Callie and the
Looking Glass
Once upon
time there was a little girl who lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of a
large kingdom. Every morning when she
rose she would stand on her front step and look at the beautiful castle on the
tallest hill in the kingdom. It was grander
and more beautiful than anything else in all the valley, with its white pillars
reaching heavenward. A great king lived
in that castle and he ruled the large kingdom with wisdom and patience beyond
any other.
Callie
loved to stand and imagine what it would be like to live in such a place. Callie was a quiet girl. Her face was scared and ugly from an accident
years before. When she was but a baby
her little home had been lost to a fire, and in the heat and flame that
engulfed the little house Callie nearly lost her life. But her mother with the strength that only
mothers can have, ran back into the burning cottage and saved her infant
daughter from the death that surely awaited her there. Her mother had given her own life to save
Callie and Callie was reminded every time that she looked into the mirror of
the woman who had died for her.
The
neighborhood boys would tease and torment Callie, never letting her forget the
horror that was streaked across her face.
As she grew older she grew more remote and sullen, staying quietly to
her home and as far away from other’s stares as she could.
Callie’s
father was bitter too, missing his wife horribly and being reminded of what he
lost that day every time that he looked at his daughter’s face. Although he never meant to blame her, his
bitterness grew with the years.
Callie
dreamed of traveling to the beautiful castle and meeting the great king that
lived there. It was rumored that inside
the beautiful castle, locked in the highest room in the tallest tower, was a
magical looking glass. The looking glass
was told to hold a magic that could look into the beholder’s soul and tell of
the value of the life that stood before it.
More than anything Callie dreamed of knowing the value of the solitary
life that she lived.
Every
morning Callie remained hidden, locked away in her little farm. She milked the cows and tended their little
garden. She cleaned the house and cooked
the meals and stayed hidden far away from cruel eyes and wicked stares.
One morning
as Callie was finishing milking the little jersey cow out along the fence that
separated their little farm from the country road, an old woman stumbled along
its path. Her face was tired and old,
her skin wrinkled and thin. Salt and
peppered hair was falling messy out of a corkscrew bun and her clothes were
tattered and torn. She looked at Callie,
her tired eyes weak and sad, and in a soft crackled voice pleaded with Callie.
“I’m so
thirsty. Perhaps you could spare some of
your warm milk to wet my tired lips.”
Callie
looked down at the bucket, barely sloshing with what little milk the old jersey
cow could give and knew that it wouldn’t be wise to share what little they
had. When Callie looked back at the old
woman, her back bent and her eyes begging, she couldn’t withhold what little
that she could give.
Thank you,
thank you,” the woman whispered as once she sipped the last from Callie’s
ladle. “Please I must know your name.”
“CCCallie,”
Callie stammered shyly. “My name is
Callie.”
“What a
beautiful name,” the woman spoke back.
“Callie means most beautiful as truly you are.”
As the old
woman limped down the road Callie couldn’t help but to look down at her face in
the pale white milk. An ugly, scarred
face looked back at her, even more hideous than Callie had hoped. Nothing had changed and surely the old lady
had been blind.
Later that
day, after feeding her father and picking the grapes heavy on the vine, Callie traipsed
off toward the neighbor who lived down the lane. Farmer Jones had just harvested the last of
his wheat and every year Callie traded her grapes for some of Farmer Jones’
grain. Callie looked down at the basket
in her hands. The grapes this year were
small and uneven, nothing like the years past, and she worried that he would
reject her offering completely.
On the way
to the farmer’s house Callie stumbled upon some boys up to mischief. When they eyed Callie their attention went
from the poor little kitten that they were tormenting to Callie and almost
instantly the name calling began. Callie
tried to hide her hideous face behind her hands, but the boys kept on
teasing. Soon enough one of the boys
gathered some pebbles and started throwing them at Callie. She dropped her basket and covered her head
and began to run. It wasn’t long until
Callie was stumbling, falling in her haste to get away. As she went down she thrust her hands out in
front of her to catch her fall, scuffing them and skinning her knees.
Just when
Callie had lost all hope, warm arms wrapped around her and a gentle voice
shewed the boys away.
“Let me
help you,” the kind voice said and Callie looked up into the eyes of a broken
and shattered man.
From the
top of the man’s shaggy brown locks to the bottom of his holey shoes the man
was covered in a thick layer of dirt and grime.
He smiled kindly at Callie, his teeth brown and many missing and Callie
tried to keep from turning away.
“Thank
you,” she said. “How can I ever repay
you?”
The man
handed Callie the basket that she had dropped and looking at her grapes hungrily
asked, “May I have a few for my dinner?
I am so hungry and it has been so long since I remember eating, and your
grapes look so appetizing.”
Callie
shrunk knowing that to give him even a little of the grapes that were already
so lacking would take away any hope she had of bartering with Farmer Jones, but
she couldn’t turn the man away when he had done so much for her.
“Thank
you,” the man said when at last he licked the last of the grape juice from his
lips. “I will forever remember you my beautiful
deliverer, in my heart.”
As he
turned walking away briskly, Callie looked down at the basket in her
hands. Where once the pitiful harvest of
grapes had been now sat a basket over flowing with magnificent giant, purple
grapes, certainly Farmer Jones would repay her generously.
When Callie
arrived home that afternoon it was to find her father packing the wagon and
their little tired donkey for a journey into town. Fall harvest had come and the village would
soon be a bustle with farmers and their wares.
Every year Callie’s father went to town to try and sell off the
abundance from their garden. Every year
Callie had sat at home praying for a good market for her father.
“Pack a
change of clothes, Callie Girl.”
“Me?”
Callie asked, looking toward town and the beautiful castle.
“Of course
you,” he grumped. “Instead of standing
there and dreaming of a life you don’t have, you could come and help me to
provide for the one that you do have.”
Callie was
afraid to go into town in front of all those people with her scarred and ugly
face, but she was even more afraid to anger her father. The trip was long and night seemed to come on
early but before morning even had a chance to awake they were arriving in
town. Through sleepy eyes Callie helped
her father set up their tent and arrange their wares. While their first costumer was bartering with
Callie’s father she was setting up their meager breakfast. Nature had not been good to their family this
year and there was not much at their scant table for the two of them to
eat. All that they could spare was at
market to bring in what little they needed to heat their cottage and feed their
animals through the winter.
As Callie
laid out the last cracked plate little eyes stared up at her from behind the
table’s wobbly legs. A little boy, no
bigger than four or five looked up at her, his blue eyes large and sunken. His legs were thin and wobbly and his
tattered night shirt torn and stained.
His bare toes stood out dirty and callused and Callie knew even before
he opened his mouth the pleading that would come.
“Please,”
was all that he said with big tears tugging at the corners of his eyes.
Callie
loaded up her breakfast, dried bread and salted butter, and wrapped it in a
faded linen napkin. As she placed it in
the young boy’s hands he wrapped his arms loosely around her and kissed her
hand gratefully.
“Thank you,
Beautiful Princess,” he said as he stumbled away, his hand clinging tightly to
Callie’s breakfast.
That night,
after a long day at market Callie and her father slipped down for the evening, their
tired bodies struggling to sleep under the majesty of the great castle that
loomed above them. Callie closed her
eyes imagining that she was there. Her
stomach growled and she wished that she had saved something for herself. Her father tossed and turned beside her,
unable to sleep with the knowledge of the failure that the day had been.
“If only,”
Callie wished but instead of in her head the words had drifted to the empty
space between her father and herself.
“If only
what?” her father asked.
“Nothing.”
“If only
what?” he said again more commanding.
“If only we
lived in that great castle. If only we
didn’t have to worry or starve. If only
I could get just one glimpse of the magic mirror tucked away in the tallest
tower.”
Callie knew
almost as soon as the words left her mouth the trouble that she had
caused. Her father jumped to his feet
almost instantly despite his weariness and was swiftly yanking Callie to her
feet.
“Go,” he
yelled. “Go. See what happens when you get there. All your life you spend dreaming but you do
nothing. Go and see if anything
changes. You’re ugly Callie and you
don’t need a magic mirror to tell you that.
You will always be the ugly reminder of what I lost.”
She knew
the moment that he said those awful words that he regretted it, but still
Callie could not erase the meaning behind the pain her father held. She stumbled through the night, wandering
almost blinded by her tears, and she could hear him calling after her, an
apology almost innocent and sweet, but he didn’t bother to stumble behind her.
The large
castle, magnificent and magical, seemed to dazzle as it stood before her. Callie wiped the tears from her eyes, though
they had left a salted path in the dust on her face, and wiped the travels from
her skirt. With trembling hands Callie
knocked on the door turning almost instantly to crawl silently away into the
night when suddenly the door opened throwing brilliant yellow light out across
the darkness. A tall man stood
there. He had soft brown waves and a neatly
trimmed beard. Blue eyes as clear as a
mountain stream smiled back at her kind and understanding. He was robed from top to bottom in a gown of
whitest silk and his feet were clothed in the softest leather sandals.
“Finally,”
he said to her, reaching out and drawing her in. “It took you longer than I thought to get
here.”
Callie
looked around her at the enchanting room she stood in confused by his meaning. Every corner of the room was white and
perfect, from its plush carpet to its overstuffed furniture.
“You’ve
come to see,” was all that the great king said, but Callie knew what he
meant. He pointed to a winding staircase
paved in shimmering white marble. “But
know this, once you look you will never be able to unsee. Once you see the value that I see in your
soul you will never be able to forget.
Some say it haunts them until the day that they die, but,” he said with
a twinkle to his smile, “others say it brings them the peace that this world
could never bring. Are you sure?” he
asked her and Callie only nodded her head nervously. “Then,” he said giving her a gentle nudge,
“no time better than now.”
The trip up
the winding stairs seemed to drag on for eternity. The thumping behind Callie’s heart seemed to
beat harder with every step. As Callie
struggled to turn the gold doorknob at the end of the stairs her hands were
slippery from perspiration and fear. The
door slid open smoothly revealing a large empty room, from top to bottom as
white and as pure as the rest of the castle.
The only thing to be found at all in the empty room was a large white
oval mirror draped across an elegant stand and standing gracefully in the far
corner. Callie inched her way to it,
wary of what she might find.
As she
stood in front of it, Callie locked her eyes tightly until she could gain the
nerve to peek. She opened her eyes
slowly and examined the image in the mirror carefully. A beautiful woman, with soft blond curls and
beautiful almond eyes smiled back at her.
Her skin was clear and smooth, her long willowing body elegant and
poised. She stood with grace and
character and splendor beyond any woman that Callie had ever seen. As Callie
reached forth her hand she felt it touch lightly on the cool glass, and as she
looked behind her, she realized that no one was in the room but herself, that
no one else was reflecting in the mirror.
She turned her head once again upon
the mirror and once again she saw the beautiful woman in the glass, but this
time a man stood behind her in Callie’s reflection. The great king of the castle placed his hands
on the woman’s shoulders, and as he did Callie felt his warm hands grip softly
to her shoulders too. As she turned
around there were questions in her eyes and the king smiled lovingly.
“Do you not see, Callie the most
beautiful? It is you in the mirror, the
way that I truly see you. I do not see
the scars that you see, only the beauty of the scars that your mother so
perfectly left behind on the day that she saved you. No greater love hath any man than I for you
and no greater love had your mother either than for you.”
“Why?” Callie asked. “Why do you love me so much?”
“For I was
a hungered, and ye gave
me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger,
and ye took me in.” (Matthew 25:35)
“When,
Lord?” she asked. “When did I feed you and give you drink?”
The king
bent forward and raised her chin slightly in his hand, smilingly softly down at
her. He came clearly into her view then
and she knew him. She had seen him many
times in the past several days, although each time he had taken on a different
form. She knew him now for who he really
was. He was in the old broken woman and
the tired lost man. He was even in the
tiny hungry child. He gently turned her
back to the woman in the mirror and as Callie looked upon herself, for it truly
was her, she knew that she would never be able to see her reflection again
without remembering the true one that was inside, Callie the most beautiful.
