The Magic Mirror

by Michael Gemignani

to a fork in the road, I consulted my mirror on which way to turn.

  We found ourselves approaching a small town, much like the town that had suffered so

  much at the hands of the oilman Daniel. A road told us that the name of this town was Pleasant,

  so I asked my mirror if we should stop there for the day. The mirror showed me a road sign that

  read Hardwick, which I assumed was down the road somewhere.

  We drove through Pleasant, and some fifteen minutes later were entering Hardwick.

  Since this was the town the mirror had pointed out, David and I decided to park the car and

  explore a bit.

  It was clear that there was a sense of lively expectation in the air. People were gathered

  in small groups at street corners engaged in animated discussion. We saw flags emblazoned with

  the letter AD@ waving outside a number of businesses.

  We found a small restaurant that looked inviting and decided to have lunch there. Almost

  all of the tables were taken, but we found one in a corner. A waitress brought us menus and

  came back in a short time to see if we were ready to order. We gave her our orders, but I also

  asked her why so many of the townspeople seemed so excited.

  AYou must be from outside,@ she told us. AWe=ve had the most wonderful thing happen.@

  AI=m pleased for you,@ I replied, Abut what is this thing?@

  She seemed almost to bust with pride. AA man told us that he found oil under our town,

  and he has offered to make us rich if we will let him drill for it. People are talking about what

  they will do with the money he is going to give us, and what improvements we=ll be able to make

  to our town.@

  Both David and I stiffened when we heard the waitresses answer. AWas the man=s name

  Daniel?@ I asked.

  AWhy, yes,@ the waitress responded. ADo you know him?@

  David looked silently down at the table. I felt like running out of the restaurant because I

  did not want to destroy the waitress=s hope of riches, but Daniel had already destroyed the hopes

  of others. Perhaps we could prevent him from destroying Hardwick.

  AYes,@ I said, AI know him. He is a scoundrel. He will promise you riches to get what he

  wants, but he then he will leave you with nothing. He will take everything he can from you, but

  give nothing in return.@

  The waitress was struck dumb by my answer and the anger with which I gave it. AYou

  can=t mean what you just told me,@ she half gasped. ADaniel is one of the finest men who ever

  came to Hardwick.@

  I felt sick, but I could not be silent. It would have been so easy for David and I to eat our

  lunch and leave Hardwick, abandoning the town to the disaster we knew would follow. I felt

  tears coming to my eyes as I said, AHow I truly wish it were otherwise. But this man will destroy

  your town and break all of the promises he makes to you. Please, tell me. Has your town board

  already made an agreement with him?@

  The waitress was silent for a moment before responding. ANo, but they are meeting with

  him tonight in city hall at 6 p.m. to finish an agreement.@

  She was silent again before asking pensively, AIs he really as you say he is? If so, then all

  our desires for a better future are only foolish dreams.@

  AI am sorry for having to destroy your faith in Daniel,@ I said softly. APerhaps it would

  have been better to say nothing, but if I had not spoken out, Daniel might have deceived your

  town. And he might still deceive it. David and I will be at the town board meeting tonight.@

  The waitress left and returned in about ten minutes with our orders. Again, I apologized

  for being the bearer of bad news. She simply smiled and said nothing. David and I finished our

  meals and I paid the bill, leaving a generous tip for our waitress as small compensation for

  spoiling her fantasy of wealth.

  Once we had left the restaurant I told David that I thought it odd that the waitress seemed

  in much better spirits than when she brought our orders. I asked David, ADo you think you

  passed on the information we gave her about Daniel?@

  AI hope not,@ David replied, Abecause if Daniel finds out that we might spoil his game, he

  will do everything he can to stop us.@

  AWell,@ I replied, AI think we need to assume for our own safety that Daniel has found out

  that we=ll oppose his plans. What do you think we should do?@

  David thought for a moment. AWe could split up and then show up together at 6 o=clock

  at the town board meeting. That way if one of us is captured, the other one can still go to the

  meeting.@

  ABut if we stay together, we might be able to fight off anyone Daniel sends to kidnap us.@

  The very words filled me with fear even as I spoke them. I did not want to have to fight anyone,

  much less toughs that Daniel might recruit to stop us from warning the town board.

  AI suppose separating is the wisest course, but what if they capture both of us?@ I asked.

  AThat is a chance we=ll have to take,@ David said. AYou go to the right, and I=ll go to the left. Maybe we can both stay out of trouble until the meeting.@

  I thought that once we warned the board about Daniel=s deceitful plan we might be in

  even greater danger than we were now. We didn=t know if Daniel was even aware of what we

  were planning, but once we gave our report, he might take some form of revenge, perhaps even

  kill us. But I thought about the poor people in Henryville and how Daniel had tricked them and

  brought them great misery, and David and I did not want the same misfortune to befall Hardwick.

  I turned toward David just as he was about to walk away. A@Do you think there is some

  way to contact the folks in Henryville so that they could call the mayor and warn him about

  Daniel?@

  ANot a bad idea,@ David said smiling. AI=ll look for a phone where I can call someone in

  Henryville, even though I don=t know anyone there.@

  ABut we know the counterman, don=t we?@ I replied. AI think the name of the diner was

  THE TOWNLINE DINER. You ask the operator to connect you.@

  AI=ll do the best I can. Let=s split up now. I=ll see you at 6 at the town hall.@

  We walked in opposite directions. I could not help but feel apprehensive. Daniel was

  obviously a rich and powerful man, even though he had gained both riches and power through

  ruining the lives of others. David and I were nothing to him, perhaps nothing to the people of

  Hardwick either. Would they even believe us when we told them of Daniel=s treachery? And if

  something awful should happen to David, what would become of . . . No, I could not entertain

  such thoughts. I had to remember that he and I had an important mission to perform. If we had

  simply driven away knowing what we did, we would share responsibility with Daniel for

  whatever misfortune Daniel brought on Hardwick.

  If Daniel was trying to keep us from appearing before the town board, my mirror might be

  able to warn me, or at least tell me how I might avoid being captured. I looked into the mirror. I

  saw the street I was on, but the image soon changed to show what I recognized as the store at the

  next corner. Then the image changed again to the street to the right of the store. I walked

  quickly to the store and then turned down the street to the right.

  But could I keep asking the mirror again and again to guide me? I was not even sure that

  I was in danger. The waitress might not have said anything to anyone concerning what
David

  and I had told her. If not, then there was no way for Daniel to know that we would oppose his

  plans.

  I worked further down the street. I paused and looked behind me. I saw a man who

  stopped when I did and then turned to look into a store window. I walked a bit further and then

  quickly turned around. The man stopped again. I turned the next corner and ran about half a

  block. When I turned to look back, the man had also turned the corner, though I had gained some

  distance on him.

  I knew now that the man was following me, and he almost certainly knew that I knew.

  Yet there were so many people on the sidewalk and cars on the street that it was hard to see how

  he could snatch me away without attracting a great deal of notice, especially as I intended to

  scream as loudly as I could for help if he should try to do so.

  I wondered how David was doing. If I was being followed, he might also be in danger. I

  hoped that he would be able to call the counterman in Henryville so that he, in turn, might call

  some official here to warn them about Daniel=s evil scheme.

  I came to a drug store that had a lunch counter. If I went inside and ordered something to

  eat, I could see if the man followed me inside. I was sure he would not try to kidnap me or harm

  me in front of so many witnesses. The drugstore had to have a back door. While the man wasn=t

  watching, I would slip out the back and lose him. I went into the drugstore and sat down at the

  counter

  A Hazardous Adventure

  I ordered a chocolate soda and turned my head to observe the front of the drugstore. I

  could see the man who was shadowing me looking at me through the store=s large window. He

  then entered the store and remained close to the entrance looking over the various magazines on

  display there. No doubt he expected to nab me just after I left the store.

  I saw a door to what I assumed was an area in back used to store merchandise. Surely

  there had to a door in the rear of the storage area from which I could exit the building while the

  man waited for me in the store. That meant I had to distract him in order to give me a short time

  to get away without his seeing me.

  I did not want to attract attention to myself because I wanted to slip out unnoticed while

  the attention of those in the store was directed elsewhere. I finished my soda, paid for it, and

  went to the pharmacist standing near the door through which I intended to flee. I asked him if I

  could tell him something important, and he turned to listen to what I had to say.

  I told him that I thought I saw the man standing by the magazines slip merchandise inside

  his jacket. I feared he might be a shoplifter and wanted to make the pharmacist aware of my

  fears. As I hoped he would, the pharmacist immediately walked over to my shadow and asked

  him to open his jacket so that he could see if merchandise was hidden inside. The man became

  quite indignant and refused. The pharmacist then threatened to call the police. The man said he

  had nothing to hide and was deeply offended by the suspicion that he was a thief.

  Both the pharmacist and the man raised their voices to the point where they attracted the

  attention of the other shoppers in the store. The shoppers began to gather around the quarreling

  duo, who, by blocking the entrance, were keeping others from entering. When I saw the man=s

  attention was totally directed at the pharmacist, I slipped through the door, worked my way

  through the back room and found a door to the outside. The door was locked with a deadbolt,

  but I loosened the deadbolt and left the store, finding myself then in an alley behind it. I ran

  down the alley and soon was back on a main thoroughfare, having lost my shadow, at least for

  the time being.

  Once I was back on the street, I saw a clock on a bank that it was now 5 p.m., only one

  hour before the town board meeting. I asked a passerby where town hall was. He told me that it

  was just two blocks away and pointed out the route I was to take. He also said that he assumed

  that I was going to the meeting tonight and that he also planned to attend.

  I noted that we were standing in front of a small restaurant, and a plan came quickly to

  mind. I asked if I could buy him something to eat before the meeting and we could go together.

  Daniel and his henchmen might be able to kidnap me if I were alone, but they might think twice

  about it if someone was with me.

  My companion, whose name I learned was Larry, and I both ate sandwiches, not wishing

  to make ourselves sleepy before the meeting by eating a large meal. Larry talked at length about

  the coming meeting and all that Daniel had promised to do for Hardwick. I would not make the

  same mistake I did with the waitress by revealing to him that Daniel was a thief who would

  destroy both their town and their dreams.

  At 5:30, Larry and I had finished eating, and he suggested that we go directly to the town

  hall because many townspeople were going to attend and the meeting room was certain to be

  crowded. Before we left the restaurant, I excused myself to go to the restroom. I also took that

  opportunity to look in my mirror. Alas, the image that I saw was not encouraging. A number of

  policemen were in place near the entrance. They might be there to help keep order, but they also

  might have received instructions from Daniel to prevent me and David from entering the

  building. Indeed, I saw two of the policemen studying objects that could well have been

  photographs so that they could identify me and David should we appear.

  I asked the mirror if there was a way for me to enter the building safely. I saw a sidewalk

  leading to a door in the back of the building near a parking lot for town officials. There was one

  door which was guarded, but the door I saw on the other side was unguarded. I assumed that the

  door that was guarded was used by officials only. I could only hope that the unguarded door was

  unlocked.

  In the meantime, I would have to tell Larry that I could not go with him. He would not

  understand if I refused to use the front entrance, and he would not have any reason to keep the

  police from arresting me if they told him I was wanted on some trumped-up charge. Once we

  had exited the restaurant, I told Larry that I had decided not to go after all, wished him luck, and

  walked off in the oppositive direction.

  I then crossed the street, went down an alley, turned left and saw the block on which the

  town hall was located. I walked carefully to the corner, crossed the street, continued walking

  alongside town hall until I got the back of the building on the side where the mirror had shown

  me the unguarded door. I looked around the corner. The policeman at the other door was busy

  greeting town officials and had his back toward me. I quickly slipped around the corner.

  I breathed a sigh of relief when the unguarded door opened and I found myself inside the

  town hall. I climbed a small flight of stairs to a corridor at the end of which I could see people

  milling about. I assumed that they were waiting to enter the chambers where the meeting was to

  be held. It was now 5:45.

  I walked down the hallway quickly staying as close to the wall as I could and through a

  door into the meeting room, taking one of the only seats left available, which happened to be in

  the front row. The chairs for th
e town board members were located behind a long table on a

  slightly raised platform in front of me. A name plate faced the audience in front of each chair. A

  microphone had been placed in the center aisle of the room close the platform. I assumed it was

  there that those wishing to address the board would speak.

  I was extremely nervous, even though I had managed to arrive safely at the meeting. I

  scanned the room, but I did not see David. What would I do if they had kidnapped David and

  threatened to harm him if I testified against Daniel? I pulled out the mirror. Where is David I

  asked. The image I was shown was the very building in which I was sitting. An image showed

  police running down stairs to the what must be the basement. They threw open a door at the foot

  of the stairs, and there was David tied to a chair with a handkerchief tied around his head with a

  strip of it tightly between his teeth to keep him from crying out.

  So David was a prisoner. Well, I would testify to that as well and insist that the police

  free David, which the mirror told me they would indeed do.

  The board members began to climb onto the platform and take their seats. There were six

  in all. Only the mayor=s chair was still empty. I did not know what either the mayor or Daniel

  looked like, but then I saw a jovial looking slightly bald and overweight man in a sports shirt

  chatting with a tall, thin, nattily dressed man walking together toward the platform. There was

  no doubt in my mind that the baldish man was the mayor and the other man was Daniel. My

  guess was confirmed when the baldish man mounted the platform and took the mayor=s seat, and

  the other man sat in a chair that had been reserved for him close to the microphone.

  The Meeting

  The mayor opened the meeting by banging his gavel four times. He welcomed those

  present and gave a short speech in which he summarized the immense benefits that Daniel was

  bringing to Hardwick. He then said something that gave me a sick feeling in my stomach.

  ACitizens of Hardwick,@ he said, Awe are soon going to hear from a man who promises to

  make our town and each of us rich. This town we all love will finally achieve the status it has

  long deserved, and each of you its citizens will reap rewards as well.

  ABut I must be frank. There are detractors who are trying to undermine our good fortune

  by spreading false reports that our benefactor Daniel is out to cheat us.@ The mayor was

  interrupted by cries of ANo, no.@

  AYes, my friends, it is true. I received a call this very day from the mayor of Henryville,

  now named Danieltown, that Daniel had made numerous promises to his town that he did not

  keep. He claimed that Daniel had left the town poorer than it was before he came.

  ABut I ask you, could this be true if Henryville changed its name to Danieltown? Why

  would they change the name of their town to honor a crook?@

  I could hold back no longer. I sprang to my feet. AMayor, he is a crook. We were there

  in Henryville and saw the damage that Daniel did.@

  There was an outcry from the audience insisting that I keep silence. The mayor wrapped

  his gavel calling for order. ASon, if you have something to say, you will be given a chance to say

  it later.@ The mayor stuttered with anger.

  I went on. AEven now my friend David is being held prisoner in a room in the basement

  of this building. Daniel had him kidnaped and hidden so he could not testify tonight. He had me

  followed too, but I managed to escape and come to warn you about this wicked man.@

  Just as the mirror had predicted, I saw policeman go to see if David was in one of the

  basement rooms. The mayor again ordered me to be silent so he could introduce Daniel.

  In a short time while the mayor was still speaking, three policemen led David down the

  center aisle of the chamber. He still have his hands tied behind him and the handkerchief

  wrapped around his head. He tried unsuccessfully to talk as he was led forward. The policemen

  brought hum to the edge of the board=s platform. They untied his hands and took off the

  handkerchief. The mayor stood momentarily speechless looking directly at David.

  AThat man had me kidnaped so I could not testify against him at this meeting,@ David

  blurted out, pointing directly at Daniel. AHe=s not only a crook but he will stop at nothing to get

  what he wants.@

  Daniel rose and stood next to David. He scratched his head and spoke slowly and

  carefully into the microphone. AI don=t know why these young men would want to pull a prank

  like this, but I can assure you that what they say is false.@

  AWell, I certainly hope that=s the case,@ the mayor retorted. AThey have made some

  serious accusations, and now I=m even more troubled by the phone call I got from the mayor of

  Henryville.@

  AMay I remind you, mayor, that Henryville is now named Danieltown in my honor?@

  AYes, that is true,@ the mayor replied hesitantly. AWell, what proof do you have that these

  young men are wrong?@

  AAs part of my presentation tonight, I have prepared a slide show that will include

  pictures of the wonderful work I did in Danieltown. It will show improvements that I made

  there, and I will provide tables that illustrate the amount of money that was distributed to the

  people of Danieltown.

  AI suggest the police escort these fine young gentlemen to the back of this chamber so

  they will not be able to interrupt my presentation. If, after I finish my presentation, you believe

  what they said, I insist that you not accept my offer to make you wealthy. I will simply walk

  away and take my services to the next town under which I find oil.@

  The mayor motioned the policemen. One of them grabbed me by the arm, and the three

  together walked me and David to the rear of the room. They ordered us to remain silent,

  threatening to arrest us if we disturbed the meeting again.

  Members of the audience shifted uneasily in their seats as a screen dropped down from

  the ceiling at the rear of the platform. Daniel had set up a slide projector on a small table to the

  right of the microphone. The town board members moved their chairs and sat at the edge of the

  platform facing the screen so they could see the slides and would not block the view of the

  audience.

  ALadies and gentlemen of Hardwick,@ so Daniel began, Alet me say first of all that I will

  not ask you to change the name of your town. The people of Henryville changed the name of

  their town to Danieltown in gratitude for all that I for them, so I could hardly be a crook.

  AI will now show you some pictures of two new buildings that Danieltown has because of

  the money I gave them.@

  The first slide showed an obviously new large two-story building with a marquee in front

  proclaiming ADanieltown City Hall.@ The next slide showed a large park with tennis courts and a

  well-equipped playground. AThese are but two examples,@ Daniel announced proudly of

  improvements made in Danieltown with the money I provided. The audience clapped.

  ABut I did not just provide money to the town. There was also enough money to give a

  handsome sum to each citizen as well.@

  The next slide read:

  TOTAL INCOME FOR CITIZENS $4,000,000

  NUMBER OF CITIZENS: 6,000

  AMOUNT FOR EACH CITIZEN: $666.67

  Daniel=s voice rose in emphasis. AYes, my dear friends, every man
, woman, and child in

  Danieltown received $666.67. That means a family of four received more than $2600.@

  There were gasps and applause from the audience. I could not believe what I was seeing

  or hearing. Daniel had not given Henryville a new city hall or a new park. He had not

  distributed any money to Henryville=s citizens. He was lying to the people of Hardwick to get his

  way. The pictures were false; the figures were false. It was clear that once Daniel had gotten his

  way, he would abandon this town as readily as he abandoned the people of Henryville.

  But the people in the audience who did not know better were smiling and applauding,

  They did not believe David and me, nor even the mayor of Henryville, because they did not want

  to believe us. They wanted to believe in their hopes for wealth, their dreams of new buildings

  and beautiful parks. They believed because they wanted to believe. It was too painful for them

  not to believe.

  I touched David on the shoulder. AMy friend, there is no point in our staying. We did

  what we thought we was right, but we know how all this will end. Let=s leave before the meeting

  ends and go back to car. If we stay, we may be ridiculed, or worse.@

  David nodded. The policemen watched as we walked out of the room and then through

  the door. I felt the policemen=s eyes boring into my back as we walked down the steps to the

  street.

  David looked forlorn as we walked toward where we had left