Since I write so much fiction, I figured I'd try out a new piece on all you Steemers out there. It's dark (like nearly all of my stuff) and long (like a great deal of my stuff). It's one of six stories that will be included in my third collection coming out late next year. You can find my other (fully) posted non-fiction story "Colfax Place" on Steemit here:

https://steemit.com/nonfiction/@bucho/colfax-place-a-piece-of-non-fiction-about-the-midwest

I figure if the first couple of installments of this one pique some interest, I'll keep posting up new sections daily. Per usual, all critiques welcome as long as they're constructive. I'll also keep a running list of links at the bottom of each entry so you can play catch up a little easier.

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Mirror #7

“Standard w/ Millhauser’s Miracle Polish”

Created During the Great Depression
Exact Year Unknown
Found in 1958

Materials Used:
Square, Wooden Frame, Smooth Finish

Type of Reflection:
Ego
Silvered Mirror/Decorative

What You See:

The mirror was the kind of average thing one might find in a home; utilitarian, plain, not for decoration. Below it, a thin, circular pedestal hoisted an old plastic bottle just below the bottom of the frame. Across its front, the phrase “Millhauser’s Miracle Polish” read in an exciting, but somehow subdued, font. The phrase was faded with age and the years of fingers rubbing against it. Beside the bottle, a miniature chamois sat folded neatly, ready to be used.

No prints, fibers, or streaks marred the surface as you stared into it, seeing your reflection perfectly. Not perfectly, no. There was an extra something to the reflection that stared back at you. Not quite an aura, but somehow a more perfect you, and more “you” you than you had ever been. A strange feeling of pride bubbled up inside you, warmed you from the inside out until your reflection beamed the widest smile back at you.

You cocked your head and turned your body from side to side, admiring yourself like a modern day Narcissus. You couldn’t believe how much you’d changed since the last time you’d seen yourself in a normal mirror. Had the previous mirrors ruined your idea of your self-worth with each viewing since stepping into this weird anomaly of a museum? Had your reflection always looked this good? You didn’t think so, but the room had, so far, warped your sense of all normalcy in the last half hour.

You stepped closer to admire yourself up close and the lights quickly blinked out, shuttering the mirror and its bottle of miracle polish up in the shadows again. Your need to see the reflection again, and immediately so, quickly eclipsed your rational mind as another light clicked on, begging you to see the next reflection. You hoped it would evoke the same kind of feelings within you as the Millhauser had done, but deep down, you knew that expectation would be blown apart and desiccated within mere seconds of seeing your visage in the next gleaming surface.

And so you moved with trepidation towards the next mirror on the wall, the grip and pull of the previous mirror slowly dissipating with each step.

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Next time in part 9: https://steemit.com/writing/@bucho/the-museum-of-mirrors-and-the-mostly-dead-pt-9-a-surrealist-story-in-serialized-form

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Previous Sections:
Part 1 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@bucho/the-museum-of-mirrors-and-the-mostly-dead-pt-1-a-surrealist-story-in-serialized-form

Part 2 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@bucho/the-museum-of-mirrors-and-the-mostly-dead-pt-2-a-surrealist-story-in-serialized-form

Part 3 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@bucho/the-museum-of-mirrors-and-the-mostly-dead-pt-3-a-surrealist-story-in-serialized-form

Part 4 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@bucho/the-museum-of-mirrors-and-the-mostly-dead-pt-4-a-surrealist-story-in-serialized-form

Part 5 - https://steemit.com/fiction/@bucho/the-museum-of-mirrors-and-the-mostly-dead-pt-5-a-surrealist-story-in-serialized-form

Part 6 - https://steemit.com/writing/@bucho/the-museum-of-mirrors-and-the-mostly-dead-pt-6-a-surrealist-story-in-serialized-form

Part 7 - https://steemit.com/writing/@bucho/the-museum-of-mirrors-and-the-mostly-dead-pt-7-a-surrealist-story-in-serialized-form