Possessed by the Glass: When a Mirror Image Comes to Life "Mirror Mirror"

0:05 Speaker 1: It lies in wait amidst your dreams, where nothing is ever how it seems. It is a portal to a terrifying world beyond the doorway to nightmare.

0:25 Speaker 2: Nightmare.

0:42 Speaker 1: Welcome, I'm Artemis Black. The author Jane Austen once said, Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.

1:10 Speaker 3: Oh, I think that you're beautiful no matter how you look.

1:14 Speaker 4: You're sweet, Richard, but extremely biased.

1:19 Speaker 5: I have to look my best at all times.

1:23 Speaker 3: But you have a mirror in every room. Now, don't you think that you're being very vain?

1:33 Speaker 5: Of course I am, darling. Think of it.

1:37 Speaker 4: My pictures flashed all over social media when I don't look my best?

1:43 Speaker 3: But, Myra, you always look your best.

1:47 Speaker 5: As I said before, you are biased.

1:54 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama, Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our cast includes Winslow Swan and Crimson McKenzie. I'll return shortly with Act One. Permit me now to introduce you to Myra Brooks. Perhaps you know her. She is the star of the Broadway stage, the silver screen, and even television. She has probably been seen in some sort of media in almost every continent. At this particular moment, she is sitting in her opulent apartment, specifically her bedroom, where she is looking in the mirror, and talking to her favorite person in the whole world, namely, Myra Brooks.

3:07 Speaker 4: I think I see another wrinkle.

3:08 Speaker 3: Did you say something?

3:11 Speaker 5: Oh, he doesn't understand. Richard, do you hear me?

3:19 Speaker 3: I'm sorry, darling. I was in the living room. Did you need something?

3:24 Speaker 4: Oh, no.

3:25 Speaker 5: Nothing at all. I'm just a mass of wrinkles and old age. And you could care less.

3:33 Speaker 3: What are you going on about?

3:35 Speaker 5: Well, I mean, just look in the mirror. What do you see?

3:41 Speaker 3: Well, let's see. A rather handsome young man standing behind a very beautiful woman whom he is very much in love with.

3:52 Speaker 6: Ah!

3:54 Speaker 4: You are very sweet, Richard. But you are also biased. Face it, I'm growing old.

4:04 Speaker 3: But gracefully. Now, I'm going down to get the car. You come down when you're ready. Now what's the matter?

4:12 Speaker 4: Didn't you see it?

4:13 Speaker 3: See what exactly?

4:15 Speaker 5: My reflection.

4:17 Speaker 3: What about it?

4:17 Speaker 5: It winked at me.

4:22 Speaker 3: Don't you mean that you winked?

4:24 Speaker 1: Winked at you?

4:27 Speaker 5: No, Richard. I mean that my reflection winked. And I didn't do it.

4:32 Speaker 3: That was probably a trick of the light. Now, don't be too long. Our reservation is at 8 o'clock. Myra, will you please put that compact away?

4:46 Speaker 5: You look fine. I'm just checking, Richard.

4:51 Speaker 3: It's the third time since we sat down. Come on, Myra. Nobody is that vain.

4:59 Speaker 5: I'm not vain, as you call it.

5:02 Speaker 4: I have to look my very best for the public.

5:06 Speaker 3: Only public. You need concern yourself is me.

5:12 Speaker 4: And wouldn't that just be dandy if someone were to snap a photo of me when I didn't?

5:18 Speaker 5: Look, 100%. And it was spread all over social media. You would never forgive me.

5:26 Speaker 3: I would forgive you. You would never forgive you.

5:33 Speaker 5: Well, no matter.

5:35 Speaker 4: How was that radio thingy that you've been doing coming along?

5:41 Speaker 3: That radio thingy, as you so quaintly called it, is doing quite nicely.

5:48 Speaker 5: What exactly is it that you're doing?

5:52 Speaker 3: Well, Myra, since you really want to know, the network is delving into radio drama again.

5:57 Speaker 5: I always said that you had a face for radio.

6:02 Speaker 3: Oh, very funny. I'm rehearsing Richard III at the moment.

6:07 Speaker 5: Imagine Shakespeare on radio.

6:11 Speaker 3: It's not so hard to imagine. And we do have a fine cast. Myra, please put that blasted compact away.

6:21 Speaker 5: I just wanted to see.

6:24 Speaker 4: Richard, it happened again.

6:27 Speaker 3: What? What happened again?

6:30 Speaker 5: The reflection. It winked at me and then it scowled.

6:38 Speaker 3: I think you have been working your reflection a bit hard tonight, don't you?

6:44 Speaker 5: I'm telling you.

6:45 Speaker 3: Lower your voice. People are starting to stare. Please, Richard, just.

6:50 Speaker 5: Take me home.

6:53 Speaker 4: Now!

6:57 Speaker 3: Are you sure that you're going to be all right?

7:00 Speaker 5: I'm fine, Richard. Really, I am. I'll call you tomorrow.

7:05 Speaker 3: You call me any time that you need me. I don't care what time it may be.

7:11 Speaker 4: I will.

7:13 Speaker 5: Thank you. Good night. Well, Myra, I'm sure that Richard.

7:24 Speaker 4: Thinks you are just completely insane. Oh dear, I think I see another wrinkle coming.

7:31 Speaker 6: Why he puts up with you, I will never know.

7:41 Speaker 5: Who said that? I said that.

7:44 Speaker 6: Who do you think would say that?

7:47 Speaker 5: Where are you? I warn you, I have a gun! And I'm not afraid to use it.

7:56 Speaker 2: Are you kidding?

7:57 Speaker 6: You wouldn't even shoot the one filled with blanks on the TV show. They had a devil of a time trying to work around that.

8:05 Speaker 5: Who's there? Where are you?

8:08 Speaker 6: I'm right in front of you. Can't you see.

8:14 Speaker 3: Me?

8:16 Speaker 2: No!

8:18 Speaker 5: But you... You are... Oh, that's right, Myra.

8:23 Speaker 6: Your reflection. And I'm getting a little tired of it.

8:31 Speaker 1: The model Ellie McPherson once said, quote, It's not vanity to feel you have a right to be beautiful. Women are taught to feel we're not good enough, that we must live up to someone else's standards. End quote. I'll return shortly with Act Two. In 1871, Lewis Carroll published a sequel to Alice in Wonderland titled Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There It describes Alice's further adventures as she moves through a mirror into a world of illogical behavior.

9:32 Speaker 4: I'm telling you, Richard, my reflection spoke to me.

9:37 Speaker 3: Myra, please, you're getting yourself into a state. Now here, drink this.

9:43 Speaker 5: I wouldn't have called if I hadn't seen it.

9:46 Speaker 3: Just drink this up.

9:49 Speaker 1: There we go.

9:50 Speaker 3: Now, do you feel better?

9:53 Speaker 5: Yes, a little. Oh, Richard, thank you so much for coming back over.

10:00 Speaker 3: I told you, I didn't care what time it was. Now, explain to me what happened.

10:08 Speaker 5: You had just left.

10:09 Speaker 4: I was standing in front of the mirror over there when, well, my reflection spoke to me.

10:17 Speaker 3: You mean you were talking to your reflection? No!

10:20 Speaker 2: What?

10:20 Speaker 4: It.

10:21 Speaker 5: my... reflection.

10:24 Speaker 4: spoke to me!

10:26 Speaker 5: Just as you are speaking to me now!

10:29 Speaker 3: But you understand how impossible that sounds.

10:32 Speaker 5: Impossible or not, Richard, it happened!

10:36 Speaker 1: Myra....

10:38 Speaker 3: Myra, I've told you before, this obsession with your appearance is going to get out of hand.

10:45 Speaker 5: It doesn't have anything to do with.

10:47 Speaker 3: How many mirrors do you have in the apartment?

10:51 Speaker 5: Oh, I don't know. Perhaps three, maybe four.

10:57 Speaker 3: You have 28, Myra. 28 mirrors in every part of this place. Now, don't you think that is a bit much?

11:07 Speaker 5: And how would you know?

11:09 Speaker 3: Because I counted them.

11:11 Speaker 5: And why would you do that?

11:13 Speaker 3: Because I'm worried about you, Myra. No matter where you are or what you are doing, you are constantly looking at your reflection. It isn't healthy.

11:26 Speaker 4: Well, you haven't exactly helped the situation, now have you?

11:32 Speaker 3: What are you talking about? Just this! The music box I gave you for your birthday? What does that have to do with anything?

11:43 Speaker 5: Look inside. Do you see a ballerina dancing in a circle? No, only a mirror.

11:53 Speaker 3: I only thought that you would like the music. Remember? You said that it was your favorite piece.

12:01 Speaker 4: I do like the music, Richard, but you must admit, you did bring in another mirror.

12:19 Speaker 3: Myra?

12:22 Speaker 6: Are you there?

12:23 Speaker 7: Myra?

12:26 Speaker 6: Leave me alone. Come to the mirror, Myra.

12:33 Speaker 5: I think I see a new wrinkle. What do you want? Leave me alone.

12:42 Speaker 6: You don't deserve Richard.

12:44 Speaker 7: What?

12:47 Speaker 5: What did you say? Oh, come on, Myra.

12:51 Speaker 6: Come to the mirror.

12:52 Speaker 5: You are nothing more than my reflection. Do you hear me? My reflection. You do as I do.

13:01 Speaker 6: Are you really that vain?

13:08 Speaker 5: What are you, then?

13:08 Speaker 6: I'm one of the mirror people.

13:13 Speaker 5: What do you want?

13:15 Speaker 7: I only want.

13:17 Speaker 6: What you have.

13:19 Speaker 7: Don't you get it?

13:21 Speaker 5: I only exist when you are looking at me.

13:25 Speaker 4: A lovely sight.

13:27 Speaker 6: I can see the room behind you, but nothing else.

13:31 Speaker 5: I want to know what lies beyond. This has got to be a dream. I'm going to wake up now.

13:38 Speaker 7: It's no dream.

13:41 Speaker 2: I want what you have.

13:44 Speaker 4: To be free.

13:46 Speaker 6: Away from the mirror. And I will get it.

13:51 Speaker 5: Wake up. Wake up. Wake up!

14:02 Speaker 1: Ludwig Wittgenstein once said, It seems to me that, in every culture, I come across a chapter headed Wisdom. And then I know exactly what is going to follow. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. I'll return shortly with Act 3.

14:41 Speaker 1: Miguel de Unamuno once said, Cure yourself of the affliction of caring how you appear to others. Concern yourself only with how you appear before God. Hello?

15:02 Speaker 5: Oh, Richard! Thank God!

15:05 Speaker 3: Myra?

15:07 Speaker 2: What's going on?

15:08 Speaker 4: Please, Richard, I need you to come over.

15:11 Speaker 2: Now!

15:12 Speaker 3: Myra, I'm in the middle of rehearsal. We go on the air live tomorrow night.

15:18 Speaker 5: I understand, but please.

15:20 Speaker 3: I need you. Alright, alright. I'll see what I can do.

15:25 Speaker 5: Don't see!

15:25 Speaker 2: Just get over here! Now!

15:27 Speaker 5: My, my.

15:33 Speaker 4: How the mighty have fallen.

15:39 Speaker 3: Leave me alone.

15:42 Speaker 5: Why can't you just leave me alone?

15:45 Speaker 6: Do you really think that Richard wants someone like you?

15:48 Speaker 5: Yes. Yes, he does. We are going to be married and have a wonderful life together. A wonderful life?

15:58 Speaker 6: You and Richard? Please!

16:07 Speaker 4: How could he compete with someone who looks in the mirror all day.

16:11 Speaker 6: Every day?

16:12 Speaker 5: Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this? I told you.

16:20 Speaker 6: I want what you have. And I will get it.

16:25 Speaker 5: What will happen to me?

16:30 Speaker 2: You?

16:30 Speaker 4: You will take my place, of course.

16:34 Speaker 6: You'll be confined to this dark world where the only time you'll see anything is when I look into a mirror. And I can promise you, I won't spend all of.

16:47 Speaker 5: My time looking at myself.

16:50 Speaker 4: But you have to replace me somehow, right?

16:57 Speaker 6: Easy enough. It's happening right now.

17:01 Speaker 5: What do you mean right now?

17:04 Speaker 6: You're sitting there on the bed, looking at the full-length mirror, aren't you?

17:11 Speaker 5: What are you doing? Why are you getting up off the bed? How are you doing that?

17:18 Speaker 6: I told you, Myra. I'm only your reflection. But soon, very soon, you will simply.

17:28 Speaker 3: Be my.

17:30 Speaker 4: Reflection.

17:31 Speaker 7: No!

17:32 Speaker 5: Stop it! Stop it!

17:34 Speaker 4: Just a few more stabs and I will walk out of the mirror and you.

17:43 Speaker 6: You will be the one trapped inside.

17:45 Speaker 7: No!

17:49 Speaker 5: What are you doing?

17:51 Speaker 2: Stop it!

17:52 Speaker 5: Don't be stupid! I'll break them all! I'll break every single one of them!

17:57 Speaker 4: No!

17:59 Speaker 5: Do you think that will stop me? Yes, I do.

18:06 Speaker 5: You look a little scared. Stop it, Mara.

18:12 Speaker 6: Quit breaking the mirrors.

18:14 Speaker 5: Not until I break every single one of them.

18:36 Speaker 6: No more mirrors.

18:38 Speaker 4: No way out of your mirror world. What?

18:47 Speaker 5: What's that?

18:48 Speaker 7: Over here, Mara.

18:59 Speaker 6: You missed one.

19:12 Speaker 3: No!

19:19 Speaker 2: Richard.

19:21 Speaker 3: Myra, I am so sorry. Rehearsal ran longer than I expected and I.

19:28 Speaker 2: Oh, it's okay, Richard. I'm fine now. Please, do you think that we can go out tomorrow, say, for dinner?

19:37 Speaker 3: Well, of course we can. Just do me a favor and leave the compact at home.

19:44 Speaker 2: You won't have to worry about mirrors anymore. I've learned my lesson. I've gotten rid of them just for you. See you tomorrow night, darling.

19:56 Speaker 7: Hmm.

20:01 Speaker 3: I wonder what she meant by that. Oh, well. You don't deserve a wonderful girl like that.

20:10 Speaker 2: What?

20:12 Speaker 3: Who said that? Is there someone here? Of course there's someone here. I'm here. This is some kind of a joke. It is not funny. No joke, Richard.

20:25 Speaker 4: But... No.

20:26 Speaker 7: It can't be.

20:28 Speaker 1: Oh, yes. It can.

20:38 Speaker 3: I simply want what you have.

20:42 Speaker 7: And I.

20:45 Speaker 3: Will get it.

20:55 Speaker 1: Richard looks at his reflection in the mirror but does not see himself. Only a face that looks like him but smiles and shows the evil that is within the mirror. I'll be back with a final word. Have you honestly looked at yourself in the mirror for an extended period of time? Try it sometime. That is, if you dare. For within that reflection, you may find the real you.

21:49 Speaker 1: Our cast included Crimson McKenzie and Winslow Swan. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan.

22:00 Speaker 1: And now, a preview of our next tale.

22:04 Speaker 5: For God's sakes, Edgar. This is abominable. Let the men die.

22:10 Speaker 1: Are you insane?

22:11 Speaker 4: This is one of the greatest scientific experiments ever conducted.

22:14 Speaker 5: But at what cost?

22:18 Speaker 1: This is Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us through the doorway to Nightmare for another adventure into the terrifying world of your imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue. The Butler Did It.