The Unseen-Part Four

Day 109

The other boy's name was Judediah, just Jude for short. They determined he had been in the mirror world for 92 years. Yet he hadn't aged a day. Nor had eaten any food nor drank any water although he was mighty hungry and thirsty. There was no food on this side.

"Something about this place keeps us young and we don't need no food or nothin'. I don't know why 'cept it's a magical place. And that imp, what did you call him? Mr Chimp? I guess that's as good a name as any. He hasn't changed any either." Jude sat down on the floor. "I been watchin' the world go by out that there mirror. Everything outside the shop keeps changin' but inside everything stayed the same. It still looks like it did in nineteen and twenty four."

"When I first came to the shop", said Cal, "I thought I saw someone in Mr Chimps eyes. Was that you?"

Sho' 'nuff. I was tryin' to warn you off. See he covers the shop mirror when he wants to trick someone into comin' to this side. So I couldn't see through the mirror. You wouldn't a seen me in the mirror anyways. I'm right sorry you got stuck here."

"He taught me a spell to get back to the real world but I must be doing it wrong." Cal sat down and quietly sobbed.

"The one that you spin around, stomp your foot and spit. Yeah, he showed me that one too. I was stompin' and spinnin' and spittin' 'till I was dry. After awhile he just laughed at me. Guess he found it funny, me wantin' to go home so bad. He told me to try it one more time and it worked." Jude sighed. "I went back and things were even worse than before. Pappy lost the lousy job he had and couldn't find another, He was glad when I disappeared, one less mouth to feed. Then I found out my closest friend was beat to death, over a couple onions and half a loaf a bread. People was starvin' and dyin'. I couldn't sign his contract fast enough. I came right back and glad of it. For awhile. Eventually I figured out there was no food here either. Mr Chimp had disappeared. After I signed I only saw him when he came to the antique shop. Most of the time he ignored me."

Things weren't so good at home but at least I wasn't alone. I guess we can keep each other company from now 'till eternity." Jude's shoulders slumped as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

Cal wiped his nose on his sleeve. What was it father had told him? "Life is going to knock you down when you least expect it. You can let it beat you, or you can get back up, and tell it not today, your not going to beat me today. And you keep going."

He was not going to let this beat him. He stood up and then helped Jude get up. They would figure this out. They would find a way to get back to the other side of the mirror. They explored their world but never went far from the shop mirror for very long. They wanted to know if Mr Chimp was in the shop and watching them. They knew the imp was the key. But how? What were they missing? Mr Chimp could move between worlds at will, without any incantations or spells. He just moved from one side of the mirror to the other. They had to figure out how he did it. They had to figure out how they could get home.

The Unseen part five tomorrow.

Until tomorrow,

Ken