March 1 the account writing-prompt-s on tumblr posted the following prompt:
You bought a cheap mirror from an antique store, not knowing it was enchanted. The mirror shows the reflection of the viewer 60 years in the future. You didn’t realize it was magical because your reflection is… exactly the same.
Here’s a tiny bit of fiction I wrote in reply.
Well, almost exactly the same. Sometimes it strikes you as just a bit too…. polished. Like perhaps your chin is just a little too smooth and creamy? or maybe it’s that the smear of chocolate sauce on your chin from that ice cream sundae isn’t reflecting the light quite right.
When other people – friends, family – look in the mirror, they see themselves aged sixty years, or worse, their bodies aged sixty years and breaking down as they may be in the grave. But not all of them. A few of your friends close to your own age have the same experience you do. Your older sister looks like something out of the end of an Indiana Jones flick, but you, your bud Robin, and even Harry from down the street, all look just as you do now. You’re in your twenties, you’re young and neat looking, dressed in polos and slacks, ready to take on the world.
You thought it was weird, but you also thought that it was a sign of great things to come. After all, your stupid older sister wouldn’t be there, and you would. That had to be great, right?
Then one day when you were walking past the mirror, the image began to glitch. You knew this was “just” a mirror. Your friends had helped you take it apart to confirm there was no screen and nothing electrical involved. Your reflection stabilized after a second, but then glitched again, looking more like a lost UHF signal from your grandmother’s black and white TV set than a mirror, or even a digital display.
One more time, you saw your reflection. This time, it screamed at you. “You have to get off the moon!” it yelled, clawing at the inside of the glass. “YOU HAVE TO GET OFF—“ A mushroom cloud lit the background, which was supposed to be the bland yellow living room wall behind you.
After that, the mirror went black. A few moments later, it reflected you, your friends, and your stupid older sister, just like any other mirror.
You didn’t sleep for a long time after that.