IGCSE First Language English (Descriptive & Narrative)

(4) The mirror

Write a narrative with the title, 'The mirror'.

As the sun mounted into a cloudless heaven behind the azure sky, a quaint cottage stood in solitude in the center of the stage of Mother nature as hectares of lush greenery stretched out to long distances.

In the house was Catherine, who was drenched from heavy labour as she cleaned her bedroom. Her sweat-streaked face glowed under the radiance of the sun and she breathed and panted heavily as she forcefully mopped the wooden floor. Luminous rays of sunlight fixed her hair in hues of golden brown and as she looked outside the window, there were golden specks embedded in her emeralds.

"Almost done," whispered Catherine to herself - determined to make her room spick and span.

Abruptly, she took out a piece of cloth and rushed to the last thing in her room that needed cleaning: her mirror, which was a gift from her parents when she moved into a house all by herself. After countless efforts of wiping, spraying and ensuring it is squeaky clean, dark and ominous colours ranging from blue to black began to swirl endlessly as well as letting out mysterious and monotonous whispers and deep groans: it was a portal, a vortex!

Flooded with curiosity, Catherine's eyes widened and reflected the colours of this mystical, magical mirror that she summoned. All sorts of questions began to wash over her - should I go through this mirror? What was on the other side? Adrenaline rushed through her like wildfire and she could hear the blood coursing through her body, her heartbeat echoing in her ears. Without wasting any time, her fingers stretched out to touch the mirror and...whoosh!

Her body turned with the circular motion of the vortex everywhere she saw was charcoal black and a slight tinge of dark blue.

"Ow!"

Landing with a heavy thud on the floor, Catherine struggled to open her eyes as she felt her limbs become numb. She sat on her knees and looked around: why was she still in her bedroom? Her eyes roamed to see the exact bed, the exact wooden floor and everything else that resembled her bedroom. Struck with utmost confusion, Catherine walked to see if there were any differences - but nothing; everything was exactly where it was. 

Although she felt a slight bit of disappointment, she still wanted to explore and decided to go out and find anything that changed before she questioned her sanity. As she closed the door behind her, the cupboard in her "room" opened with a creak that was deafening to the ambience around. Red, empty eyes glowed and stared as the eternal darkness of the cupboard held back its identity. Catherine wasn't alone after all.