As her desk clock turned to 8:00PM, Sarah closed her notebook. Her math work always took the longest to complete. She reached for her vocubulary notebook next, but stopped at the sound of a knock on the door. “Come in!”
The door opened, and Samuel walked in. “I brought the jewels with me,” he said, setting the green jewel on Sarah’s desk.
“Am I dreaming?” Sarah asked. “But, I just finished my math homework.”
“It’s not a dream,” Samuel told her. He tightened his fist around the blue jewel, and transformed into Shamrock. “Today we’re going to use magic while we’re awake.”
“Can we do that? But I’m gonna’ be sleepy soon. It’s almost my bed time.”
“You’ll be fine once you transform,” Shamrock assured her. He took out the mirror, and set it on the ground. Shamrock lifted the top of the mirror, stretching it to Sarah’s height. “Transform and tell me what you see in the mirror.”
Sarah took the green jewel in her hand. She transformed into Clover, her wand appearing in her hand with the jewel on top. Clover looked into the mirror, and an image focused.
“What do you see,” Shamrock asked her.
“I see…me. In my room. The mirror looks normal.”
“That’s what it’s like when you’re awake. Take a closer look,” Shamrock suggested, moving behind the mirror. “You’ll see someone who’s in trouble.”
Clover looked carefully at the reflection. Nothing looked out of place, although the mirrored Clover’s hair, eyes, and clothes reflected a darker green hue. “The colors don’t seem right.”
“Never mind that. Go into the mirror, and you’ll be able to help someone.”
She placed her hands against the mirror, feeling cold glass. “I’ve never felt it like this before.” Her eyes closed for a moment. “And I’m still tired.” Her eyes opened a little. “I don’t think I can stay awake.” She blinked, then her eyes started to close. Clover quickly opened her eyes wide, but her reflection’s eyes closed, causing Clover to step back in surprise.
The reflection opened on eye a little. When the reflection saw Clover had stepped back, the reflection leaned out of the mirror. She grabbed Clover, and pulled her through the mirror.
Clover fell onto her bed. She looked around her dark bedroom, seeing no one else. In the dim light coming in the window from the cloudy sky outside, Clover noticed the bed and door were on the wrong sides of the room. She carefully walked through the dark to her door, and felt for the light switch. Realizing the doorknob was on the wrong side of the door, Clover checked the wall on the other side of the door. She found the light switch there, but turning the switch on left the room dark. Clover next worked her way to her desk. She found her desklamp on the wrong side of the desk. She turned the knob, but the light did not turn on.
A chill ran down Clover’s spine. She didn’t mind the dark too much, but something felt out of place. Not that everything was mirrored, but a presence lingered in the room. Something unfriendly. “Who’s there?” Clover asked.
A light glowed from a small mirror on the desk. Clover cautiously walked over to it. In the reflection, she could see her real bedroom, just as she left it, with the light on, and her notebooks on her desk. She did not reflect in the mirror.
“What are you accomplishing?” Clover’s voice asked.
Having said nothing, Clover looked around.
“Do you really think you’re helping people? Shamrock’s the one helping when you’re not looking. He’s just doing that so you’ll feel better.”
“Who are you?” Clover asked.
“I think someone’s at your door,” the voice said. “Why don’t you see who it is? He’ll be in your mirror.”
Clover turned the small mirror until it faced the bedroom door. The door opened, and Samuel enterred the room. He carried his mirror in his hands.
“How interesting,” the voice said. “Samuel can’t find his jewels, so he came over here to decide what to do. And he has the Dream Mirror with him.”
Setting the mirroro on Sarah’s desk, Samuel gazed into the reflection. He could barely see Clover standing in a dark room, and looking at him through the mirror. Samuel pressed his hands against the mirror, but as is always the case, he could not enter. Without the blue jewel, he would not be able to travel from dream to dream in search of the Clover.
“Let’s make it even more interesting,” the voice said. Clover’s wand faded from her hand, and Clover transformed back into Sarah. As Samuel watched, the reflection in the mirror faded, showing instead a normal reflection.
“He can’t see you now. He can’t hear you, either.” The closet door opened, and a second Sarah entered the room. She lifted the green jewel and blue jewels, one in each hand. The two vanished in a flash of light, becoming earrings. The girl’s hair, eyes, and clothes became turquoise. “Do you see, Sarah? You are incapable to be a true magical girl. You haven’t learned anything other than basic magic. Shamrock has failed to surpass the limitations he’s facing. You and Shamrock both fail in the end.”
“That’s not fair!” Sarah told the turquoise Clover. “I’m still new at this. I’m still learning. I don’t always know what magic to use, and it doesn’t happens happen the way I want it to, but I’m still learning.” She picked up a notebook from on her desk. “I’m the same with math. Simple math is easy. Complicated math like multiplying and dividing is hard. I still learn math every day, and I try my best. I’ll do the same as a magical girl.”
“Can you?” Clover asked. “Can you really rise to the challenge of improving as a magical girl? Wouldn’t it be better if you handed over your jewel for good? Take as long as you need to decide. I’m not going anywhere.”
“What do I need to do? How can I prove to you that I can do this?”
“Tonight, you’ll enter the mirror, already here thanks to your friend. On the other side, you’ll see people in trouble. I’ll give you both your jewels back. Your mission is to help the people before Shamrock arrives.”
“I’ll do it. No matter what the problem is, I’ll use my magic to help them in any way possible.”
Clover smirked. “I’ll be watching you, Sarah. I know you can’t do it.”
Samuel sat up in his bed, a cold sweat on his forehead. The blue jewel sat on the end of the bed near his blanket-covered feet, dimly glowing blue.
