Mirrors of the Heart - BW Starmer a.k.a. Stormynite (unputdownable books .TXT) 📗

room and started unpacking the small box in the corner of the room. Winter watched silently as he pulled out another picture. This time is was of Tiffany and Stephen together on top of a pony. Jason sat it proudly by the picture of Tiff and himself on his nightstand. He touched the picture. "I miss your smile, when you're gone." He let his fingertips run across the cool glass, stretched out across the bed, clasped the picture to his chest and let the tears flow freely.
His tears tore at her heart. She knew what loneliness felt like. She lived it everyday. "She is beautiful." Her soft voice drifted out of the mirror to the man on the bed. He shot straight up and searched the room. Finally, his eyes spotted the mirror and bolted from the bed and reached for the mirror.
"No, Jason. Don't touch the mirror or I shall disappear." Her voice's soft mellow tone held a slight edge of fear.
"Who are you?" He asked as he pulled his hand back. "Where are you?" His bright blue eyes searched the mirror, but he could not distinguish her features. Only her voice was clear. "My name is Winter and I'm here in my bedroom. I don't understand any of this. When I touch the mirror a mist clouds the glass then you appear." She reached through the mirror with her hand and touched his sleeve.
"What did you do? I felt that." Once again he reached for the mirror and the mist began to swirl. "Don't go! Winter, please don't go!" He already felt the loss before she left. Jason Silverwood once again stared into the clear reflection of himself. "You are only a figment of my active imagination. I know that, but somehow I need you to come back. I need a friend right now, even if it's an imaginary one."
She must be losing her mind. All those years of loneliness were finally catching up to her. She was fantasizing this whole thing. She had to be, but then...Winter reached for the phone.
"Hi, mom! How are you and dad?" Winter listened to all the news.
"No, Mom. I'm fine. New Mexico agrees with me. I did have a quick question for you. You remember that mirror you shipped me. You know the one with the filigree frame...Yes, it got here fine, but it keeps clouding up on me. Did you ever...?"
"Your great-grandfather crated it up to keep from seeing what he didn't want to see. Your grandmother said it would cloud and mist before she would see things. She threatened to burn it, but your grandfather refused since it was a family heirloom. Be careful with it. No one needs to see what they can't have." Winter's mother was so sincere and worried.
"Mom, did you keep great-grandmother's diary? I thought maybe I'd just have the mirror part replaced or something, but I'd like to know more before I do anything." Winter tried to sound casual. There was a logical explanation for everything.
"Of course, Winter. I'll send you everything I have. It's not much, but they are old and your sister wants them so be careful." She touched the frame once more after her mother rang off, but nothing happened.
------------------
Every day was a struggle for Jason. He would return each night and feel the loneliness in his heart. The movie was going well and on schedule and he had another one lined up for next month. He loved acting and the action on the set, but he'd always had Genin, Tiffany and Stephen to come home to. First, Stephen was killed and now Genin and Tiffany were gone. He felt adrift without an anchor. He walked into the bedroom and stared into the mirror.
"I sure could use someone to talk to about now, Winter. I wish you'd come back." He sat down with his head in his hands then ran his hands through his hair in frustration. When he looked up the mirror began to cloud.
"Winter?" He said in awe as the mist continued to swirl and cloud the shiny surface.
"I'm here, Jason." Winter's soft voice floated out of the mirror. "You can always talk to me. Everyone always says I'm the best listener around so I took a job as a bartender." She laughed. "Kind of silly for a computer geek, don't you think?" She sat down in front of the mirror on the floor and watched his blond hair catch the sunshine from his window.
"You know I'd written you off as a figment of my imagination. They told me today I was becoming obsessive about mirrors." He chuckled.
"You should be obsessive about them. You are a very handsome man ...almost pretty." Insecurity crept into her voice and he picked it up instantly.
"No, I meant I refused to use any of them. This is the only mirror I'll look into anymore. I need to find the person inside the cover ...and besides...there is nothing wrong with being a bartender as long as you mix a good vodka and tonic." He smiled and Winter noticed the little wrinkles around his eyes.
"Oh, I can do that all right, along with a mean martini. I'm a people watcher. I just miss my computers." Sadness engulfed her.
"Why can't I see you? You can see me." His bright clear eyes searched the mist in the mirror.
"I think because you are the future I am never allowed to have. My mirror belonged to my great-grandmother. Her diary claimed it was cursed by a witch because she was a non-believer. She said the mirror would show her and her children all they could never possess for her lack of vision. My great-
grandmother committed suicide shortly after."
"Why would I be your future? I'm a second rate actor, bitten with the desire to see the world." Jason tried to convince himself as he spoke, but forgot she could see his eyes.
"Because you care, Jason…You love life, your daughter and the people around you. You feel everything like it's the first time. I've never had that. I spent twenty-two years with him choking the life out of me for the sake of our daughter and money. Finally, our daughter left for college and I decided to live again."
"And are you unhappy with your choice?"
"No, I did the right thing." Winter took a deep breath. She hadn't meant for it all to come out.
"Feel better now?" He asked when she sighed.
"Actually, I do. Thank you, Jason, but you were the one that needed to talk." She said feeling guilty.
"It was just good to listen to you again. You make me feel appreciated for being me." He ran his hand through his hair out of habit. "People never see the real man. They see the package, the character I play. They never find out what's inside. Sometimes I feel..."
"Alone?" Winter said softly.
"Yes...alone. When Genin asked for a divorce I lost the only person I thought who really knew me. I want to see Tiffany every day so I don't lose her, too, but I can't. I play so many parts when I come home I just want to be me. She wanted the man I was 15 years ago. After Stephen's death, I think she realized it was never going to happen. I'm a wanderer and she's a homesteader. They don't mix."
"You haven't lost Tiffany, Jason. You'll never lose her. Tiffany is an angel and daddy's girl. It's what every man wants…to love and be loved unconditionally. Knowing who you are under the pretty cover...that is your anchor. You will find someone else who will see him. Don't judge us all by the color of our hair. I'm sure you'll get hurt lots of times." Winter was silent as the mist swirled slowly in the mirror.
Jason laughed softly, feeling oddly better. "Thanks, Winter. I have always been chastised for taking chances before. I have to admit, it's got me in more trouble than I can count." Jason walked closer to the mirror. "What do you see, Winter."
Her soft voice filtered through the glass filled with compassion and something else he couldn't decipher. "I see a handsome man filled with passion and zest for life. Your looks may attract people to you, but the light inside you is what makes you who you are." Her voice began to fade.
"Don't go, Winter." Jason started to reach for the glass then pulled his hand back quickly knowing the consequences. "I want to see you. I want to see the woman behind the mist."
"I wish I could stay, Jason, but the mirror acts on its own. You make me feel alive. Thank you!" The mist faded and she disappeared. Jason touched the cold glass and felt alone once more.
"Are you real, Winter or are you my fantasy? Can someone see beyond the pretty face as you claim?" Tiffany bounded into her father's bedroom.
"Who are you talking to, Dad? I thought I heard another voice...a lady." Tiffany searched the room methodically.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Tiff." He watched her search under the bed and in the closet. "You won't find her there. She's in here!" He touched the glass as Tiffany came to his side.
"The lady is in the mirror? Right, Dad!" Tiffany clasped her hand in his and stared up at her father. She could see he was serious. She turned to the mirror and stared into the glass. "It will get better, Dad. You'll see and mom says I can come anytime I want." Her eyes spoke of the love and adoration while her words gave him the consolation he needed to hear.