Every morning Laura looked at herself in the mirror. She’d noticed the first gray hairs and the first bitter striations long ago. Her hazel eyes shrunk with every dream unfulfilled and with every love unrequited she withered just a little more.
She’d never cried, just faded to invisibility.
One day she decided to leave without a word. Wondering if there would be any traces left, she took a hammer and smashed her antique mirror to obliterate herself.
Laura disappeared into the morning fog, an elderly spinster to be swallowed by relentless neon dreams, only to resurface as yet another Jane Doe.
Copyright Janet Webb
Yet another challenge from our Mirror Master Rochelle to write a story to. Janet’s picture caused me some problems at first, I couldn’t do the vampire finding he had lost his mirror image.. that someone else will do, still the thought of a mirror image was interesting, so I decided to stick with that. I know this is sad story.. and yes I’m not good at happy ends.
Friday Fictioneers write stories of 100 words to the same picture every week and here you will find all kind of stories from talented writers.
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September 10, 2014
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Björn, this is real and surreal at the same time, as you take middle-age invisibility to a sad surrender. Very well written.
Thank you.. I guess men fade the same way.. but never in front of a mirror
I like this very much Bjorn.
Thank you.. 100 word stories is another passion of mine.
As you noted, a very sad ending. It was sad to see her gradually fading away as she went through life until she decided to end it.
Maybe the fading is the saddest of it all.
I think so, it lasted so long.
ps very clever title for your piece. I have to remember to go back and read the titles for these stories again once I’ve finished the story 🙂
Bjorn, masterful piece. I’ve seen many older women count their grey hairs, number their wrinkles. It’s sad some feel they are no longer worth it. You caught this so very well. (P.S. I, too enjoyed the title)
Probably many men too.. but perhaps not in front of the mirror..
So sad that she could not find a reason to live and love the life she had. I suppose this is what true loneliness looks like.
Becoming invisible is probably the toughest of all.
Fading in the mirror and in her mind, sad story, but many women go this way.
They do.. and I think men too..
it didn’t have to go that way. sometimes, life sucks.
I think with too many failures and crushed hopes .. that’s where it ends.
Bjorn, She seemed to spend too much time worrying about her looks to get out, mingle with others, and be a friend to man. If she’d done that, she might not have been so alone. She seemed to fade away in her mind long before she smashed that mirror. She needed help and didn’t get it. Sad. Well written. —Susan
You are right.. but I guess she had lost her friends too along the way
Oh you’ve created such a sad and desperate mood here. Very thought provoking, well done !!
Thank you Rachel..
That is so sad to put so much into the exterior…you have painted a very real story of many men and women…but yes, women at a certain age become invisible…I enjoy that actually, becuase you can shop without being bothered; and if I do less noticed I can chant my mantra out loud and folks don’t even care. 🙂
To be invisible has its advantage if you are visible to just a few…
Terrific, Bjorn! I like the aspect of Jane and her perception of herself via the mirror. Good concept.
Thanks.. I think looking yourself in the mirror and watch those slow challenges can be tough.
Very sad, very moving.
Thank you.. sad indeed..
Dear Bjorn,
Good on you for avoiding the ‘can’t see my reflection’ story. Yours is far more absorbing. Very well done.
Aloha,
Doug
Thank you… the fading aspect of not being visible is far more painful I think.
Dear Björn,
To not write a vampire story was a wise decision. What you did write is poignant and well constructed.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you.. I actually like a lot to fit it to exactly 100 words.. then you really have to think about the construction, and how to tell a story with a past present and future..
A very touching story…Loneliness brings forward all our insecurities and shortcomings. As for the title – perfection! I am a sucker for good titles.
Thank you.. I love to create good titles too..
A very lovely piece Bjorn about the invisibility of late middle age. I like the idea of her completely fading away into nothing, rather than killing herself, which is what your Jane Doe suggests at the end.
Claire
Yes.. I can see your point, still I wanted her to be a little bit more active.. it’s like a small set of restoration (though sad … ) to completely fade is even sadder to me.
Oh dear! And I hoped her bid for freedom would have a happy ending!
Hopping on the bandwagon of liking the title. It’s a sad commentary on how many women view middle age (and older), as an outward thing. Too bad she didn’t have a mirror that showed on the inside. Well done.
janet
How sad. That was very well conceived and written. Lucy
Well written. You really express the emotion well here.
To grow old gracefully is a forgotten skill ……. no longer taught. Great write, this.
Wow, the smashing of the mirror really got me and that sad end. Emotion packed.
I love that even your prose is so poetic. What a powerful piece.
Who closed the window after she left?
We all fade to invisibility to some extent, but this is so sad.
your piece so wonderfully written with a sense of surrealism yet captures the raw truth of aging forward without a soul knowing or caring. love the title as well.
Dear Bjorn, Excellent story and the thought of fading away just a little bit more each day is, I guess, like true life and getting a little older each day, a little grayer, and then you become feeble, unable to feed yourself – sounds horrible! I hope I go quick. Anyway, this is a good story! Nan 🙂
What a sad fate.
True story, well written.
Sad and very well written 🙂 Great take Bjorn 🙂
Your story is as sad as mine. Oh that darn mirror! 🙂
Lily
‘Laura disappeared into the morning fog, an elderly spinster to be swallowed by relentless neon dreams,’…..I like this image feeling and the fading.
Sad and often true.
Ellespeth
Something about smashing the mirror that is so dramatic, and forces things to disappear. Perhaps that was the momentum she needed to leave. But to turn up as a Jane Doe. This was so sad, Bjorn. A kind of gradual fading, just like her unfulfilled dreams.
This is great Bjorn. Your title is perfect and I love the line ..’one day she decided to leave without a word’… the story leaves so many unanswered questions, I’m making up my own answers!
Björn, this is a very powerful piece. The idea of that mirror each day, reflecting back the passing of time. If we are in an unhappy life, that can only be painful. Smashing it at the end is especially poignant. A deep, meaningful story this week… love it!
Note: in that first sentence there should be “at” between looked and herself. Small tweak, but I think it needs the extra word. 😉
AH… that would push the story into 101 words.. hmm but you are right of course the “at” is really needed..
There is probably another word that could be cut… just sayin’. But it’s not life or death. 😉
Such a sad and poignant story! Quite surreal, too. (Oddly enough, I, too, wrote a story, wherein the mirror plays a role in making someone NOT visible — but it’s entirely different!)
Oh, and I absolutely LOVE the phrase, “relentless neon dreams” — perfectly described.
This is written with such elegance and composure that it feels almost detached, which only serves to make Laura’s despair all the more real – even her suffering feels far away and not quite visible.