A Ghost in My Mirror Read online

  A GHOST IN MY MIRROR

  A GHOST IN MY MIRROR

  by

  MARIE-FRANCINE HÉBERT

  Illustrated by Philippe Germain

  Translated by Sarah Cummins

  CANADIAN CATALOGUING IN PUBICATION

  Hébert, Marie-Francine, 1943-

  (Un fantome dans le miroir. English)

  A ghost in my mirror

  Translation of: Un Fantome dans le miroir.

  ISBN 0-929005-31-7

  I. Germain, Philippe, 1942- . II. Title.

  PS8565.E2F3513 1992 jC843’.54 C92-093779-9

  PZ7.H43Ch 1992

  Originally published as Un fantome dans le miroir

  by Les editions de la courte echelle

  Copyright © 1984 Marie-Francine Hébert et la courte echelle

  Copyright © 1992 Second Story Press (English language edition)

  Copyright © 1992 Sarah Cummins (Translation)

  Printed and bound in Canada

  Published by

  SECOND STORY PRESS

  760 Bloor Street West

  Toronto, Canada M6G 1K5

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  White As A Sheet

  CHAPTER TWO

  Help!

  CHAPTER THREE

  Who Are You?

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I Should Have Known Better

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Catastrophe!

  CHAPTER SIX

  My Last Chance

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Whew!

  CHAPTER ONE

  WHITE AS A SHEET

  YOU’LL NEVER GUESS what happened to me. Talk about a tall tale!

  It all began one evening when I was staying at Gran’s house. My little brother Pip was sleeping over at a friend’s and hadn’t come along. So I had the guest bedroom all to myself. Yippee!

  At the slightest sound in the night, Pip always sits bolt upright in his bed. And Gran’s old house creaks and cracks a lot. Pip thinks every creak is a ghost.

  That’s because he’s heard ghost stories from one of his friends in kindergarten. I’ve told him over and over that ghosts are only a figment of the imagination. But it’s no use. Pip believes in ghosts, that’s all there is to it.

  Anyway! I slid into bed, between the plain white sheets. That’s right, no colours, no flowers, no trim, just plain white, like in the olden days. Gran has treasured her sheets for a long time.

  She came in and sat by me on the bed. Together we looked at her old photograph album. All at once, I spied a picture of a little girl. I couldn’t believe my eyes!

  “That looks like a picture of me, Gran!”

  “Well, Poppy, that’s my little sister Daisy. That picture was taken when she was your age.”

  Then Gran added in a sad voice: “She died that very same year.”

  I could understand why Gran felt so sad. I would love to have a sister. And then, if that sister were to die…

  Anyway! Gran gently stroked my cheek. “You do look a lot like Daisy. It’s quite astonishing. I remember her, in this very room …”

  Gran was staring at a spot behind my head and smiling, as if she could see her sister. I turned and looked. Of course there was no one there.

  Gran finally came back down to earth.

  “I want to show you something, Poppy.”

  She put the photo album on the bed and went over to the closet where she keeps her old things. Pip and I call it the secret closet, because Gran won’t let us rummage around in it. When I was little, I always tried to see through the big mirror hanging on the cupboard door. Of course all I ever saw was myself.

  Gran was opening her big wooden trunk. She came out of the closet carrying a pair of pink satin slippers. They were the prettiest slippers I had ever seen. And they fit me perfectly.

  “You may borrow them, Poppy,” said Gran. “But they’re just for you, no one else. And you must promise to take care of them. They are the only keepsake I have of my little sister Daisy. They are very precious to me.”

  “I promise, Gran. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

  “Good. And now it’s time to go to sleep, sweetie.”

  I took off the slippers and Gran placed them carefully next to the bed. Then we gave each other a good-night kiss.

  “Good night, angel. Sweet dreams.”

  “See you in the morning, Gran.”

  She turned out the light, went out, and shut the door.

  It was black as a witch’s hat, as Pip would say. Soon I began to hear little noises from under the bed. It was just the wooden floor creaking, as usual. I turned over on my side, ready to fall asleep.

  Suddenly, I felt something right there … on the bed … next to me …

  “It’s just your imagination, Poppy,” I said to myself, “trying to scare you. Tell it to stop immediately!”

  This is exactly what I tell Pip when he’s afraid of the dark.

  I slipped my hand underneath the covers, certain I would feel nothing. But there was something on top of the covers! It jumped to the end of the bed.

  I lay absolutely still like a mummy. My face must have been as white as the sheet. What could be there?

  CHAPTER TWO

  HELP!

  WHATEVER-IT-WAS STOPPED MOVING. It was probably waiting for me to get out of bed so it could chase me. I could hear it panting. Like me.

  How dumb can you get! It was my own breathing I was hearing.

  I suddenly remembered – Gran had left the photo album on the bed! When I moved, I must have knocked it off. That’s all. It couldn’t possibly be anything else.

  I reached down to the floor. Yes! There was the album. I’ll pick it up tomorrow, I decided. Then I thought I’d just check to see if the slippers were still by the other side of the bed.

  You must think I’m crazy. Where else would they be? But, believe it or not, I couldn’t find them anywhere.

  “Let’s not panic,” I said to myself. “They must be here somewhere. I’ll just turn on the light and then I’ll see them.”

  But the very second I put my foot on the floor, I heard the closet door open. All by itself!

  A door can’t open all by itself. So there must be someone else in the room. I was in danger! So I yelled as loud as I could, “Help, Gran! Help!”

  In the blink of an eye, Gran was by my side.

  “What’s wrong, Poppy? Why, you’re shaking!”

  “The closet door opened …”

  Gran looked very worried. “You weren’t rummaging in there, I hope?”

  “No, Gran, I swear I wasn’t!”

  I could tell Gran believed me. “And I can’t find Daisy’s slippers anywhere,” I added.

  Gran picked up the photo album and put it on the dresser. “Here they are,” she said. “They were under the album.”

  And I thought she had put them on the other side of the bed! Really!

  While Gran walked over to the closet I stole a glance under the bed. Sure enough, there was no one there.

  “I probably didn’t shut the door properly, Poppy, and the weight of the mirror made it swing open.”

  “Gran, are you sure there’s no one in the closet? A burglar or something like that? Sometimes they hide, like on TV.”

  “There’s no one there. Don’t worry, Poppy, the doors are all locked.”

  “What about the windows?”

  Gran pulled the curtain aside. I could see the moon, full and round, hanging in the sky.

  “They’re locked, too. See this little knob here?”

  I breathed a little easier.

  “Would you like me to leave the bedroom door open a little bit, Poppy?”

  I couldn’t say yes. I’d already been
such a baby.

  “No, no, Gran, I’m all right now.”

  “Goodnight then, darling.”

  She put out the light and left, closing the door behind her. Oh good, she forgot to pull the curtain shut. Moonbeams filled the room with soft light. I felt completely safe.

  I closed my eyes drowsily, about to fall asleep.

  Then I felt an icy draft. Brrr! I decided to close the window.

  I wrapped the sheet around me and put my feet down to slide them into the slippers. Again, I thought they were on one side of the bed, but I found them on the other. I must be really crazy!

  Guess what! The window was already shut. Of course – Gran had said the windows were locked. Strange …

  If Pip were here, he would probably say, “There’s always a cold draft when a ghost is coming in. That’s what my friend told me.”

  Suddenly – I saw something in the mirror on the closet door!

  CHAPTER THREE

  WHO ARE YOU?

  I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE, right then and there.

  There was a white shape in the mirror. It looked like a ghost!

  What about the white sheet I was wrapped up in? What could I have been thinking? I was seeing myself in the mirror! It was just my own reflection.

  If I moved, my reflection would move too. What!?! It didn’t move! What was going on?

  I could see my own face in the mirror … or a face that looked like mine. Amazingly like mine. What if it were Daisy’s g—? It couldn’t be; I don’t believe in ghosts!

  But I was so scared I asked, “Who are you?”

  Believe it or not, a funny, squeaky little voice answered, “I’m Daisy, of course! And you’re Poppy!”

  “How did you know?”

  “Ghosts know everything, of course.”

  The whole time she was staring at my slippers. Then I looked in the mirror. There were no slippers in the reflection …

  I had to be dreaming. I pinched myself to wake up, but it didn’t work. Sternly I said to myself: “You can see yourself in the mirror, but there can’t be anyone in the mirror.”

  I must have spoken out loud, because Daisy answered, “I’m not like you. I’m a ghost.”

  And she burst out laughing. You should have heard her. It gave me goosebumps.

  I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t want to take any foolish chances. I had to get out of there. But before I could move a muscle, Daisy was blocking the door.

  She had moved without a sound. No foot-steps, no rustling of the sheet. Her feet didn’t even seem to touch the floor.

  I tried to call out, but I was so terrified the words stuck in my throat.

  There was only one thing to do. I shut myself in the closet. The doorknob began to rattle so I pushed the little button that locks the closet door from the inside.

  Daisy seemed to give up. For the time being, anyway.

  I tried to remember what Pip had told me about ghosts. It might come in handy.

  The closet smelled like mothballs and dried flowers. I squeezed against the trunk and wrapped the sheet tighter around me. I was shaking from head to toe. You can imagine.

  I leaned against the back wall of the closet to catch my breath. Right away I heard a creaking sound. The wall was moving! Or rather, a door was swinging open and it led to another room.

  I stepped through into a room I had never seen before. It glowed with a strange, unreal light.

  There was another door at the opposite end of the room. To my amazement, it opened onto a long spiral staircase going down, down, down. It made me dizzy just to look at it.

  Suddenly I heard a raucous screeching voice. Believe me, it was not the sweet gentle voice of my Gran.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER

  A SHIVER RAN THROUGH MY WHOLE BODY.

  “Please, Poppy, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m only a poor little ghost girl. Nobody ever wants to play with me. Everyone’s always scared.”

  I froze. Was that Daisy? All I could think of to say was, “How did you get here? I locked the door behind me!”

  “Didn’t you know that ghosts can walk through walls?”

  I seemed to remember my little brother mentioning that. I should have listened to him. Now what was going to happen to me?

  Suddenly Daisy started doing all sorts of tricks to make me laugh. She flew around the room, climbed the walls, and walked on the ceiling.

  By the time she was finished, I couldn’t help laughing out loud. Daisy was delighted.

  “We’re having such fun! We look like twin sisters in our white sheets. Will you be my friend? Oh, Poppy, say yes! Please say yes!”

  I didn’t know what to say. I hardly knew her. And I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to be friends with a ghost.

  She acted as if I had said yes.

  “If you give me your slippers, then we can be best friends.”

  I explained that my Gran, her own sister, would be too upset. But Daisy insisted.

  “They haven’t fit her for years. She just leaves them locked up in the trunk all the time.”

  “But they are very precious to her. They’re the only keepsake she has of you. Do you understand?”

  Daisy said in her sweetest voice, “Then just lend them to me for a little while.”

  “No, Gran – your sister – said I mustn’t.”

  A sly look came over her face, as if she was cooking something up.

  “It doesn’t matter. Come on, Poppy!”

  She grabbed my hand. Her own was icy cold. Brrr! Then she pulled me down the spiral staircase, so fast that I couldn’t resist.

  Down we went, down, down. I thought I recognized Gran’s basement as we flew past. If we go any further, I thought, we’ll be in the centre of the earth.

  I began to be frightened. “Stop, Daisy. We’ll get lost!”

  Her bony hand tightened over mine.

  “Don’t worry, Poppy. This is where I live. I know this place inside out.”

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “To my room.”

  I must admit that I was curious to see a ghost’s room. And Daisy seemed pretty interesting, don’t you think?

  Finally we reached the end of the stairs. Before us stretched a long hallway. At the end was Daisy’s room.

  You should have seen it! Huge spiderwebs hung from the ceiling. Daisy’s bed was made from a slab of rock, with a smaller rock for her pillow.

  You’ll never guess what I found in a corner of her room – dozens and dozens of stuffed animals. At least, I thought they were stuffed.

  There were kittens, tigers, lions, ducks, wolves, giant birds … You name it, she had it. And they all looked so real! As if they were about to come alive.

  “Oh, they’re so wonderful, Daisy, especially the tiger! I’d give anything to have a stuffed animal like that!” Can you imagine! The tiger was twice as tall as me, with soft, soft fur.

  “You can have it, Poppy …”

  I couldn’t believe it! It was the luckiest day of my life!

  “… in exchange for the slippers,” Daisy added quickly.

  I hesitated a moment. How could I explain this to Gran? But I couldn’t resist. I would figure something out.

  If you had seen that tiger, you’d understand.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CATASTROPHE!

  WHAT HAD I DONE? I couldn’t break my promise to Gran!

  My feet were back on the ground. It’s a good thing, too, because Daisy was already trying to take the slippers off. I backed away.

  “I can’t, Daisy.”

  “But these slippers are really mine, Poppy.”

  “Not anymore, Daisy. You’re not a person, you’re a ghost. You said so yourself.”

  “But I want them anyway!”

  You should have seen her pouting face. What a spoiled baby! I tried hard to reason with her.

  “You can’t have them, Daisy.”

  “Then you’re not my friend anymore!”
br />   And she started to sulk. I really have no patience with sulkers.

  “Well, then, I’m off!”

  “Go ahead, you know the way,” she answered crossly.

  Then suddenly, her mood changed. A funny smile played about her lips.

  “Anyway, we’ll be seeing each other again soon. Very soon.”

  I wasn’t sure I really wanted to. After all!

  I turned and left the room. I thought I could just walk down the hallway to the spiral staircase. But before me I now found several corridors.

  Which way should I go? I turned back to ask Daisy, but she had already shut the door. And what was this creeping up on me?

  The stuffed animals! No wonder they looked alive – they were! With real teeth bared and real claws stretched out. The tiger seemed to be their chief.

  I turned and ran down the closest corridor. The animals followed in hot pursuit. Why were they chasing me?

  I dodged and darted down corridors, hoping to lose them, but it was no good. I could hear them panting and growling in the dark, close behind me.

  I felt as if I were going deeper and deeper into a maze of back streets. I heard garbage cans crashing around me and saw papers flying past in the wind.

  Was that a bat that brushed my cheek? Or just some clothes hanging on a clothesline?

  I had never run so fast in my life! Faster and faster, I ran. At this rate, I’d win all the races at school this year. If I ever got out of this mess, that is.

  Then suddenly, I tripped. One slipper came off. Oh no!

  What should I do? Should I leave it and run on? Or should I go back and get it? That might give the animals time to catch up.

  All right, I know I promised Gran, but there are limits, don’t you think?

  Screwing up my courage, I went back to get the slipper. The animals were so near I could feel their hot breath on my neck.

  Boy, did I take off! I managed to get away from them, but just barely. Now I could put some distance between us.

  Catastrophe! The corridor I turned down was a dead end. I couldn’t turn back without running into the pack of ferocious beasts.