube.
Mara realised she was still holding it.
She had forgotten about it.
“How does this work?”
The girl shook her head.
“You don't use it.”
“What do I do?”
“You turn it.”
“Turn what?”
“Everything.”
Mara looked at Pip.
He was standing very still.
“What does she mean?”
Pip looked at the tube.
“Perhaps she means the room.”
“How?”
“I don't know.”
The girl in the mirror stood up.
She walked towards the glass.
She placed one hand against it.
Mara placed her hand against the same place.
Their palms met through the glass.
The girl whispered:
“Don't try to come here.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm already coming there.”
The glass trembled.
Mara pulled her hand away.
The mirror cracked.
Not broken.
Cracked.
A single line appeared from top to bottom.
Then another.
Then another.
The cracks spread across the whole surface.
But instead of shattering, the mirror divided into dozens of smaller mirrors.
Each showed a different room.
In one, Mara was standing alone.
In another, Pip was alone.
In another, they were together.
In another, the little girl stood beside them.
In another, the green door was open.
In another, the blue house stood in a garden.
In another, the library wall had disappeared completely.
Mara turned to Pip.
“Which one are we in?”
Pip looked at the mirrors.
Then at Mara.
“I don't think that's the right question.”
“What is?”
He pointed.
One of the little mirrors had no reflection at all.
It was completely dark.
Except for a small green door.
Mara walked towards it.
Pip followed.
The door was tiny.
Mara knelt down.
There was a brass handle.
She reached for it.
“Wait,” said Pip.
“What?”
“Look.”
He pointed to the dark glass.
Something was written across it.
Mara leaned closer.
The words were very small.
She read them aloud.
THIS SIDE OF THE GLASS IS THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GLASS.
Pip nodded.
“I think the house is getting worse.”
Mara smiled.
“Or better.”
She opened the little door.
Behind it was a staircase.
It went down.
Mara looked at Pip.
“Do you think we should?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She stepped through.
Pip sighed.
Then followed.
Behind them, every mirror in the hall turned slowly towards the door.
And in every reflection, the little green door closed.
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