The Stolen Mirror

         It was a silver hand mirror, and I stole it because my grandmother had one just like it.

         I would have bought it, you understand, but I didn't have time. The mirror was at a yard sale I passed on my way to work. I noticed it as I drove by, which is miracle-number-one, because a hand mirror is not that big and I was going at least 30. So I pulled over and took a look. There was no one there; I suppose whoever was running the sale had run into the house for whatever reason. I waited as long as I could, but no one came, so I stood for a little while longer arguing with my concience. I've never stolen anything before, and it wasn't easy. Thinking back, I could have left the money there for whoever to find, maybe with a note, but I was in a rush because I was running late before I stopped. So, in the end, I pushed my concience away and just took it.

         The mirror is exactly like one my grandmother had when I was a child, which is miracle-number-two. I miss her so much, and the memories I have of her are precious to me. While I know this mirror is not the one she owned, which broke before she died, it is still special. Most of the few memories I have of her revolve around that mirror. I remember her using it, and showing me our reflections; I remember making fingerprints on it's shiny face and waiting to see what she would do. She knew that game, I think, because her reaction was always that over-dramatic kind that people use to make children laugh.

         I suppose my grandmother would have frowned on my decision to steal this mirror, even if it is so like her's, but what's done is done. I do intend to go back to the house where the yard sale was, though, and pay for the mirror if I can. Maybe I'll stay and talk for awhile. They are sure to have stories about the person who used this mirror, just as I have stories of my grandmother using her own. Maybe we can share our stories, and I'll have two wonderful people to think about whenever I look at my reflection in the mirror I stole.

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