Tim ignored them, knowing they would never find him. He stared at the card. Somehow, he could see it, even though he was surrounded by nothing but black. Somehow, he knew this card was important, just as he knew he couldn’t leave the house. He pulled the envelope open and took out the card. It was a normal birthday card, nothing looked special about it. It read, “Happy 13th Birthday to our son” on the front, in colorful letters. Tim opened the card. Something dropped from the card and landed on his foot. He left it there for a moment, his attention more focused on the folded-up piece of paper that was also inside the card.
Tim unfolded the paper. Instead of his parents handwriting, as he was expecting, it was a typed message, which read:
“To a Young Snillotian on the Completion of his or her Thirteenth Year. Congratulations! Our people have long celebrated thirteen as a special number. Your thirteenth year has brought about many changes; some you may have noticed and some you have yet to discover. Do not worry! In time, you will understand the importance of these changes. You are now a privileged member of our people. You have earned your key.”
Tim shook his head. It didn’t make any sense to him. He understood the words (except Snillotian- he had no idea what that was), but they didn’t make sense all together. The key it was referring too, must have been what fell on his foot. He bent down to retrieve it. It wasn’t a key, but a small disk or coin. As he held it, the center started to glow. Not knowing why, he touched the center of the circle. Like magic, the blackness around him disappeared in an instant.
CHAPTER THREE
Tim was standing in a mirror image of the room he been living in for the last two months. He looked around in shock. The room was the same, except on the wall farthest from where the secret door was to his room, there was a window, through which sunlight was pouring in. There was furniture in the room as well. It looked like a sitting room, or a den. Tim sat on one of the couches, trying to figure out what was going on. It felt real. He didn’t think this was all in his imagination. He looked down at the small disk-like object in his hand. There were words written on it that he hadn’t been able to see before. “The royal touch opens all.” Tim had no idea what that meant. He turned it over. The other side also had writing on it. “Property of Prince Mit.”
That explained the word “royal” being on the one side, but it didn’t explain why his parents put it in his birthday card. He slipped the disk in his pocket and walked to the window. The view was breathtaking. It seemed as if this room was on top of a mountain. He could see other mountains in the distance and a valley below, with many houses. It looked like a picture out of a book, or something you’d see in a movie. He continued to look around the room. There was nothing personal anywhere, to tell him if someone lived here. As he reached the side of the room opposite the window, he was surprised to see that the passageway didn’t lead to the back of another secret door. Instead, it opened into a brightly lit hallway. Tim poked his head into the hallway. He didn’t see anyone, so he stepped into it. It looked exactly like a backwards version of the hallway in his house, the one that had the secret door in it. He continued to explore. As he did, he realized he was in a house exactly like his. The only difference, it was like he was on the wrong side of the mirror. Anywhere there was writing it was backwards.
He went upstairs to where his room should be. When he walked into the room, at first, he thought he was in the wrong room. It didn’t look like his room. Instead, it was set up as a nursery. As he looked around, he realized it looked like pictures of his room as a baby. He just assumed this mirrored house hadn’t been updated in a while. He still wondered why this house existed. He wondered why his parents had never shown it to him, since it was pretty cool. Tim’s stomach rumbled. He decided it was a good a time as any to check out the mirrored kitchen and see if there was any food in this strange place.
Arriving in the kitchen, Tim found the refrigerator fully stocked. He took out everything he’d need to make a sandwich. As he was putting everything together, a loud voice from behind him made him drop the bottle of mustard. “What do you think you are doing?”
Tim spun around. There was a girl standing in the doorway, staring at him. As he watched her, not knowing what to say, her eyes widened. Tim stood there frozen. He hadn’t been expecting to find any people in this place. “You- You look….”, the girl’s voice trailed off.
Tim’s stomach rumbled loudly. He stared longingly at his half-made sandwich. “Go ahead, finish making it,” the girl said.
Tim finished and took a big bite, then another. The sandwich was soon gone. The girl was just watching him. “Am I in
