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the landscape of my life is dictated by
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one sole factor it has been since that
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day many moons ago now when I stepped
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outside of my seaside cottage to find
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the shore covered in fractals of broken
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glass a cracked golden mirror lay amidst
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the crashing tide i foolish as I was
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bent to pick it up I stare at it now its
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ornate frame decorating the space above
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my dresser i throw a hairbrush at the
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mangled surface watching it shutter
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before returning to its original
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distorted reflection even after
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countless attempts of trying to remove
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it it still hasn't relinquished its
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position on my wall i sigh at the sound
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of my kettle shrieking and trudge
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towards my kitchen i pour its contents
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into a teacup flinching when a drop of
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hot water jumps onto my hand and lift my
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gaze out the window into the reality
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outside of my cottage the air
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surrounding my coastal home is warped
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and hazy a swirl of wind that engulfs
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the cottage from all sides a barrier
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that I have learned through unpleasant
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experiences is impenetrable nothing has
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come in or out since the day the cyclone
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formed the storm that created it was the
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last thing I remembered before waking up
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in my newly frozen cage staring at its
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creator mounted on the wall opposite me
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it's safe to say this isn't what I
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signed up for i drop a cube of sugar in
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my tea and then sit down at my kitchen
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table i allow my eyes to skim for the
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thousandth time my artwork plastered on
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the walls my gaze lands on a portrait of
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me and my mother and I quickly look away
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casting aside the sinking feeling in my
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gut i take another sip from my teacup
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and then reach for the journal across
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the table from me day
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1,896 today my tea burned me i'm
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interrupted by a knock at the door i'm
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interrupted by a knock at the door i
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stand up so fast that my chair clatters
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to the floor i rush over to yank open
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the door which swings to reveal a person
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standing in my doorway "hello are you
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Annabelle Gates?" he asks i actually
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stumbled back out of pure shock just the
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sight of another person after so long
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has me grasping for the back of my chair
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which in forgetting it fell over I then
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trip over the stranger looks alarmed
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ma'am are you okay he was wearing a
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jacket with the word collector inscribed
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on the breast pocket and holding a
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notepad what how who are you how did you
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get here i point to the cyclone outside
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of my house he looks behind his shoulder
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as if only now noticing it i'm with the
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guild of curses i believe that for the
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past 5 years you have had in your
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possession a mirror on the cursed items
2:35
register and I am here to collect it he
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stroed past me in a business-like manner
2:40
as if this was nothing out of the
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ordinary "where is it?" he asks i point
2:44
Agape to the door of my room we both
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enter to find the mirror hanging above
2:49
the dresser right where I left it the
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man crosses his arms and surveys it
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excuse me who are you what is the Guild
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of Curses how did this just wind up on
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the beach outside of my house i
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interrogate him my name is Julian and
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I'm employed by the Guild of Curses an
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organization dedicated to protecting and
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preserving cursed items a few years back
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there was a chaotic mixup and it seems
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this mirror somehow ended up in your
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possession we've only tracked it down
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now he scratches the back of his head
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i'm guessing it can't come off i nod he
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sigh i was afraid of that okay I am
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going to have to go back to the guild
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and find its key he turns to leave wait
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i grab his arm what do you mean it's key
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wherever you're going you're taking me
3:34
with you he yanks his elbow free from me
3:37
the key to unlock its curse and no you
3:40
are definitely not coming with me excuse
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me sir but have you ever been trapped in
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a house for 5 years i demand he pauses
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looking uncertain um no well I have and
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you have no idea what it's like not
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seeing your loved ones for so long i
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point to a picture of me and my mom our
4:00
blonde heads tilted towards each other i
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ignore that same uneasy feeling that
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rises in my stomach so if I am able to
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leave then you better believe that I'm
4:10
getting out of here he sigh and pinches
4:12
the bridge of his nose after a moment he
4:15
looks up fine he sigh but you have to do
4:19
exactly what I tell you done i smile a
4:22
minute later we're standing knee deep in
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the ocean outside julian with no warning
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had whipped out some sort of blade that
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cut a path through the cyclone to the
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shore now what i ask him just wait he
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stares straight ahead i watch in shock
4:37
as a door emerges from the water it's
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decorated in gold flakes and strings of
4:42
pearls that dangle off its edges julian
4:44
turns the handle to reveal nothing but a
4:46
glow on the other side you have to just
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walk straight in no fear and it will
4:50
bring you there he says i watch him step
4:53
through and then reluctantly follow him
4:55
a second later I'm in the largest
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building I have ever seen a glass dome
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encases the large room bustling with
5:02
people and what looks like ivy growing
5:04
from the ceiling to the walls a
5:06
cacophony of sounds ricochets around the
5:09
room giving it a chaotic air what is
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this our headquarters follow me i trip
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after him as he strides to a heavy
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wooden door a little ways away this is
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where the key should be he twists the
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gold knob the room beyond is flooded in
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artwork canvases hanging from the
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ceiling papermâché statues clay
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creations and the odd hand turkey with a
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start I realize I recognize all of them
5:34
this is my artwork I say in awe julian
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looks back at me really i step back to
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take in a painting I made when I was
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what 13 12 yeah I say i'm an artist i
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haven't painted for years though i ran
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out of supplies i reach out and touch
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the painting memories of smeared
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swirling colors crowding my mind it's
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been so long huh he looks around these
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are really good how did they get here i
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ask him i don't really know how to
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explain it but you can find things
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linked to the mirror here were you
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thinking of painting when you found it
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not really well I pause unsure i had a
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massive fight with my mom the night
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before i told her I was quitting college
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to become a full-time painter she was
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mad and said she didn't want her
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daughter to become a failed artist so I
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guess I was thinking about that i
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swallowed after 5 years the anger had
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dulled but I still refused to let myself
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think about how she hadn't believed in
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me then that's how come on we have to
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keep going he motions for me to go with
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him i swerve around stray pieces of
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artwork and follow him to the end of the
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hall which leads to another door the
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next room is a wasteland of broken glass
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but the pieces aren't small they're
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massive around the length of my body and
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very thick light refracts through the
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glass casting beams around the room
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what's this room i turn to Julian h he
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walks towards the center of the floor
7:05
weaving around the pieces of broken
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glass oh it's a clock i join him in the
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center to see that the floor is actually
7:12
the face of a ginormous clock its
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massive hands barely a few centimeters
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off the ground "lost time," Julian
7:20
murmurs the hands don't move the room
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remains completely silent i exhale "i
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don't understand where this is going."
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"Look." Julian points to a single
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painting across the room at the head of
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the 12:00 point i inch towards it
7:33
carefully and then come to a complete
7:36
stop when I take in the scene trapped
7:38
inside the plain wooden frame is a
7:40
watercolor painting a woman stands on
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the beach her head of blonde curls bent
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low as she reaches to pick up something
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the mirror it's me on the base of the
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frame is the title of the piece the
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first key anger if this painting is of
7:55
me does that mean I was the key was I
7:57
anger i hear Julian come up behind me
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annabelle I'm sorry but I think you were
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the one who unlocked the curse some
8:04
cursed items need an activator and in
8:07
this case it seems like it was your
8:09
anger towards your mother that caused it
8:11
i barely register the hand that he
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places on my shoulder i was haunted by
8:16
that night like you are by a childhood
8:18
nightmare the anger and betrayal I had
8:20
felt from thinking that my mother didn't
8:22
believe in me used to be blinding hot
8:25
but by now had dulled years of isolation
8:28
made me realize I was living the exact
8:30
life she hadn't wanted for me being
8:32
trapped unhappy and unable to get out
8:36
she had thought college was my mirror's
8:38
key i thought art was "let's go," I say
8:42
my throat dry julian nods a little
8:44
solemnly and we turn to the next door on
8:46
the opposite side of the room "this
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should be the last one," he says we step
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through supposedly the final wooden door
8:53
where we are met only with darkness "huh
8:56
what's going on?" I swivel my head
8:59
around looking for Julian i don't know i
9:02
hear his voice from somewhere to the
9:04
right of me suddenly a light appears at
9:07
the end of the room i step closer to see
9:09
a glowing script in the process of
9:11
writing itself the last key forgiveness
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forgiveness i was the first key and I
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realize now that I am the last one too
9:21
suddenly the room floods with light i
9:23
blink my eyes against the sudden
9:25
harshness to find myself back in my
9:26
coastal cottage standing in my bedroom
9:28
the mirror its surface smooth and umamed
9:31
is mounted underneath the scrawling
9:33
script how i trail off touch it Julian
9:37
says i walk over to the mirror and place
9:39
the pad of my finger on its surface the
9:41
glass ripples lightly like the waters
9:43
outside my home i look back at Julian
9:46
you have to just walk straight in no
9:48
fear and it will bring you there he
9:50
smiles repeating what he had said to me
9:52
before goodbye Julian thank you goodbye
9:56
Annabelle it's time to go home knowing
9:59
what I have to do I step straight