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trying to make sense of this new world that I found myself in. My eyes darted around the room as a slight sense of panic rose up inside me.
    “And you’re sure that no one can pass back over the portal?”
    His eyes darted to the floor, as if he felt sad for me. “I’ve never seen it done. Many people have tried, but they’ve all failed.”
    “How have they tried?”
    “Mostly through magic, but because the portals are seemingly selective, magic never works.”
    My heart sank again. I longed for my family and for Dashielle.
    “I have to get back. Please take me to the mirror I came through last night.”  
    He reluctantly agreed, and within minutes, we were walking silently down the same path we took the night before. The sun, or whatever they called it, hung lower than ours, but it did not give off very much light. Everything felt gloomy. The fog weaved in and out of the ancient trees, which made me momentarily lose sight of my guide.
    We passed a fox on the side of the road, and it eyed me. It didn’t run, like I’d expect a fox would in our world. Instead it looked like it was wondering what we were doing and who we were.
    “Alive, remember?” he whispered, obviously reading my expression.  
    My heart fluttered at the thought. I sped up and tried not to look around, too much amazement for one day.
    I saw our misty images as we approached the end of the path. It caught me off guard, at first. The path and the forest’s reflection in the glass made it appear endless, but it was only an optical allusion caused by the mirrors.
    “This is the one,” he said, pointing at our images.
    I inspected it again. I walked from side to side, trying to figure out any way to open it. That’s when I noticed that there were mirrors on each side of it.  
    “The entire forest is skirted in mirrors,” he remarked to my confusion.
    “Why?” I asked.
    “It’s like we’re being bounced off the other world — rejected.”
    I tried pulling its beveled edges to swing it like a door or remove it from its place, but nothing happened. The infinitely tall but three foot wide section of mirror was going nowhere. I kicked it in frustration.
    “Don’t do that!” Chester screamed.
    “I’ve got to get home!” Tears started to flow from my eyes at the thought of possibly never getting out.  
    “Chester?” I called while sobbing. It took me a minute to clear my eyes before I realized he was gone.
    I called him again and again and remembered his gift of invisibility. “It’s not funny! I’m scared,” I finally admitted.
    “Aww… she’s scared,” an unfamiliar voice mocked. I heard multiple chuckles, and looked over my right shoulder to see two kids standing side-by-side grinning.
    “Who are you?” I questioned.
    “Who are you?” They mocked.
    I said nothing. Often silence is the best thing to say. They glared at me. The children, probably ten or so, had the same identical bowl haircut. But one of them was a girl and the other a boy. They were dressed alike in what looked to me like traditional Scandinavian dress complete with wooden shoes.
    “Come along,” the girl’s squeaky voice said as she started down a trail opposite of where Chester and I came.
    I, of course, had no intention of following her. Something about them creeped me out. They were tiny, yes, but their eyes pierced the soul. The boy must have sensed my reluctance because he rushed towards me and clamped something down on my wrist. He yanked my other arm around, and before I could think to resist, I was bound tightly. My arms lay in front of me with something black holding them together. It didn’t take but a moment to realize that whatever that was binding me was also moving. I screamed.
    “Don’t you worry, Miss. He won’t bite unless instructed, and I won’t have him harm you unless you give us trouble. You won’t do that, will you? You’ll be a good girl, eh?” he said with a squeaky, eerily innocent voice. He gave me a quick nod of his