The Girl Behind the Broken Glass

  THE GIRL

  BEHIND THE BROKEN

  GLASS

  WRITTEN BY

  VALY

  Copyright © 2019 Valy G

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 9781097195138

  DEDICATION

  To my mother, who has been my fiercest protector and defender my whole life. To the woman I look up to and admire. With such a kindness and pure heart that she would do anything for the ones she loves. She’s made a million sacrifices for me and continues to make them for me every single day. She gives me such a love. One that is unlike any other; true and unconditional. She gives me so much yet I give her so little. So, for this Mother’s Day, the most amazing gift I could give to her is to make her eternal. No matter where she is, she’ll always be within these pages. As the woman she is; a truly adventurous, kind and selfless spirit.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  First and foremost, I would like to thank God for loving me so much that he decided to gift me with a passion for writing. A love and passion that I’ve carried throughout my life and has changed it for the better. I would also like to thank my Dad. Who always supports me in every single thing I do. He is always my biggest cheerleader and always wants to see me succeed.

  PART ONE

  the girl in the mirror

  “The appearance of things changes according

  to the emotions; and thus, we see magic and beauty in them,

  while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves.”

  Kahlil Gibran

  I

  She was alone. No one was coming for her.

  The bare thought of it made her head spin. She could barely grasp the situation with her mind being the way it was. It was a blurry maze that she couldn’t seem to find her way through. Every time her mind took a couple of steps, they seemed to be in reversal. She didn’t understand her surroundings nor the situation she was in.

  All she knew was that she was alone. And that was the most terrifying thing of all. There was this silence all around her. It was serene yet defying at the same time. She tried to scream out to make noise fill her surroundings. But it was almost as if when she opened her mouth to scream, she had no power to even speak. She had no way of calling out for help. Not that she believed there was anyone out there who could help her.

  If you asked her where she was, she would have no answer for you. Not only was she not fully aware of her surroundings because of her attention span. But even when she tried to focus all she could see was fog. It looked almost mystical. But there was so much of it that she couldn’t see anything else. She tried walking around, but it was almost as if there was nothing there. Nothing to find and nothing to walk through. It felt as if she was just walking through air. Again, she lost her focus and couldn’t keep detailing the situation.

  Besides what she saw, she felt this certain hollow feeling inside. She wouldn’t have known how to describe it. All she knew is that it felt sad. Like there was this weight hanging from her heart. This pondering weight that wouldn’t go away and she didn’t know how to get rid of it. She just knew it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

  It was odd. She had no memory of herself. She knew nothing of what her life was like. She didn’t know how old she was, who her family was or even her name. But she did have memory of anything essential. In her spare time, she went through the multiplication tables, continents of the world and she even remembered most of the bones of the body, which she was sure she learned in some sort of Anatomy class. She knew the obvious like that she was human and that she lived on earth. She could remember the stunning trees and the rivers, which she knew she loved to swim in. She even remembered that Louis Armstrong song about how beautiful it all was. Yet she couldn’t remember anything about herself.

  ​Based on her few and distant memories she came to the conclusion that this wasn’t the place she remembered. She wasn’t on earth. Now, she didn’t think this was on another planet nor did she think that it was another universe. It was almost like a dream. It was mystical. There was something about it that seemed so dreamy and peaceful. Regardless of her mind being a complete mess, she was calm. And deep inside her heart, she knew she wasn’t in danger. Not at the moment, at least.

  II

  The next time she woke up everything was clearer.

  Time wasn’t really a thing wherever she was. She had no way how to tell it and no matter how much of it passed, her surroundings stayed the same. After a long enough time had passed through, her body showed all of the signs of exhaustion. So, as any person would, she fell asleep.

  She can’t recall at what point she fell asleep or for how long she was asleep for. All she knows is that by the time she woke up a lot of the fog was gone. Her surroundings became clearer and it was as if for the first time things were making sense.

  She could tell that she was inside a room; it looked like some sort of bedroom. She wasn’t sure if this was new because she hadn’t been able to see anything before. But now she could make out the color of the walls. They reminded her walking through a rainforest. All of the vivid trees and muddy grass. She wasn’t sure how she had that memory but that’s what the color reminded her of. The walls had pictures on the walls but when she approached them, she couldn’t make out their faces. All of the pictures were of a family, but all of their faces were scratched off. She could only see the bodies of the people and could tell that in each picture there was usually four people. Most of the bodies looked grown, except one, one of the bodies looked like it belonged to a child. She didn’t recognize the places where the pictures were taken but she wondered if she might have any connection to them. Maybe that was her family.

  The rest of the room was still a mystery to her. Although her mind felt clearer and more capable of forming actual thoughts, the room and her mind weren’t clear enough to see through everything yet.

  Her heart yearned to learn more about the room she was in. Why it was so exciting for her? She had no idea. All she knew was that she couldn’t help but imagine the kind of bed and furniture inside the room. Was it more of a vintage style? Kind of what a grandmother would be proud of decorating. Or was it more modern? These thoughts swirled around her mind and kept her entertained for the time being.

  That was until the panic kicked in. Her mind had this issue of being aware of the situation but not understanding the gravity of it. And occasionally, it was like her mind would come into focus and realize how serious this was. She was no longer thinking about the pretty furniture or about the pretty walls with the mysterious pictures. She now realized that she didn’t recognize this room and that she didn’t recognize any of the people in the pictures. There was no reason for her to be there. She was alone in a place she had never seen before.

  Panic turned into terror when she walked around the room and felt there were no doors. No windows. There was no way out. The room was foggy, and she couldn’t see anything, but she could rely on her other senses, such as touch. And her fingertips frantically touched every possible inch of that room for a way out.

  And that was when she felt it.

  Her heart, she was almost positive it was her heart. This immense pressure overflowed her chest. Her heart was beating so loud and so fast that she could feel it pounding against her chest. She had never felt such a feeling before, at least not that she could remember. Which just terrorized her more than she already was.

  But just as soon as it had come, it slowly started to leave. Her brain unfocused. Like if there was a switch that flipped on and off inside her brain and somehow it had just been turned off again. The pressure in her chest slowly went away and her heart ended up slowing down. Pretty soon, she couldn’t even remember why she had freaked out so bad in t
he first place.

  III

  Her name. She remembered it. Well, kind of.

  After countless horrendously boring hours, her body began to feel the same way it had felt hours ago. Or maybe days. She wasn’t really sure. All she knew was that her body ached, and it wouldn’t go away until she fell asleep. Not that remembered, but she didn’t think being tired was supposed to feel like this. She didn’t feel like going against what her body apparently needed so she obliged.

  For the first time, she dreamed. I wish I could say that it was quite a beautiful dream but once she woke up, she forgot it. So, we have no way of truly knowing.

  What I do know is that a miracle had happened. She didn’t how it happened, but the fog had gone away. Not only the fog that was in her room, but in her mind too. She was now able to think pretty clearly. She now understood that the fog was a metaphor. As long as her mind would remain scrambled, the room she was in would remain just as puzzled as her mind was.

  A frown spread across her face as soon as she saw the room. She had imagined this beautiful vintage bedroom. With a huge bed and matching nightstand. But there wasn’t even a bed. She didn’t know if she could even consider this a bedroom.

  She was correct about the greenish walls with the creepy pictures. But the only thing that the room contained was a lumpy old-looking chair and a mirror. At least both the mirror and the chair did have a certain vintage look. The mirror was the only thing that truly took her breath away. The frame was the same shade of mahogany as the wooden floor. But the shape and style of it looked like it was taken straight from the Renaissance. And of course, the room was completely shut. Just like she remembered; no windows, no doors or any way to exit the room.

  She probably would have started to panic again if it wasn’t for her not-so-faulty memory. Three letters popped up in her mind and she knew what they were immediately. She didn’t know where they came from or why they popped up at this precise moment, but she didn’t question it.

  It was her name! Her actual name. She was starting to doubt her existence but if she had a name that means she has to be real. She worked on it for hours, trying to remember her full name. But she could only remember a couple of letters. She knew her name wasn’t long. She only had one or two letters to go. But all she could remember was the first three. After hours of desperately trying to remember her whole name, she realized she wasn't going to get the rest.

  N-O-R

  Nor? What kind of name is Nor? Did her parents hate her or something? If she even had parents. Maybe she had a really wicked stepmother like in Cinderella who named her Nor. So, no boy would ever fall in love with her. Because let’s be serious, what kind of guy would fall in love with a girl named Nor?

  Wait- Nor sounds like a boy name…. Was she a guy?

  She looked down at herself to make sure. Nope, she certainly wasn’t a boy.

  Maybe her parents wanted a boy and they were just disappointed when she was born. But since they already had the name picked out, they were like, “oh well”.

  There had to be more to her name. She refused to believe that whoever named her had that much of a lack in creativity. She had to at least add one more letter to be content with herself. A name is a part of one’s identity. And her identity wasn’t Nor.

  Nori or Nory?

  Noru?

  Noro? No, that one was terrible.

  Nora?

  That’s it. That was the one. She liked the ring of it. It was simple but it was good enough for her. Plus, it was the most decent out of all the options. It had this ring to it that she loved.

  From now on, she would be Nora.

  The excitement almost made her forget about the fact that she was trapped inside a room, probably kidnapped. But she couldn’t help it. For the first time in a while, she knew something about herself. She had solved part of the mystery.

  Nora was anxious to know more about herself. She ran to the mirror to get a good look at what she looked like. Not to be superficial, but she hoped she was pretty. She already knew she had long black hair because she could tell. She also saw that she had a pretty petite body. But her face itself was concealed from her.

  When Nora approached the mirror, she noticed that this wasn’t any ordinary mirror. It didn’t show her reflection. She couldn’t see herself or the room she was in. Was this even a mirror? Seeing it from a closer angle made her realize that it wasn’t as beautiful as she had originally thought. It had cracks all throughout it. It was quite broken. Wasn’t broken glass supposed to be a sign of bad luck?

  She looked at it for a while and wondered what could be on the other side. It wasn’t the same room she was in. There was something else that the mirror was showing. She tried to put her hand through it but felt very stupid because the mirror was one dimensional. So, of course, her hand didn’t go through.

  Maybe she was a ghost and she wasn’t actually here. That’s why she didn’t show up on the mirror. Ghosts have no reflection, or do they?

  “I don’t think there’s anything here that could be of use, let’s keep going”, Nora heard a sweet voice. But it wasn’t hers.

  There was someone speaking. But not from inside the room she was in. They were speaking from out there. Wherever the mirror led to. She tried to scream out or at least to talk to whoever was speaking. To ask for help and tell the person that she was trapped. But again, she opened her mouth, and nothing came out. No matter how much she tried.

  “But everything is so pretty in here. Please, let’s just look”, another voice begged. This voice was even sweeter than the other. Their voices reminded Nora of sweet warm syrup on top of a stack of pancakes.

  “Oh, look! There’s a mirror over there! Let me take a look at myself”, the same voice called out.

  They couldn’t be possibly talking about her mirror, could they?

  Before she could move out of the way or attempt to hide, she saw them. There were two girls. They looked like they were probably teenagers. Both wildly beautiful but in different ways. One of them was taller and obviously older. She looked like what you would imagine your typical beach girl to look like. With short blonde hair and sun-kissed skin. Her eyes were mesmerizingly blue, they looked like they were made from pure diamonds. The other girl was shorter and younger, but she was adorable. She had a sweet face, like one of a doll. Her hair fell in loose brown curls and she had the most delicate eyes. Nora noticed how her skin was a darker complexion than the other girl’s. It was something that Nora didn’t remember but she was awestruck by the beauty of it. It reminded her of drinking a warm coffee in a cold winter’s day.

  When they looked at the mirror, they obviously noticed Nora. The older girl jumped back in surprise, while the younger one just looked at Nora in shock. Nora expected them to run away but instead, they looked intrigued.

  Nora wanted to speak so badly. To ask them who they were. But this time she couldn’t even manage to open her mouth.

  “Who’s she? Is she a picture?”, the blonde girl tapped on the glass. As if to test if Nora was real.

  Nora realized that she hadn’t moved at all since she saw them walk up. She had been frozen in fear. So since couldn’t talk, she waved her hand awkwardly to let them know she was real. That she was actually there.

  The little one jumped up, while the older one seemed cautious.

  “You’re pretty”, the young brown-haired girl smiled at Nora.

  Was she talking to Nora? Was she saying that Nora was pretty? Was Nora pretty?

  The blonde girl, who kept giving Nora looks of suspicion, ignored the younger girl’s comment. She had quickly decided that Nora was dangerous. She needed to know who the girl in the mirror was, “Who are you?”.

  For the first time, Nora was able to open her mouth and speak actual words. Her voice was creaky and not as smooth as the other girl’s voices were.

  “I’m Nora”.

  PART TWO

  the lost girls

  “Being lost doesn’t always have to be a


  bad thing. After all, when Columbus got

  lost, he discovered America”.

  Catherine Rossi

  I

  All she could feel was the agonizing need to breathe.

  Her feet and arms had minds of their own. At this point, she wasn’t even controlling them. They were just making crazy chaotic movements in attempt to go upward. So, she would be able to breathe.

  Why didn’t she know how to swim?

  Her mind couldn’t focus on anything but the terror. It was as if her mind went blank. The only thing she could think, the only motivation, was that she didn’t want to die.

  She didn’t know for how long she had been under there, but she knew it was pointless. She let herself be calm and accepted her fate. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the serenity of being underwater. She still desperately wanted to breathe; it was her last dying wish. So, she allowed herself to open her mouth and take a deep breath. Except instead of air, water rushed in instead. Her body was screaming because of the burn it was being endured to. But her mind was at peace.

  When she closed her eyes and let herself drift off, she thought it was the last time she would be awake. She knew she would die.

  Except, she didn’t.

  Much to her surprise, she found herself opening her eyes again. But this time, she could see the ocean from a far distance. Based on the fact that she was covered in itchy sand, she guessed she was on some sort of beach. Her body obviously hadn’t gotten over the whole drowning experience because it hurt almost as if she had died.

  “Well, I guess you’re awake”, a voice called out right behind her.