From goulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties And things that go bump in the night Good Lord, deliver us!                                           Cornish Prayer

            “. . .mirrors reflect souls and evil beings have no souls, therefore no reflection.”                                                                                  Vampires.com

As usual, I didn’t hear it, but Pamela, the catlike sleeper, did.  “Did you hear something?” she asked as I swam up from the bottom of a big dream.  “No” I said and listened.  Not a sound, very quiet, no disturbance.  Within moments I was diving headlong back into the darkness of the dream from which I had emerged.

Before dawn I moved silently downstairs  and turned on the lamp with the fluorescent bulb.  Down the short hallway the house was very dimly lit, the skylights were not yet in operation.  At the half-bath door, I paused.  What had been the source of whatever bump in the night Pamela heard?  I slowly opened the door and turned on the light.  I was confused by the scene.

The big oval mirror above the sink, in the heavy metal frame, was lying face down on the counter.  Small stones from the candle holder were scattered in and about the basin.  I looked up and saw 2 big holes where the screws and anchors had pulled loose, allowing the whole mass to drop with the crash we’d dimly heard.  I quickly calculated that the repair task was beyond my meager capabilities.

Once before the oval frame with the beveled glass came crashing down.  That time the glass had shattered into shards we found for months afterwards, occasionally stuck in a toe.  Come to think of it, that broken mirror had foretold some upcoming rocky times; the portent was confirmed.

This time the glass did not break, I salvaged it whole and put it aside until I can get the holes patched and devise a way to keep it in place.  In the meantime, every time I wash my hands and look up, I feel like I’ve become a vampire–there’s no reflection.  Is this perhaps also a portent, but this time one of awakening?  Perhaps I’m being told, reflect.

Maybe I’m simply being guided by an obvious experience to take time to reflect for myself.  It is way past time to allow others to define me.  If I’m always depending on what I get back from the other to define who I am and how I should be, I’m captive.  Reflect, don’t prey on others like a vampire, needing their essence for sustenance.

Don’t burden anyone else with the need of their approval for my happiness.  That’s a recipe for unhappiness, frustration and a vicious pendulum ride that true relationship, relationship with myself or relationship with another, cannot long endure.