The Magic Mirror

by Michael Gemignani

can help us now.@

  Dinner at Chez Louis

  David and I returned to our motel to rest for a few hours before meeting Robin at Chez Louis. We also used the time to discuss Robin=s attitude and whether there was any point in our continuing to try to convince him to return to his parents.

  His callous attitude came as a bigger shock to me than it did to David because I was still far more naive concerning the ways of the world. Robin was anchored to the city and his work by the large sums of money he was making. Moreover, the sophistication and pleasures of the city made his life with parents seem dull and uninteresting in comparison.

  AIs there any way we can convince him to come back with us?@ I asked David.

  AI=m not optimistic,@ David answered. AI even question whether we ought to try.@

  AWhy is that?@ I asked.

  AFirst, he seems happy enough with what he=s doing. He=s totally committed to his work, the money he earns, and what he can buy with that money. What can we offer him if he goes back to Martha and Samuel?

  AAnd even if he goes back just to visit, he will be impatient to get back to the city. It will be clear to his parents that he cares more for his work than he does about them. Furthermore, he will try to impress them with how successful he is and how much money he makes. I suspect they will be horrified at his values and blame themselves as his parents for having made mistakes in raising him.

  Martha and Samuel have totally different values. You probably noted that Robin did not talk about his friends or a wife. I doubt that he has much time to spend with anyone who cannot help him earn more money or advance in his company; and I doubt that he could marry anyone because he his first love is his job. Such a marriage would end in disaster for his partner.

  ASo what arguments do we have left? We told him that his father was dying and both his parents were elderly and in need of care. Maybe he would give them money to hire someone to take care of them, or perhaps he would arrange to place them in a nursing home.@

  ABut Martha and Samuel would rather die than go into a nursing home,@ I said.

  AYes, you=re probably right. And they=ll both die anyway. Everyone of us will die someday. The question is whether they will die being cared for by a son they love. But does Robin still love them? If he returned home bitter and angry because he was being forced to take care of parents he loves far less than the job he left behind, that would not be a happy situation either for himself or his parents. It would probably be better if they were placed in a nursing home where trained attendants cared for them and showed them respect than at home with Robin who would show his resentment in a hundred different ways.@

  I was close to tears. AThen we came all this way for nothing?@

  ANo, hardly for nothing. Look back on all the adventures we had and how much we learned from them. This trip was to teach us how to love. Maybe we=ve learned far more than we may realize.@

  AMy goal was not to just learn how to love. My goal was to find Robin and return him to his parents. I have not given up hope yet. It seems to me that Robin also needs to learn how to love, or at least love more than just himself and his work. Perhaps there is yet a way and the mirror may show it to us.@

  ABy all means,@ Robin said, Aconsult the mirror. We need all the help we can get.@

  Once more I took the mirror in hand and asked it what we should do about Robin. I thought I might see some road we should follow, or some building we should enter, but the image was one that I did not expect at all. It showed David and I sitting across a table from Robin, and I was giving him the mirror. Give Robin the mirror! The idea was more than I could accept, yet there it was in front of me.

  David put his khaki jacket on. ACome on,@ he beckoned to me. AIf we=re going to be on time for dinner with Robin, we=d better leave now.@

  I put on my denim jacket and followed him out the door to the car. Neither of us was dressed for dinner at what was, no doubt, one of the finest restaurants in town. Robin would, of course, spare no expense to impress us with the magnitude of his success.

  We arrived a Chez Louis about ten minutes early and went inside to wait. We sat down at a bench in the vestibule not far from the maitre d=s station. The maitre d= approached us with a scowl on this face. AGentlemen, I don=t suppose you have reservations.@

  ANo, I=m afraid we don=t,@ I answered, fairly certain what was coming next.

  AThen I=m afraid you=ll have to leave the restaurant. We have no tables available this evening. Furthermore, when you manage to get reservations I suggest you dress more suitably. We require jackets and ties. Good evening, gentlemen.@

  At that very moment, Robin entered and saw what was happening. He quickly approached the maitre d=. AHenri, these are two friends of mine from out of town. They didn=t think to pack their suits. Please forgive them as a favor to me. I=ve invited them to be my guests.@

  We saw Robin take a bill from his billfold and slip it to the maitre d=, who promptly became more friendly toward us. AAh, pardonez moi. I am so sorry. I did not realize that you were friends of Mr. Marshall.@

  He turned toward Robin. AMy sincere apologies if I offended you or your friends, Mr. Marshall.@

  Robin waved his hand. ANo offense, Henri. Please show us to my usual table.@

  AMais oui, Mssr. Marshall. Please follow me.@

  We were seated at a table is a far corner of the dining room,. AI prefer to be more off by myself,@ Robin explained. AI often carry out confidential business with clients here. I wouldn=t want others to overhear what we were talking about.@

  Robin ordered a vintage wine and assorted appetizers. After that, he ordered Bifstek a la Chez Louis, which, he assured would be the finest meat dish we had ever tasted, and, indeed, it was truly delicious. If Robin was trying to impress us with his sophistication and lifestyle, he was succeeding. I had never before eaten in a restaurant like this one, and I probably would rarely have the opportunity to do so again.

  After we had finished our entrees and had ordered dessert, Robin leaned back in his chair asked, ASo, how did you find me? It must have been an impressive bit of detective work. Let me in on the secret.@

  David was silent, but I knew I had to tell Robin about the mirror. I took the mirror from my pocket and showed it to Robin. AThis, Robin, is what led us here. We followed the mirror=s directions, and, eventually, it showed us the building where you have your office. Then we simply asked that guard where to find you.@

  I held out the mirror and Robin took it in his hands. AHa, a magic mirror,@ he said, chuckling. ASo this mirror gave the directions to find me. Interesting. What else does this mirror do?@ he asked with a hint of sarcasm.

  AI think it gives glimpses of the future,@ I answered, Aat least that=s what it seems to do. However, I am not sure whether it shows what the future definitely will be, or what the future might be if I obey the mirror=s instruction.@

  AGlimpses of the future,@ Robin said, lifting his eyebrows. ANow that=s really interesting. Do you know how valuable something like this could be in my line of work? If I knew what would happen even hours before it happened, I could make a fortune beyond my wildest dreams. Would you like to set up a partnership? We could work together and you could become rich like me.@

  Before I could answer, Robin continued. ANo, I don=t believe your story about this mirror. How did you really find me?@

  AI told you,@ I responded. A@The mirror led us to you.@

  AAll right,@ Robin said, chuckling again, Awill you let me borrow the mirror overnight? If you=ll come back to my office at 10 tomorrow morning, I=ll have had a chance to test this marvelous mirror. If it really works, I=ll have a serious business proposition for you. If it doesn=t work, I=ll admit you played a good practical joke on me. Either way, you=ll get your mirror back. What do you say?@

  I gave the answer the mirror had told me to give. AAll right, it=s a deal. We=ll come to your office at 10 in the morning. But I assure you that this is no
t a practical joke. Ask the mirror whatever you want and decide for yourself if I am telling the truth. Neither I nor the mirror will lie to you.@

  We finished our dinner and bid goodbye to Robin about 9:30 that evening. David and I returned to our motel to get some rest before we met Robin in the morning.

  Robin is Missing

  David and I were emotionally exhausted after our dinner with Robin. We drove back to the motel in silence. But once we were in our room I felt a deep need to talk about my pain that we had finally found Robin and he had proved to be such a profound disappointment. I also felt a deep sadness for Samuel and Martha. Perhaps it would be better to lie to them and tell them their son was dead than to tell them the truth about what he had become, his values so at odds with their own, and, worst of all, his unwillingness to show them love as they neared their passing from this earth.

  How then would I love his parents in their sorrow and their need? Would I, could I, become their son to replace their prodigal son? O God, if you exist, give me wisdom in this terrible quandary. Would their daily encounters with me, the one who brought them the truth about Robin, daily reopen the wounds that sword of truth gashed in their gentle souls? And if I told them that Robin had died, would my life in their home constantly remind them of his death? What was I to do? This lesson that I must learn from this ordeal must be grounded in love. Indeed, it may finally teach me how to love so that I might return to my own parents and help them in ways I could never help before.

  To love. How I miss my parents. How I now regret that I ever wandered deep into the forest. In running away, I sought to banish pain, but now my pain is deeper than ever. I wanted to see the world beyond the narrow confines of my poverty, and what I have learned is that there is pain everywhere. It matters not if one is rich or poor. My prior state of ignorance might well have been a blessing in disguise.

  But then, my greatest act of love might well have been my parting with the mirror. The mirror had led us to Robin. Robin saw it as a tool that might make him wealthier still, though he clearly already had more money than any human could reasonably need. Ah yes, to know in advance which way the markets would move, which companies would succeed and which would fail, this information would make him rich beyond even his wildest dreams. That is what the mirror meant to him.

  To me the mirror showed the path I had to follow to learn how to love. Oh yes, it led to Robin, but often I reminded myself that the strange man in the forest who looked exactly like my father gave me to the mirror because I had to learn how to love before I could return home. For me, the mirror was not to foretell the future, but to reveal the secrets of love. And I gave the mirror, my greatest treasure, to Robin because the mirror told me to. That is a lesson of love: if necessary to give up what is important to me for the welfare of another. It involves risk as well because now I do not have the mirror, but I might well have need of it. I had to take that risk for the sake of Robin and his parents.

  I shared all these thoughts with David. Sharing was all I could do. I had no clear answers to the questions I raised, nor did he.. But he was kind enough to listen. He, too, was learning from our experiences together, and one day he would return to his own family and try to heal their wounds. Despite our weariness, it was almost midnight before the both of us fell asleep. We could sleep late the next morning because we did not have to meet Robin until 10 a.m.

  We rose around 8:15, dressed, had a quick breakfast near the motel, and set off for Robin=s office. We arrived there ten minutes before 10. The security guard did not challenge us this time as we went straight to the elevator and rode to the