By Judith Kay

About the Author: Judith Kay (1950) was born in New York City and lived there until she got married. She has been a teacher, a textbook author, and a short-story writer. She received her M.A. in TESOL at Hunter College in New York and has been teaching most of her adult life. After teaching English as a Second Language at Marymount Manhattan College for a number of years, she moved to Florida, where she is currently teaching at Broward Community College.

Elena had always been called a beauty. When she was a little girl, people often stopped her mother to say, '' What a beautiful little girl! " Often, strangers would bend over and say to Elena, " You're as pretty as a picture! " Elena had learned to smile and accept 10 their compliments. Elena's mother had taught her to respond with a prompt " Thank you very much." By the time she was five, her beauty had become a natural part of her life, along with her 15 toys, her pretty dresses, and her shiny, black patent leather shoes.

That was a long time ago. Fifty years had passed, and time had brought many changes to Elena's life. Now 55 years old, Elena was still pretty, but she had the face of a woman who, as people said, " Must have been beautiful when she was younger."

In high school Elena had always been popular. She won the Prom Queen contest in her senior year, and she was so excited to wear the crown at the senior prom. Naturally, she loved being in the center of attention. The prom had been a perfect evening, and she had hoped it would never end. She wanted to be happy forever - as happy as she was at that moment. Elena felt as though she were a beautiful princess in a fairy tale, one who could live happily ever after.

In college she met Jim, who became her husband. She married him right after their graduation. Jim was handsome and ambitious. He adored Elena and for years he would refer to her as " my bride." Their two children, Margaret and Alan, were perfect as far as Elena was concerned. She used to say that they completed the picture of them as " the Ail-American family." Living in the lovely little suburban town of Greenville, Connecticut, they were happy, healthy, prosperous, and blessed with good luck.

And then one day it all went sour. What caused the change? Perhaps Elena had been too lucky. Or too pretty. She remembered the fairy tale of the witch who, out of jealousy toward a beautiful, young prince, cast a spell on her one day. Maybe someone secretly hated Elena and had wished her evil.

The way it happened was this. One day, after her two children had graduated college and were living away from home, Jim came home from the office and said simply, " I'm not happy here anymore. I think I should move out. I need space."

Elena couldn't believe it. For once, she didn't know what to say. She just stood in front of Jim with her mouth open. All she could think was, " This is a bad dream. This can't be happening."

But Jim wanted out of the marriage, so Elena finally agreed to the divorce. She thought about it a great deal, and she realized she couldn’t stay with someone who didn't love her anymore. His rejection of her was painful, but as time passed, she grew to accept it, and now the pain was more like a dull ache. That year had been a difficult one for Elena. She and Jim signed the final divorce papers in early January. It was now February 14 - Valentine's Day and Elena's birthday.

Valentine's Day had fallen on a depressing, cold, gray morning. But Alan, who was now living in Paris, called to wish her a beautiful bouquet of yellow roses. Elena cried when she opened the box it and saw them nestled in the green tissue paper.

Yes, it was sweet of her children to remember her birthday. She knew she should be grateful to have them, but she felt alone. She felt hollow, empty inside.

She realized she needed to get out of the house. She was feeling sorry for herself, and, of course, that was no good. She decided to plan a day in the country - a special day, since it was her birthday. She was going to force herself to have fun so she could push away the sadness.

It seemed to be working already. The thought of taking a drive cheered her up almost instantly. Obviously, it was staying around the house for too long that was making her feel blue. She dressed in warm clothes: a sweater, a fleece jacket, a wool scarf, and leather gloves. The car already had a full tank of gas. She would drive through the Berkshires and stop whenever and wherever she wanted. Maybe she'd even stay overnight at one of those quaint country inns. The feeling of freedom was exhilarating, and she was surprised to see herself smile as she looked in the car mirror. It was a long time since she remembered smiling.

Just outside of Lenox, Massachusetts, Elena spotted an antique shop. It was called Fanny Dolittle's. She had been there with Jim many years earlier. As she walked into the shop, the ringing of the little bell on the door announced her entrance. The owner of the shop, a balding, older man who looked as if he had just woken up from a nap, came out of the back room. He smoothed his hair as he smiled and apologized for not expecting anyone so late in the afternoon. Elena glanced at her watch for the first time since she had left home. It was four-thirty and beginning to get dark.

" I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was so late. I just wanted to look around. I haven't been here in years, and I remembered you had nice things, " Elena said.

" Oh, that's all right. Take your time. If you need any help, just holler, " the old man replied.

Elena examined some cut glass vases and a delicate china tea set. Then she wandered into another room, and her eyes were drawn to an antique hand mirror. She was surprised she even noticed it. Covered with lace, it lay on top of an old oak dresser. Elena picked up the mirror and stared at her reflection. " I look happy and younger, " she murmured to herself.

The owner came over to Elena and asked whether she was looking for anything special.

" Yes. I was looking for a mirror, " she replied. " How much is this one? There's no price on it."

He took a look at it. " That's strange, " he said. " I never saw that piece before. My wife must have brought it in recently. If you want, I can call her at home and ask her."

" Would you, please? " Elena tried to control her excitement. She felt she absolutely had to have the mirror.

The owner went over to the phone near the cash register at the front of the store and called his wife, Elena looked at herself in the mirror again. She noticed that her eyes looked brighter and the small wrinkles around them seemed fainter. She smiled and thought, " What a wonderful mirror! It makes me feel younger. It makes me feel happy."

She walked to the front of the shop just as the owner had hung up the phone. " Well, " he said, " my wife doesn't remember the mirror either, but when I described it to her, she thought we should sell it for about $50."

" That's fine. I'll take it, " Elena said. " May I write you a check? "

“No problem. Shall I wrap it for you? ”

" Yes, " said Elena. " It’s a birthday gift."

When she arrived home, Elena placed the mirror on the dresser in her bedroom. She unwrapped the paper and looked closely at the mirror. She marveled at the details on the oval silver frame and the delicate roses and leaves decorating the handle, with its single red garnet embedded in a rose at the base, just below the mirror. It was truly beautiful.

That night Elena slept better than she had in months. She went for a walk after breakfast and felt energetic. She almost forgot about the mirror until that evening when she was getting ready for bed. She picked it up, looked at herself, and smiled. " Every time I look at myself, I feel younger. Tonight I can't see any gray hairs. It’s as if some magic in the mirror makes me younger, " she said to herself. " But of course that isn't possible. I'm imagining I look younger." She put the mirror down. " I'm being silly and ridiculous."

Elena put the mirror in the top drawer of her dresser under some scarves. For a few days she didn't look at the mirror at all. She continued feeling energetic and happy.

She decided to go into town and have her hair done. When she arrived at Chez Charles, the hair salon she had been going to for over ten years, everyone remarked how wonderful she looked. Charles, the owner, said, " Elena, you look so different! You look younger. What's your secret? Did you have some 'work' done? Whoever did it is marvelous! "

Elena thanked him for the compliment. She couldn't possibly tell him about the mirror. From the expression on his face, it was obvious he thought she had had plastic surgery. Fine - let him think that was the secret of her newfound youth.

She left the salon and went to the market for some ice cream, hot fudge, milk, Cheerios, and peanut butter.

She seldom bought these things, but for some reason, she felt like having them. " I guess I'm indulging myself. Well, why not? I've been unhappy for so long. It's about time I started doing things that are fun."

When she got home later that afternoon, she took the mirror out again. Looking in the mirror had become a daily ritual. This time she was positive she saw a difference in her face. She looked as though she were in her early twenties again. Her skin had the glow of a young woman's. All her wrinkles were gone. The worry lines on her forehead were no longer there. It was eerie but wonderful.

That night when Elena made dinner, she treated herself to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of chocolate milk. For dessert she had a big dish of ice cream with hot fudge sauce. She ate her meal on the couch and watched television. Elena hardly ever watched TV before, but lately she seemed to enjoy it more and more. She usually loved to spend her time reading, but over the last few days she had had trouble concentrating. Also, she had come across a number of words that were unfamiliar to her, and she didn't want to bother looking them up in the dictionary.

The next morning, Elena had trouble waking up. She was having an old recurring dream that hadn't bothered her for many years. The last time was probably when she was very young. In her dream she was walking through a meadow and picking wild flowers. Suddenly, an ugly witch with long, straggly hair and red eyes chased her into a forest. The witch kept saying, " I'm going to get you and eat you." It was dark and cold in the forest, and the witch was getting closer and closer. Elena tried to scream, but the words wouldn’t come out of her mouth. Finally, her mother and father came to save her.

She had often had this dream as a child, and it had always scared her. This morning when she woke up, her heart was beating rapidly, and her throat was dry. She felt like a scared child again.

A bit dizzy from her dream, Elena got out of bed and went over to the dresser. But something was wrong. Somehow, the dresser seemed too high for her to reach. Instead of looking down at the top of the dresser, she found herself standing on her toes to reach the mirror that lay on the dresser.

As she pulled the mirror handle to look at her reflection, she began to think that she had changed. She screamed and almost dropped the mirror. What she saw was a face that was very familiar to her. It was a face that was beautiful and young - very young. Staring back at her from the mirror were the big eyes and small face of a child.