Elle Vampa

One day, the mirror broke.

The Princess, lost in thoughts, missed a step and nearly tripped. In an attempt to break her fall, she dropped everything from her hands to be able to grab on to the nearest thing.

In her right hand had been a hair brush, old and battered, and in her left hand had been a small mirror, even older and more battered.

Both hit the marble tiles beneath her and with a sharp CRASH the old hand mirror broke into what must have been at least a thousand pieces.

(The brush simply lost some hairs and gained some more dents before rolling over and disappearing under a bookcase – where the Princess would find it three days later.)

She sighed at her own clumsiness; if only she had been paying more attention, nothing would have been broken!

But time moves forward only, and the mirror remained shattered.

The Princess called for the Wizard.

The Wizard did not look like most wizards in fairy tales do. Firsts of all, he was much younger, and he never wore a hat – although his dark green cape did have a pointy hoody.

Secondly, he didn’t have a beard. He would have one, if the Princess hadn’t one day confessed she liked him better without. And because the Wizard loved the Princess, he made an effort to remain beardless.

Lastly, he always had a cat with him. His cat was afraid of everything, however, and could turn itself invisible. But if you were quiet long enough, you could hear it purr softly if the Wiz was around.

The Wizard consoled the Princess – not over the loss of her old hand mirror, but because she felt sad for having been distracted.

“Don’t worry,” he said with a loving smile, “I will make you an amazing new mirror!”

“Can you make me one that shows me the most beautiful person alive?” the Princess asked, “Like in real fairy tales?”

The Wiz looked puzzled. A soft half-purr escaped from beneath his cloak.

“If I see what the most beautiful person ever looks like, I can use that to improve my own boring, plain, and… ugly looks,” the Princess explained.

The next day, the Wizard showed her the new mirror. It was a grand, full-body exposing creation. Its frame was made from the finest wood, carved beautifully, and set with yellow stones.

The Princess loved it!

She confided to her proud Wizard: “I’ve never liked mirrors, only ever had the one I broke. I usually avoid them. But this one… Oh Wiz, you’ve outdone yourself!”

The Princess gave him a warm hug before turning back to the magic mirror. Solemnly, she said: “Mirror, mirror, standing tall, who’s the most beautiful person of all!?”

Purple smoke filled the polished glass and then… Disappeared. What’s left was the Princess’ own reflection.

“It doesn’t work!” She turned to the Wizard. “The mirror is broken!”

But as the Wizard planted a kiss on her forehead, he said:

“No, my dear. It’s not the mirror that’s broken.”