This story is written by David, please send comments and appreciation to voondave@yahoo.co.uk

On the morning after the unfortunate,but ‘unavoidable’ incident in the Pub,when I had brought such shame upon myself,and,by her association with me,my girlfriend,Debbie,when I was slapped,very hard,right in front of her,by one girl,Sharon,and had my entire pint of lager poured over my head by another girl,Jennifer,as their summary reprisal for my staring at their bare feet,as they rested them on a rung of the barstools that they were perched upon,as a direct result of being informed on by their friend,Joan,the barmaid,who had caught me quite openly ‘salivating’ over their sexy,and quite dirty bare feet,that were all but thrust into my face,a very strange thing happened.

I was in my bathroom,shaving carefully,and thinking about the antique mirror that I had promised Debbie that I would buy,as a birthday present for her Mum,Doris,when,with a loud crack,and for no apparent reason that I could fathom,the bathroom mirror split in two,vertically,in 2 equal halves.The suddenness of this unexpected and inexplicable,bizarre event startled me so much,that,despite my usual care when shaving,my surprised reaction caused my shaving hand to exert more pressure on my razor blade,and,before I knew it,I had dragged the razor blade down my right cheek,and a red line appeared,from my right cheekbone,to my right upper lip.A second later,blood seeped from the cut,and ran down my face,and then dripped from my chin,into the sink. Damn!,I thought.At this rate,I was going to be late meeting Debbie at her house,before going on to see the antique mirror.I would have to clean myself up,and put a plaster on my cut cheek.As I reached for the handle on the mirror,which was also the door of the medicine cabinet,to search for a plaster,an involuntary gasp of intense shock,escaped from my lips,as I glanced at my reflection in the mirror.It was’nt just the blood,but something else,that shocked me to the core.In fact,the visage that now gazed back at me from my bathroom mirror,did not have any blood on it,at all.The left side of my face,that was not cut,and free of blood anyway,looked perfectly normal,at least,it was just how I was used to seeing it.The right side of my face,however,was a different matter entirely.The right side of my face was an ashy grey,as if it had not seen the sun for a long time,and gaunt,aged,well beyond my years.There was a haunted look,to my right eye,and there was an old scar,that ran from my right cheekbone,down to my right,upper lip.

I stood,transfixed,in horror and superstitious fascination,as I stared at my reflection,at my face of 2 halves, in my bathroom mirror.I opened the mirrored door of the medicine cabinet,selected the largest plaster that I could find,and closed the medicine cabinet.Now,when I again looked at my reflection in  the bathroom mirror,I saw that,though there was of course still some blood on my face that I needed to clean up,my face had otherwise returned to normal,and that the mirror was no longer cracked in 2 equal halves.It was in one piece,and perfectly intact.Somewhat relieved,but still feeling very disturbed,by this strange occurrence,as though worried that I had just had an unwelcome premonition,I quickly cleaned myself up,finished shaving without any further mishap,and firmly stuck the large plaster to the cut on my right cheek.Now,it was time to go and meet Debbie,at her house,and I had some serious making up,and grovelling to do,for my shameful and unforgivable conduct of the previous evening,at the Pub.

When I arrived at Debbie’s home to pick her up,upon seeing the large plaster on my right cheek,Debbie asked me,”what happened to your face,david?”. “I cut it while shaving,Debbie”,I replied,in the time honoured tradition,though,of course,it was true in this case,and her Mother,Doris,who,immediately upon my entering the living room,kicked off her shoes,and rested her bare feet on the footstool,and  proceeded to flex,wiggle,and scrunch her toes at me,for all she was worth.And I could not look away,from her sexy,pretty,dainty bare feet,and I grew excited,as I saw the slightly rough skin at the edges of her heels,and the slight hardening of her skin,at the balls,and the heels,of her maturing feet,and my face grew hot and red,and it grew a lot hotter and a lot redder,when she laughed at me,mockingly,and her voice was rich in scorn,as she said “cut yourself shaving? Can’t you even do that right,david?”.When I found that my mouth had become too dry to reply,she then informed me,with malicious,wicked glee,”Deberah has told me all about your little bit of fun at the Pub last night,david.Oh!,how I wish that I had been there,to see it!”.Now,very strange and powerful emotions rocked me,as I stared avidly,and watched Doris’s flexing,wiggling,scrunching bare toes,and,as I looked at her mocking,scornful,pretty face,and listened to her taunting,sarcastic,but,oh!,ever so sweet sounding voice.I hated it with all my heart,but I loved it with all my soul.Doris’s bitter/sweet humiliation of me,was at the same time killing me,yet making me come alive,with an unbidden,and,until now, deeply buried emotion,so deeply buried,in fact,that I had never so much as dreamt of it’s existence.Doris had triggered something inside me,and had summoned to the surface,something that had until now lay hidden,and dormant.But now,Doris had roused this thing from it’s hibernation,and it was a hungry,rampant,insatiable entity,and with no little shock,I realised that I was greatly enjoying being mercilessly humiliated! Doris looked at me,and there was a new look in her eyes,now,as she revelled in my acute discomfiture,my inner turmoil,and,looking into her eyes,I instinctively felt that she knew perfectly well,the mind shattering emotions,that she was causing me to experience,and that,above all,that she ‘understood’ me. For long moments,Doris’s feet,and face,and voice,held me captive,until,at last,I felt Debbie’s fingernails dig into my wrist,and she said,and I thought I detected a note of urgency,in her voice,”come on,david.Let’s go”. Doris,with disappointment written all over her face,that we were about to leave the house,watched me go,like a cat,watching her mouse escape,and asked,plaintively,”where are you two off to?”. “Oh,just out,Mum”,replied Debbie,with an affected nonchalance,that fooled neither myself,nor her Mother,Doris.

After opening the passenger door of the car for Debbie,and closing it behind her,I went around to the drivers side,got into the car,and,after seeing that Debbie had put on her seatbelt,I did the same,and then set off for the house address that Debbie had instructed me to drive to.For some minutes,Debbie was silent,and I could see that she was seething,with a red hot anger.Hesitantly,for I knew that Debbie was in a dangerous,and highly volatile mood,I ventured an apology.”Debbie,I am so sorry about last night. I don’t know what came over me”. “Shut up,david! I don’t want to hear it! It was the same thing that always comes over you,david,when you see  women’s feet.And now,just when I thought that things couldn’t get any worse,even my own Mum is getting in on the act! Have you any idea,how that makes me feel,david?”.Knowing this to be one of Debbie’s rhetorical questions,I thought it prudent,to remain silent. Debbie went on,”after we’ve seen this mirror,I am going to make an appointment for some counselling for you,david.Your foot fetish is clearly raging out of control.This is a state of affairs that simply can’t go on,david,and I am absolutely determined to have you cured of it.Do you understand me,david?”.”Yes,Debbie”,I replied,in a small,cowed voice,in the face of such authority. Now,though,I was spared for the moment,from this vexed subject of foot fetish counselling,as we pulled up outside the address that Debbie had given me.

For a moment,neither myself,nor Debbie,got out of the car,as we stared at the somewhat dilapidated and ramshackle,poorly maintained appearance of the house.Debbie,after checking the address,to verify that we had come to the right place,said,”come on,david,what are you waiting for?”.A few moments after Debbie rang the doorbell,the door was opened by an attractive,dark haired woman in her mid 30’s,I guessed,and a man stood beside her,who looked much older than her,and I idly speculated that he might be her father. “Yes?”,inquired the lady,as neither myself nor Debbie had spoken,as we were both taken aback,by the man’s unsettling appearance.His face was grey,and gaunt,and looked aged,well beyond his years.There was a haunted look in his eyes,and an old scar,ran from his right cheekbone,to his right,upper lip.At last,Debbie managed to say,”we’ve come about ‘The Mirror’”.At this,the man’s grey,gaunt face clouded even further,like freshly stirred,cold ashes,with dismayed disappointment.But,the lady’s face lit up,with sudden cheer,like a Christmas tree, having it’s lights turned on,as she said,brightly,while looking at the man beside her,”oh,good! My husband has not done a single stroke of work around the house,since he bought the damned thing,5 years ago.The lazy lump just sits in front of it all the time,admiring it. I mean,he must be admiring ‘The Mirror’,because he can hardly be admiring himself,can he? Ha ha ha ha!!”,laughed the lady,poking fun and derision,at her somewhat less than handsome husband,and I couldn’t help but wonder,if he was a lot more handsome,5 years ago,before he bought ‘The Mirror’.The lady went on,brightly,at the happy prospect of at last getting ‘The Mirror’ out of her house. “Oh!,don’t get me wrong!, it is a very attractive piece of antique furniture,I must say,though I often wonder what it is,that my husband sees in it,if you see what I mean?,ha ha ha ha!”,she laughed,delightedly,at her little joke,as she began to feel 5 years worth of unease,and tension evaporating. When she could stop laughing,at her husband’s expense,the lady said,”well,come along,then! ‘The Mirror’ is in the living room”. As soon as I saw ‘The Mirror’,I knew that I was going to buy it,for Debbie’s Mum,Doris,for her birthday next week. It was a beautiful piece,and I thought,as Debbie had said last night,that her Mum would love it.

As yet,Debbie had not spoken,and I asked her,”what do you think,Debs?” “I’m not sure,david”.Turning to the smiling lady,Debbie asked,”what are all these strange symbols,carved into the wooden frame of ‘The Mirror’?”.Now,it was the lady’s husband who spoke,for the first time,in a rather dry,and lacklustre sounding voice,as though he had been slowly drained of energy,and life force,over time.Maybe 5 years?,I wondered. “ ‘The Mirror’ was designed,and made,by the 19^th century occultist,Arthur Fosdyke. It is said in Legend,that the owner of ‘The Mirror’,will be the recipient of it’s special powers”.At the end of this short speech from her husband,the lady burst into fresh laughter,and her incredulous peals of hilarity rang around the living room. “Ha ha ha ha!!,have you ever heard of such nonsense,my dear?”,she enquired of Debbie.Meanwhile,I looked at the lady’s husbnd,who did not seem to share in his wife’s mirth.But then,I had a suspicion that it was a long time since he had last laughed.Maybe 5 years? “How did you get that scar on your right cheek?”,I asked him. “Cut myself shaving”,the man replied,shortly,Then he added,while looking me in the eye,”same as you”.

It was a large mirror,but I estimated that it would just about fit into the back of the car. “I’ll take it!”,I said,to the lady of the house. At this,knowing that ‘The Mirror’ was about to leave her house,she laughed again,this time in happiness and relief,and she danced,and skippd,and clapped her hands,like a young girl,after the boy she had been drooling over for months,had finally,and unexpectedly asked her out for a date.Her husband,though,slunk away dejectedly,like a boy,whose father had just sold his train set,to pay the milkman,and his face seemed to me,to turn an even more ashen shade of grey,as though he thought he had nothing left to live for. “You are going to buy it then,david?”,asked Debbie,with a slight note of dubiousness in her voice. I replied,”it’s just the thing,Debs! Like you said last night,your Mum will love it.Come on,I’ll pay the lady,then we’ll load it into the car,and we can store it in my house,for now,until your Mum’s birthday next week”.Finally overcoming what to me,seemed a slight uncertainty,as though she had some strange, indefinable misgivings,about ‘The Mirror’,Debbie said,”ok then,let’s do it,david”.

Back at the car,I opened the boot,and we were just preparing to lift ‘The Mirror’,when,while looking at ‘The Mirror’s reflective surface,I saw the most beautiful pair of lady’s,tanned,mule clad feet,her toenails,painted in a most attractive shade of pink,and I heard that wonderful,musical,distinctive sound,of the heels of her mules slapping against her bare heels,as she walked along the pavement.But,when I looked behind me,to look at and to admire this mule shod lady’s feet,there was no one to be seen. In some confusion,I looked all about me,but there was no one to be seen on the street,apart from myself and Debbie. “Aaahhhh!!”,cried Debbie,and placed a hand to her back. “I thought you were lifting,david!”. “Sorry,Debbie,I was just getting a firmer grip on ‘The Mirror’”,I fibbed. ‘The Mirror’ is heavier than I thought it was”,I said,more truthfully. “Are you ready now,then,david?”,asked Debbie,preparing again to lift ‘The Mirror’ into the boot of the car. “Yes,Debbie”,I assured her.Just then,as the angle of ‘The Mirror’s reflection changed,as we moved it,slightly,getting our grips on it, I saw,reflected in ‘The Mirror’,a young,blonde woman,stop in her tracks,and remove one of her pumps,to empty it of a stone,or something.While she performed this irksome,but necessary task,she stood on her shod foot,and held her other,bare foot,off the pavement,and,as I watched,as though frozen in place,and mesmerised,I saw the whole of the sole of her bare foot,in the clearest,imaginable detail.As she scrunched her toes,I could plainly see the wrinkles on her foot.And the beautiful,peachy,pink skin on her lovely heel,and on the ball of her foot.The skin on the edge of her heel was slightly rough,and I could even see tiny bits of dead skin,on the outer edge of her heel.The fabulous detail was simply amazing,astounding.Once again,though,when I turned around to behold this wonderful vision in the flesh,there was no blonde young woman,standing on one shod foot,while she removed a stone,or something,from her other shoe,nor was there,as before,anyone else about,on this quiet,residential street,as I once again looked about me,in total bewilderment.

“AAAARRRGGHH!!!!”,screamed Debbie,in acute pain,as she once again held her hand against her back.”What the hell are you playing at,david!!?”,demanded a very hurt,and a very angry Debbie. “I’m very sorry,Debbie,I was just getting a better grip on ‘The Mirror’,and-----“ “you’ve already used that excuse once,david!”,interrupted Debbie,as she glowered at me,her face dark,with anger and pain. “If you have damaged my back,david,I am going to make you wish you had never been born.Do you understand me,david?”. “Yes,Debbie”,I replied,meekly. “Now,you will have to get this damned mirror into the boot by yourself,david,before you break my back for me”. “Where you went wrong,Debbie,is not bending your knees,when lifting a heavy object”,I advised. “Where I went wrong?!!!”,yelled Debbie. “I promise you,david,I will break your stupid head,if you say one more word,before we get this damned mirror into your house.”.As I knew from experience,that there was no reasoning with Debbie,when she was in one of her moods,I set about the task of loading ‘The Mirror’ into the boot,single handedly.To my surprise and relief,though ‘The Mirror’ was quite heavy,I found that I could lift it on my own,with Debbie out of my way,and not upsetting the equilibrium.Though,as Debbie had warned me to keep my mouth shut,I was not able to share this agreeable discovery with her.

After securing ‘The Mirror’ in the boot,and locking it,I considerately opened the passenger door for my love,and,after closing it after her,I went around to the drivers side,and established myself behind the wheel. I now understood,that Debbie’s assistance in the transportation of ‘The Mirror’,was at an end,as she ordered,”home,david!”,like Lady Penelope,in ‘Thunderbirds’, issuing her instructions to her liveried chauffeur, Parker. Now,though,unlike Parker,I grated the gears,before managing to find first gear,and then pulled jerkily away from the kerb.Debbie rolled her eyes,and shook her head,sadly.A few minutes later,Debbie asked,”do you think you can manage to get ‘The Mirror’ into your house,on your own,without breaking it,david? I mean,I know it is very heavy”,said Debbie,as she gingerly felt at her back,still in obvious pain,due to not bending her legs at the knees,when lifting a heavy object. I don’t know! Girls! What can you say about them? I tut tutted to myself,in wonder. Mindful of Debbie’s warning to remain silent,I nodded my reply to her.

As soon as we pulled up outside her home,the front door opened,and Doris appeared on the doorstep.After opening the passenger door for Debbie,she got out of the car,but then found that she could not straighten her sore,injured back.She held her hand against her back,as I solicitously helped her,as she took slow,careful,pain filled short steps,towards the house. Doris,upon seeing her daughter’s distressed,injured condition,cried,in concerned,maternal alarm,”what in Heavens name,have you done to your back,Deberah?”.Debbie said nothing,but Doris,upon seeing the sheepish expression on my face,immediately guessed at the truth of the matter,and,looking at me,said,derisively,”oh!,don’t tell me! I might have known! Not only is david a complete waste of space,he is a dangerous complete waste of space!”.Once I had safely delivered Debbie to her furious Mother,Debbie nodded her head towards the car,and I needed no further hint,to make myself scarce. I got back in the car,and drove to my house,with ‘The Mirror’.

Due to it’s weight,taking ‘The Mirror’ upstairs was out of the question.So,with a struggle,I managed to safely convey it to my living room.As I did not have a TV,I placed ‘The Mirror’ where a TV would go,if I had one,in front of my most comfortable chair.This made me laugh,as I remembered about the man who I had bought ‘The Mirror’ from,who had sat in front of it,all the time,if you could believe everything that his wife said.

Arthur Fosdyke’s occult mirror,indeed!,and I laughed some more,at the sheer absurdity,of it.

But,then,I remembered about the woman with the tanned,mule shod feet,her toenails,painted a most attractive shade of pink,and the wonderful,musical,distinct sound of her mules,slapping against her bare heels,as she walked along the pavement. I remembered also,about the young,blonde woman,who had stopped in her tracks on the pavement,to perform the irksome,but necessary task,of standing on one shod foot,while she removed a stone,or something,from her other pump,her bare foot,held up off the pavement,displayed,in the most splendid detail.The wrinkles on her bare sole,as she scrunched her toes.The slightly rough skin,on the outer edge of her lovely,peachy,pink heel. I had seen both of these fabulous visions in ‘The Mirror’,as Debbie and I had prepared to load it into the car.But,when I had turned around,to see these wonderful,exciting sights in the flesh,no one was there! The quiet,residential street was empty of people,other than Debbie and myself.No mule shod lady,with tanned feet,with her mules slapping musically against her bare heels,as she walked along the pavement! No young,blonde woman,with a lovely,peachy,pink heel,standing on one shod foot,while she removed a stone,or something,from her other pump! How strange!,I mused. Puzzled,and intrigued,by this enigma,I went into the kitchen,and made a cup of coffee. As I drank it at the kitchen table,I pondered over these bizarre events.

When I had finished my coffee,I returned to the living room,and sat down in my most comfortable chair,directly in front of ‘The Mirror’,as if it was a large TV,that I had just switched on,and was waiting for a picture to fill the screen. And waited.

I did not have long to wait!

‘The Mirror’ continues,in Part 3.