Mirrors feature in some of the most famous stories in time and of our time. Snow whites wicked step mother had a magic one, Dorian Grey could never look into one, and Harry Potter saw his deepest desires in the one he encountered.
Mirrors in stories are features, tools and treasures. Used to signal others, hide secrets and reveal secrets. Things of beauty and horror.
What people see in mirrors can be the focus of a story or as with Vampire themed tales, what you don't see.
My first story, and one I enjoy using is about a mirror, actually a screen of mirrors. Consider what a mirror sees, what could a mirror tell us if it could reveal all it sees.
What tales could the mirrors in the Albert Hall tell us from the wall where they hang in the dressing rooms. What story would the mirrors of the White House or Buckingham Palace tell.
With this in mind picture a iron wire screen adorned with mirrors, each mirror barely framed in iron. Each mirrors frame slightly different reflective, so to say of the period it was added to the screen.
The screens frame is like a growth of black Ivy. Winding its way from floor to head height, winding around the small square mirrors it holds. Between the mirrors is space, space to grow, space for new mirrors to be added.
The screen has stood in its home for some time forgotten, stood in the attic its mirrors facing the wall But yet covered still. In the corner, at the back of a dark lonely attic it sits.
Some would consider the mirror a Gothic beauty, some just ugly. Some would stop a moment and wonder if they really saw the splash of colour or was it just a stray reflection.
It is these small splashes of colour and small moments of movement that make our story or more importantly the story of this mirror.
Imaging if you will, if each mirror on the screen was slightly different. each mirrors frame gave some clue to its origin. small intricate items woven in fine iron wire about the mirror they hold. This mirrors story is not one story, but one story for each mirror you wish to mention. this give sour story depth and time.
What if one mirror was held in place by a crown and and a card, another by all the symbols from a deck of cards. What if these fasteners gave the smallest of hints to the mirrors story, and if peering into the mirror would let you see this story.
This is my story it changes with each telling, it as many branches and many tales within it. I have found no other way to tell it but than with horror, it makes a good story around the fire and at Halloween.
It lends its self to presenting a prop, A small mirror with a wide wooden frame is my choice. Then discuss what could be in the mirror hiding around the edges of the frame peeking at the crowd as they turn away from the mirror.
