《Magda the Forest Cat and the Cosmic Mirror [First-Rough Draft] [Flash Fiction/Creative Scene]》 Magda Part I [First-Rough Draft] "¡°Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who¡¯s the best feline of them all?¡± Magda the forest cat was at it again: preening herself. Her vanity could only be matched by vanity itself and even then the latter elemental force would fall short of Magda¡¯s own megalomania. That was the height of Magda¡¯s folly. It was on this same day that Magda entered a castle. She was looking for new prey to feed herself but in truth it was more to soothe her own ego. A new kill. A new hunt. All were new opportunities for Madga to show off her skill. Her prowess. Nature had dictated that she was to be three-parts assassin, that is the ultimate hunting machine, and, one-part adorable-cute forest cat that everyone fell head over heels for at first sight. She was a mystery, she was beautiful, and she was also very very lethal. It was at this juncture, of new castle, of hunting for new prey, and of her feline megalomania that Magda met the most unexpected of outcomes. A giant-sized mirror none like she had ever seen before in her life. It paled in comparison to her tiny pocket mirror as well the bathroom mirror she so very much adored and the bedroom mirror that she kept in her den. ¡°I must have it!¡± She immediately said upon catching sight of it. The encrusted jewels along the gold-gilded rim reflected rays that pierced down to the depths of her very tiny cat soul. ¡°But how?¡± She thought to herself. The mirror was too large. She couldn¡¯t carry it herself and even if she could it wouldn¡¯t fit in her den. ¡°A new home perhaps?¡± She started quickly turning over possibilities in her mind. The thoughts that arose then subsided, each equally unfulling and unrealistic as the last. Magda was close to giving a sigh of resignation when she approached the mirror and saw a figure hovering in it. It was a reflection of herself but it looked different. There was this invisible-shadowy tone as well as the fact that the image in the mirror was autonomous ¨C it moved on its own! It was Magda but different. The real cat wore a lovely pink ribbon and had a taste for fine jewelry such as pearl earrings. While the Magda in the mirror wore a blue ribbon and wore mystical earrings made of pure platinum that seemed to have tiny lunar symbols etched into them. The mirror figure in a very familiar tone spoke to Magda the forest cat, in no doubt a very familiar tone, one of Magda¡¯s own voice: ¡°State your wish, peasant.¡± It seems no matter the Magda you dealt with, whether real-forest cat or supernatural-shadowy mirror figure they both shared a certain ruthlessness about them. ¡°My what? ¡­ Hey, who are you calling peasant!? You indignant little rube. I¡¯ve seen horse manure with more character than that ribbon and earrings.¡± The mirror cat gave the most self-indulgent of smiles. ¡°This is the Cosmic Mirror. You clueless molly. It will show you anything you desire! Now state your wish before I am done with you and leave.¡± Magda the forest-cat gave a small hiss. ¡°Be done with me? I¡¯ll show you which one of us is useless!¡± Magda was prepared to charge the mirror and headbutt it until she had an idea. ¡°I can see anything she asked?¡± ¡°Yes. That¡¯s why I am here?¡± Magda immediately lost sight of the brewing conflict with her alter-ego as her vanity took over her mind and swamped her thoughts. A heavy fog filled her mental apparatus and it became increasingly difficult to think except for one thing: Magda¡¯s own self-importance. It was with oft spoken words that Magda repeated her favorite phrase: ¡°Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who¡¯s the best feline of them all?¡± The forest cat had hoped the annoying mirror figure would disappear, and indeed she did. Madga also hoped to see herself in the mirror¡¯s reflection, in answer to her question. Indeed she did as well. However the reflection she saw had one crucial difference. It showed the real cat but there was a ¡°in 1 year¡± banner of text floating above her head. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that suppose to mean?!¡± Magda continued her complaining, ¡°I¡¯m perfect meowww!¡± Magda roared. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. As Magda¡¯s meow roared about the castle hallway, a wind filled the chambers she stood inside. Magda¡¯s alter-ego had neglected to mention that the Cosmic Mirror doesn¡¯t just show you the objective truth. It also creates it for you! That is why it is always accurate because the thoughts we think become true for us. The mystery of the universe is that we live in an inclusion-based system not an exclusion one. The world as we know it is self-generating and self-expanding in character, creation is an act of ordering what is already there because everything is already provided. That also means that nothing in the universe is permanently destructive in its character. Many people are familiar with this truth as it is reflected in the modern-day insight of the natural sciences: that energy is only ever converted from one form into another and never created or destroyed. As the wind picked up in the castle chamber, it circled Magda the forest-cat, increasing in intensity until it completely surrounded her. A wall of wind and then engulfed her. As Magda tried to escape it she found herself lifted off the ground and was transformed from majestic forest-cat to squabbly forest mouse. It was in this manner the truth of Magda¡¯s being became known to her. The shadowy-mirror figure reappeared in the reflection of the mirror, they were still the same in appearance as when they had met Magda the first time. ¡°What¡¯s going on?! ¡­ What¡¯s wrong with me? ¡­ Why am I like this?¡± Magda the forest-mouse demanded. ¡°You ¡­ you did this to me!¡± Magda the forest mouse said in fright as she looked at her little mouse paws. ¡°No. Magda the forest cat. You did this to yourself. It was your wish, silly.¡± ¡°My wish? My wish?! My wish was to be the most perfect adorable lethal forest cat that ever lived!¡± Magda let out a painful meow, ¡°and now I¡¯m it¡¯s prey!¡± Tears on the verge of her little mouse eyes. ¡°Yes, silly. And now you get to become it.¡± ¡°Become it? How? I can go back?!¡± ¡°Yes, you will return to being a forest cat in exactly one year.¡± Magda was about to smile but the shadowy-mirror figure continued talking, ¡°but you have to survive until then.¡± ¡°Survive? ¡­ I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°You have spent your life living in the regal nature bestowed to you by nature. You have been given everything. Privilege, certain creatures only dream of. And yet you remain entitled and want more.¡± Magda was ready to roar back that ¡°a queen only ever wants more! ¨C it is her right!¡± yet she remained silent. Magda was scared to anger her mirror alter-ego now that she was no longer in her predator form. The Magda of the mirror gave a coarse smile to her real-world counterpart, it was filled with the same self-indulgent smile as in her first encounter with the scared forest cat now turned mouse. The mirror Magda spoke and broke the silence, ¡°After you have survived as a mouse for one year you will become a better predator ¡­ and I will help you.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll do what?¡± ¡°You heard me. Meow.¡± ¡°You¡¯re lying!¡± Magda the forest-mouse said. ¡°If you¡¯re me, and I¡¯m you. Then I know what you¡¯re thinking and you know what I¡¯m thinking! If I were in your position I would play the long con. I would make you think I¡¯m your friend and savor every minute of being in the blind spot of my prey.¡± ¡°However you miss one important fact, silly.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°You already said it. You toothless excuse of a vermin. I am you and you are me. I can¡¯t kill you. I can only enable you. To help you is to help me. We are the same feline. Do you understand?¡± Magda was reluctant to accept such a truth but it did sound convincing to her ¨C she did accept it in time. The two did indeed forge a friendship. Magda the mirror figure and Magda the forest mouse. Every day Magda the forest mouse would live in terror and anxiety as all manner of creatures hunted her. However she carried the mirror figure in an ultra-tiny pocket mouse mirror that was really a small piece of highly-polished glass. She saw reflections in it and in it Magda the mirror figure lay. The supernatural figure gave her advice and comfort and support. It was in this manner, as harrowing as an experience the one year was, Mada survived the tumultuous ordeal. It was also through these trials and tribulations that she learned to trust her alter-ego figure very much and they did develop a certain kind of positive ¡°working¡± relationship. One might even call it a ¡°friendship,¡± and it was with this relationship that Magda¡¯s own personality was transformed and softened. Her characteristic ruthlessness and extreme vanity remained but it was also partially abated and subsumed by other qualities that the one year of survival as a mouse had produced in Magda. Then, of course, much to the forest-mouse¡¯s surprise, on the last day of her voyage as a mouse. As Magda was beginning to see the light and believe she would be re-born. Her alter-ego, over and against their friendship, ate the mouse on the very last day. The experience was in many ways more harrowing than the year living as a mouse. That is, in as far as death is physically painful and being betrayed is emotionally hurtful. It was all very horrible to experience first-hand. However, as Magda the forest-mouse died that day, she was also reborn and a new era of Magda the forest-cat was born. Indeed, Magda the new forest-cat was very much improved in character. She retained all her old memories, of both her lives, and carried them with her into all her experiences. She ate only when she needed to, she indulged in the ability of her strength but not to an ornate degree, and she was humbled in all the abundance life had bestowed upon her. This was the story of Magda the forest cat and herein she finally found peace and was free from folly." END Picture sources: mirror - https://pixabay.com/photos/vintage-mirror-broken-mirror-4052203/ castle - https://pixabay.com/photos/castle-hoarfrost-icy-hohenzollern-6899041/ forest - https://pixabay.com/photos/forest-romantic-mystical-tree-bach-110900/ Magda Part II [First-Rough Draft] Part I "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who''s the best feline of them all?" Magda the Forest Cat spoke oft repeated and favorite words in the whole-wide universe out loud. However, she said them to her pocket mirror which she carried with her everywhere now. "Perhaps the phrase needs some adjusting," she said to her inner partner Cosmic Magda. Also formerly known as Mirror Magda. You see, Magda the Forest Cat had the most peculiar and enriching of experiences in her recent history. Much to her surprise, she stumbled upon the deeper working of the universe. Namely, her "idealized other," her alter ego. Her -- what we will call - her supra-ordinate personality. Not sub-personality, the split-off tiny personalities under own, but the total personality that governed Magda''s entire being. Different cultures call this experience, or set of experiences, different things: some say "God," "the gods," "higher power," "divine intelligence," "spirit of the universe," "cthulhu." The list goes on and on really... The point was that Magda was no longer alone in life but carried with her an inner presence that gave her guidance and helped her create purpose. It was on the eve of a new journey, after this set of circumstances that Magda was faced with a challenge from her Other. "I have a task I want you to complete," Cosmic Magda told her corporeal counterpart. "A task?..." "Well, more of a bit of a training session," she added. "Training session!?" Magda''s voice began to waiver and escalate in pitch. "What are you trying to say!? Meoww." Magda commented. "That I''m not purrrfect?" The Forest Cat could feel the sheath of her claws beginning to retract, ready for a fight. For you see, Magda the Forest Cat was unabashedly a narcissist. In Magda''s worldview she was a queen, pedigree, and everyone else was just dirt below her pampered paws. That is, to say that Magda was not perfect was an affront to her sense of identity; and, as anyone who has yet find inner peace can tell you, attacking one''s sense of identity leads to sooner than later leads to combat -- perceptions are misperceived, assumptions are made, and the animal instincts of the wild take over. Cosmic Magda did not reply. Magda began the work of calming herself down and replied: "If this is you starting a fight. I don''t want to participate..." While Magda was indeed burdened with the character structure of narcissism she had also through recent events learned the value of humility. An unintended spiritual lesson. "Well?" Cosmic Magda echoed from within the pocket mirror. "Well what!?" "Well are you going to do it?" Cosmic Magda said beginning to get annoyed. After a short silence, Magda the Forest Cat burst out: "I''m busy!" Veins began to bulge around Cosmic Magda''s feline hair. For you see, one''s Other is quite often similar to their corporeal version. Similar in appearance, similar in internalized patterns, similar in character traits. Cosmic Magda too thought highly of herself and shared similar attitudes of impatience and masterful-predatory instincts that made Magda the Forest Cat who she was -- the two were linked! Of course, Cosmic Magda knew better because she could see deeply and belonged to a deeper substratum of the realm we call "living." "What''s that suppose to mean!?!" Cosmic Magda shouted at her physical version through the pocket mirror. "I just I have an errand for you to run!!" "Oh so now it''s an errand." Magda commented. "First it was a task, then it was training, now it''s an errand!" Magda said bitterly into the mirror. "You insolent little molly," Cosmic Magda began to hiss under her breath. "Okay, okay. I can go after, I''m finished with my errands." Magda replied back. A gust of wind lined itself along Magda''s the Forest Cat''s fur. An invisible scarf of sorts, framed her natural beauty, and made her look more carefree than usual. The universe in essence affirmed the attitude she had been, and still was partially, feeling until her argument with Cosmic Magda began. "I don''t work on your time table. You work on mine." Magda gave a small meow, "but I''m the mortal one!" "All the more reason to listen to me." The Other commented. "That doesn''t make any sense!" Magda said exasperated. Before another argument could break out between the two. Cosmic Magda asked, "what''s so important that you''re willing to ignore me? Huh?" Cosmic Magda''s inflection on the word "willing" sent a chill down Magda the Forest Cat''s spine. The fur on her back began to stand up. The physiological response had already started when the wind from moments ago curled itself around the Forest Cat''s fur. It unconsciously reminded her of when she first met Cosmic Magda and all that followed on that fateful day. A sort of muscle-emotional memory proliferated in that (this) moment. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Well, if you must know," Magda said sell-absorbed. "I had plans to stop by the lake. Maybe get some lounging done. Perhaps visit the spa if any of the lake turtles still have a parlor open this late in the season." "You, you..." Cosmic Magda grew more and more infuriated, her pupils sharped in predatory slits. Then Cosmic Magda stopped: "Fine. If that''s--" The Forest Cat interrupted the Cosmic Other, "Fine? ... What do you mean fine?" She added, "Nothing''s ever just fine with you. There''s always some plot, some machination! Don''t tell me things are fine when all you do is play mental chess all day!" "You should look in the mirror sister!!" Cosmic Magda bellowed. The Forest Cat got whiplash from that reply. "Cosmic Magda finally revealed her ploy: "I was simply going to offer you the experience of being a genie for a short while. I was thinking it would be fun and you could learn lots," she said the end of her sentence all chummy. Magda the Forest Cat suspiciously peered into her pocket mirror. "What do you mean genie?" "As in one who grants wishes..." the Other said. Magda''s eye bulged in pure fear and fright, "Oh no!" "Oh My Eternal Poet, calm down!" Magda began feverishly meowing and chirping. "Not again! Please don''t send me back! I repent! I''m humble!! I''ve learned my lesson! Meow meow meow." Magda the Forest Cat was on the verge of tears. A small wicked smile began to form on the edge of Cosmic Magda''s lips. "It''s not like that!" She truthfully commented to her frightened physical counterpart. "I don''t trust you," the Forest Cat said. "I know I can rely on you, but I still don''t trust you! What if something were to happen to me? I just can''t go through that again..." Magda shook in fright in "that" year she spent as a mouse. At the end of that journey, she had been left with a feeling of deep peace and deep sense of inner knowing. But feelings fade, and Magda could still run her metaphorical paw over the emotional scars of that period as well. "And therein lies the problem," Cosmic Magda replied. "What''s the point of having memories if you''re not going to use them? You look but don''t see." All of that went over Magda the Forest Cat''s ears. "I... I," she stammered unsure what to say, paralyzed by fear and indecision. Cosmic Magda asked, "have you heard of Cosmic-Truth Social?" "Eww. You mean that gimmicky social media platform?" Magda asked. "The one with all those jackasses and the raccoons with rabies?" "Oh, there¡¯s a lot more there than that: coyotes, demented elephants, thieving falcons ¡­ Yes, that¡¯s the one." "Well what about it?" Magda said still uncertain about what lay ahead for her but she knew at this point, with regard to Cosmic Magda. It was an in for an acorn, out for an oak tree type situation. Nothing ever came easy with the cosmic spirit, and it was always something that resulted with lots and lots of growth. Part II After a day and a half had passed. Magda had returned to work. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I let you talk me into this.¡± ¡°Oh hush! This is fun!!¡± Cosmic Magda replied with excitement. A day and a half ago Cosmic Magda had floated the idea of Magda the Forest Cat acting like a genie on the social media site Cosmic-Truth Social. It was the type of online forum where anyone with an internet connection could login, spout whatever ¡°truths¡± they wanted and then logout. Magda had initially resisted the suggestion but was sold on the idea when Cosmic Magda explained that ¡°act like a real genie¡± meant she would actually be temporarily bestowed the powers of a real one. However Magda soon realized that this ¡°adventure¡± as Cosmic Magda had called it was anything but what Magda thought it would be: fun, exotic, novel, and power trip-like. The truth is that Cosmic-Truth Social was a cesspool of misinformation and vicarious-voyeuristic entertainment for the masses. Sure, it had its merits too, for it had the opportunity for like-minded creatures to get together and forge new relationships as well as served as an important terminal of information for created communities to center sets of similar ideas together into an important focus point. But Magda spent her first day being trolled relentlessly. Animals pretending to make wishes but then canceling them so she could not make them. And messaging her all manner of privates and public lambastings how ¡°G4ni3s ar3n¡¯t r3al¡± and how she should ¡°go jump into an orca¡¯s mouth.¡± That is to say, that most animals did not know the most interesting thing about Cosmic-Truth Social. That it wasn¡¯t just visited by critters of the forests, and the deserts, and the tundra and sea ¨C that is, those places in the world that had been populated with fiber optics cables. No, it was also home to the occasional metaphysical entity making its way through the cosmos. One stopping by for a bit of fun and to explore and re-visit the human realm. It was a day and a half ago when one of those metaphysical entities, a genie named Ronald, hanging out on Cosmic-Truth Social contacted his friend Cosmic Magda and asked her if she knew anyone who could take over their account for a while while they went to go tend to a family emergency. They had built up a following online but did not want to lose their momentum. The family emergency was that apparently Ronald the Genie¡¯s mother The-Sands-Of-Time had misplaced her reading glasses. And the last time she went looking for them she had taken a small tumble down a flight of dark energy in an unknown part of the universe; and, as you can imagine when The-Sands-Of-Time are shaken too violently the polarities and direction-ness of the universe become reversed. Time itself becomes frozen, pools of tachyons build up throughout the cosmos to such a degree that the universe changes from its natural-current mode of Expansion to one of Retraction. Ron the Genie was in essence on his way to avoid and preempt a cosmic emergency so his prankster shenanigans on Cosmic-Truth Social had to wait. ¡°I owe you one, Mags,¡± Ron commented to Cosmic Magda over the complainings of Magda the Forest Cat: ¡°I don¡¯t wanna go. You can¡¯t make meeee. Meow meow meow.¡± Ron looked at Cosmic Magda with a ¡°yikes¡± face over the melodramatic character of her earthly counterpart. Magda the Forest Cat of course saw his look and was deeply offended that anyone would not be completely ensorcelled with her beauty and natural grace. She shook her pocket mirror violently that housed ¨C or more accurately displayed ¨C the two cosmic spirits: ¡°I¡¯ll give you cosmic emergency. Meow meow. Take this cosmic earthquake.¡± A momentary stop to see if she had done anything, only to shake again. ¡°Reversal, reversal, reversal. Time to be upside down.¡± More shaking followed to no effect. Cosmic Magda grew irritated and reached out through the pocket mirror to put her jaws of death in front of Magda the Forest Cat in a pretend bite. A shiver went down Magda¡¯s spine and up her tail. ¡°Do I behave like a petulant child in front of your friends?¡± She asked, retracting herself back into the two-dimensional pocket mirror. Magda silently glared at them through the mirror. ¡°She knows this place isn¡¯t real, right? That we are all just layers stacked on top of each. Some interacting, some in isolation. One big sedimentary cake of cosmic-ness and dimensionality. Right?¡± Cosmic Magda looked off to the side in slight embarrassment, ¡°She¡¯s not the most spiritual kitten of the litter.¡± Magda said nothing and just listened but commented in her head, ¡°only the prettiest, and most smart, and sharpest of talons, and best predatory reflexes.¡± Ron the Genie bid them both farewell and dissolved into the Ether. END Picture sources: mirror cover photo - https://pixabay.com/photos/vintage-mirror-broken-mirror-4052203/ social media app icons - https://pixabay.com/photos/media-social-media-apps-998990/ laptop desk coffee - https://pixabay.com/photos/workspace-coffee-laptop-macbook-1280538/