Work Text:
Small
It was small, smaller than most that is. It was small, not just in stature but in other ways. It didn’t fill the space like others did, and it never felt like it was there as much as others seemed to be. It felt insubstantial in some way, almost like it could be seen straight through. Of course, it had checked, and it never did see through itself though it felt like it must.
It had a mirror, a small mirror, fit for a small being such as itself. The mirror was one of its small rituals, always checking, making sure it wasn’t getting any smaller, any more insubstantial. Sometimes it changed, becoming a little bit larger, a little bit smaller, but never too much. Always small changes, as befitting a small being such as itself.
Sometimes, it looked at the others, and it saw how much bigger they acted. It thought about how small it was, and wondered if it ever might be like everyone else looked? They all seemed perfectly happy with their size, and hardly ever changed. It sometimes thought about what it would be like if it was as large as all the others. Maybe then they would be able to hear it, to see it, and maybe would even want to. Of course, this was only sometimes, and nothing ever came of dreaming. How could it be sure that it would even be better if it was as large as the others anyways? Better to stick with what it had and be happy with its lot. (This was a frequent conversation)
One day as it was was exploring the small area it inhabited as it had many times before, it came across a mirror. Not its mirror, no. This mirror was large, large enough for one of the others. The strange thing, it thought, was that this mirror had never been here before. It had never seen one of the others use this mirror, in fact, it didn’t remember the mirror being here at all. As it examined this new mirror closely, it noticed with a shock that it looked larger in the mirror. Not larger like it sometimes was when it checked its own mirror, no, that was a small kind of larger. Its reflection in this mirror was larger than it had ever been. It quickly pulled out its own mirror, checking, making sure that it was real. But its own mirror showed something different. The reflection its own mirror showed was the same as it had ever been. Maybe slightly larger than usual, but certainly a small enough change to not be noticed. Looking back up, it saw that the new, larger mirror was gone. Confused, and slightly disappointed, it went back to exploring.
As the days passed it forgot about its reflection in the strange mirror. It continued checking its reflection, and its reflection never changed. It saw the new mirror occasionally now, but it’s reflection never changed like it had that day. Then, on one of its usual walks, it was taking a route past where the mirror was. It saw the large mirror, and it saw its reflection again. The reflection in the mirror was large as it had been the first time, perhaps even larger. It quickly checked its own mirror, finding its reflection to be the same as ever. However, looking back up this time, it saw as its reflection in the large mirror fade away leaving nothing behind. It lingered a few moments longer, hoping, maybe, for its larger reflection to come back. Eventually, though, it moved on.
Now, as before when the mirror had first appeared it saw its reflection occasionally. It was never frequent, never consistent, but it did see that strange, large reflection in the mirror that had become fixed in its place. The reflection started staying longer after every glance. The being started coming to the mirror just in the hopes of spotting its reflection, hoping that it would stay every time. It looked longer, avoiding seeing its small self in the mirror it had carried its whole existence. This new reflection was so much bigger, so much more interesting.
It walked the same path many times, hundreds, thousands, who’s counting? It started to give up. It could hardly see the difference anymore, on the rare occasion that it did see its reflection. Finally, it decided that it would visit one last time. It had given up on the reflection staying, so it decided that it wouldn’t waste any more time. Perhaps there was something new along another route.
When it arrived at the large mirror, it saw its reflection. It thought of how lucky it must be, for the last time it visits to be one of the few where it can see itself. Then, the reflection looked back. Not like a reflection usually looks back, no. Its reflection looked back, and it felt as if the reflection could see it. It slowly started walking towards the large mirror, the eyes of its reflection following the movement. It stopped, inches from the surface of the mirror. It slowly looked into its own mirror. Its reflection looked back, same as it ever was. Still, and lifeless. It suddenly felt as if there was a decision to be made here. Move forward? Or stay.
It set aside its mirror, the mirror it had carried for all time it could remember and moved forward. It put its hand to the surface of the large mirror and pushed. It pushed its hand through, and then its whole self. It forced itself through the mirror. Through, to whatever might lie on the other side. It pushed through, and when it reached the other side, it saw. It saw the others, those who had overlooked it for its entire existence. Strangely, however, they were all the same size as it was. And as it looked around to explore its new surroundings, it saw that each of them was in front of their own mirror. Each mirror showed an image of themselves, but much, much larger than they were in this strange place. As large as they had been in the place it came from. It looked back, and saw its own reflection, towering above its body.
And it understood.