This story is part of a trilogy, the first portion is more like a horror story, and the 2nd and 3rd portions have the TG in them.

"You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of the imagination. Next stop: THE TWILIGHT ZONE." - Rod Serling

***

Part Three

-Fifteen-

After being away from home for several weeks, young Ian returned and faced Micah’s parents, divulging all of what had happened to their son. They were quite upset, but with additional information they redoubled their efforts to find Micah.

Embarrassment for his own involvement in Micah's disappearance, Ian packed his backpack and set off to find his friend. His searching led him far and wide, but the boy found no clue as to where his friend had gone. Sadly, he returned home after being gone for several weeks only to find that Micah's parents had moved away during his absence.

Ian graduated high school, moved after the sudden death of his parents and began living with his Grandmother. He started college in the town where he was living, up to that point, there had been no contact with his former friend...but all that was to change on a warm and sunny day at a nearby college campus.

***

Ian had been studying the young girl for several minutes as she sat in the grass reading a college book “This seat taken?”

She glanced over, then removed her purse and sat it into the grass beside her, “Nope, not any more.”

Ian smiled and removed his backpack, setting it in the grass next to the bench as he took a seat. “That book looks interesting. What is it?”

She smiled as she glanced up toward him, pulled it closed slightly as she spoke, “It’s called ‘Transitions of the Soul’…required reading for a course I’m taking.

“That’s cool.” He replied as he listened. “Is it about ghosts and haunted places?”

She laughed, “It’s about how people are able to feel assured that a person’s human spirit doesn’t end in death but survives and lives on.”

“As a ghost?” Ian said with a smile.

“Something like that.” She laughed, collecting straying hair and trapping it behind her ear.

“Interesting.” Was his reply, “I’m Ian.” He offered his hand; she glanced over to it and then gently shook it with her own.

“Michelle.” She said as she studied his face for several seconds. “I had a real good friend when I was a kid that was named Ian.”

“I’m glad he wasn’t an enemy…you know how people associate names with bad memories and all.” Ian replied honestly.

“No, he was a good memory.” She smiled and again chased after her straying blond hair in the soft breeze.

“A boyfriend?” He asked as he watched her expression for any signs of being spoken for.

She smiled and giggled slightly, “No boyfriend…just a friend.”

“That’s good.” He looked around at the students that passed by, several were tossing a Frisbee to each other in the grass. He noticed that she wasn’t reading again but still looking at him intently. “What?” He asked aloud, curious that she was still studying him.

Did you ever by chance live in ‘Seaside’?”

Ian smiled, “Grew up there, why?”

She smiled and leaned forward, placing her slender fingers upon her knee where it crossed over the other, and her sandal dancing off the end of her foot. “I thought so...the goatee threw me off a bit.

“You like that?” He said stroking it like he was a famous doctor. “I started growing it during high school.”

“I have to say it’s interesting.” She laughed and tugged against the hem of her shorts, the movement brought Ian’s eyes instantly toward her gloriously tanned and flawless legs.

“So you telling me that you’re from Seaside?” He said with a laugh, “I’d have been hard pressed to have missed you when I was living there. Do you still live there now?”

“No. I moved away from there before I started high school.” She again studied him intently; after several long seconds passed she tilted her head slightly and cleared her throat.

“Do you remember a boy named Micah?” She asked suddenly.

It caught Ian off guard, “He was my best friend. He disappeared and while I was out trying to find him, his parents moved away. Why? Do you know Micah?”

She smiled, “I can give his number to you if you want it.”

“Want it? Hell yes I want it!” Ian retrieved his phone and handed it to Michelle, “Just put it in there, I’ll save it and give him a call.”

The beautiful girl did as he requested, then handed the phone back to Ian. “Go ahead, give him a call.”

Ian smiled and took it from her, hit send and waited. “It’s ringing…” He whispered to the girl beside him as he held it to his ear.

“Oops…hang on Ian my phone is buzzing in my pocket. She stood and fished it out and walked several feet away from the bench where Ian sat. “Hello?”

“Hey Micah! Is this really you?” Ian happily asked into the phone.

“Ian?” The voice replied…the strange echo caused Ian to glance to where Michelle was leaning against a tree. “What you been up to buddy?”

“Not much…how about you?” The voice responded to the question but all the while Ian’s eyes were fixed upon Michelle’s face, her mouth mirroring the words he was hearing.

Ian stood suddenly, his arm falling to his side. “Oh shit!” He gasped as his phone slipped from his hand and hit the edge of the bench, the back falling off and dumping his battery onto the lawn.

“M…Micah?” Ian stammered.

She lowered her phone, closed it and returned it to the pocket of her shorts, “I go by Michelle now.”

Ian sat down upon the bench hard and watched his one time best friend walking toward him. “I…I tried to get hold of you Micah. I...I lost complete track when your family moved away!”

She glanced toward him and smiled wryly, “About two weeks after I ran away I got into contact with my folks and explained everything…and proved to them that I was who I really was. After that, we all agreed that in order for me to move on with my life, we needed to relocate.”

“I’m so sorry Micah…” Ian lowered his head and cried in relief of finally finding his friend.

She slid to his side and gave him a hug, rubbing his back gently. “I don’t hold you responsible…we were friends once, we can be again.”

Ian nodded and stared off toward the couple playing Frisbee. “Ian, you know my real identity…everyone here knows me as Michelle…we have to keep it that way.”

Michelle stared across the lawn, here or there were bright yellow dandelions smattering the field of green. “What happens now?”

Ian glanced off to where she was gazing and then slowly turned his face toward her, “We’re friends; we’ll let that take us wherever it takes us!”

Michelle slowly nodded to his response as all those lost years came racing back into her mind.

***

The young man carried the boxes from the rented moving van, inside to their new home. His much smaller wife, Michelle, held a handful of clothes still on their hangers. Helping her was their daughter Megan, a young girl close to six. Both the girl and her mother headed back toward the bedrooms. From the way she was walking it was apparent that the woman was pregnant.

"Hang on Gregg, I'll help you!" Ian called out to his twelve year-old son. He walked to the back of the van and helped set several boxes onto the lawn, then lifted his baseball cap and brushed back his hair. "We'll take these straight up to the attic," he told him as they off-loaded several more boxes.

"Looks like we'll have more stuff in the attic than in the actual house!" the boy teased his father as he began to lift another box, double-stacking them so he could carry more.

Ian looked up as Michelle stepped out of the house; behind her was Megan. Every time his gaze locked upon her, he would get the same wonderful feeling as the day they met early in college. Even with her expecting she was stunningly beautiful; he could see that Megan too, would follow in her mother's footsteps and be quite pretty herself.

"What?" Michelle said laughing, noticing that he was staring. She waddled slightly toward the moving van, "You've got that goofy look on your face again."

"Just admiring my girls," Ian said as he caught her arm and redirected her into a loving hug. She kissed him and pulled his hat forward, until it covered his eyes.

He pushed it back up, laughed and playfully swatted her bottom. Trying desperately to ignore his parents, Gregg removed a box from the lawn, rolled his eyes, shook his head at his parents' loving behavior, and headed into the house. His sister, Megan, lifted a small box from the lawn, stacked another about the same size on the top of the first, and followed her brother inside.

Ian smiled and leaned against the long ramp of the truck, "Megan's sure going to take after you!"

"Is that so bad?" Michelle asked as she wrote on the top of one box. "There’s enough of you in her too, you know!"

"There should be! What I meant, though, is she's going to be quite beautiful as she gets older!" He removed another box and sat it on the ground. "I'm not sure I'll be ready for it when the time comes."

Michelle laughed and brushed her beautiful hair aside, "Believe me; we've got some time yet to get used to it!"

"Yeah, I suppose," he sighed then laughed. "A pretty daughter is a father's nightmare, you know! There will be boys coming..."

"And you think mothers don't worry? You have a son who'll be a handsome cuss as well!" she replied playfully.

Ian didn't hear her, his mind was preoccupied. He had paused thinking of what might have been, "I just wish my folks had been here to see the kids!"

Michelle sat down her marker and gave her husband a hug. "They probably knew them before they were born."

He smiled at her comment and looked down at his wife. "Too bad they both passed just after I graduated high school. They would have loved you!"

She gave him a squeeze then kissed him thoughtfully. "I wish I'd have known them better, Ian...you honor their memory, keeping it alive for all of us."

Ian straightened up slightly, "I...I'm sorry, Michelle. I didn't mean to be talking about my parents..."

She smiled, "I understand, Ian. You miss them." Michelle gave him a hug, "Its okay, I love hearing you speak about your family...I wouldn't have it any other way!"

"Do...do you ever think about your own folks?" He was sitting down, using a desk for his bench. Michelle settled next to him, gently supporting her belly as she took her seat.

"I...I love my parents," she sighed and gave his hand a gentle touch. She looked away, brushing her hair from her face. "I think about them all the time."

"Even though you didn’t really get to live the life that you should have?" he asked, placing his arm around her shoulder.

"Even though..." Michelle whispered, her voice trailing away. "...but our children are both our destinies…without us, there never would have been a ‘them’."

Ian sat quietly and gazed into his wife's clear blue eyes. She smiled, causing him to smile as well. "Come on, honey. We're not getting anything done sitting here reminiscing!"

Ian nodded and stood to his feet, helping Michelle up as he rose.

"So...where do you want this box put?" He held it out, Michelle smiled and picked up her marker and wrote on the boxes top. Her smile was rewarded by a wink from her husband.

-Sixteen-

With his foot, Gregg pushed open the stairs door, which led to the attic. Behind him walked Megan carrying her boxes. She had been interested in something shiny that was in the top box she had been carrying. As her brother placed his boxes down, he indicated for her to set hers on top, which she did.

He started to turn and noticed his sister lingering. "Hey dork, what you getting into there?"

She ignored his insult and pried open the interlocking flaps on the top box. "I just want to see something!"

"That's dad's stuff...better keep out of it!" he warned.

"Dad has a hand mirror, like this?" she asked as she removed it from the box.

Gregg shrugged, "Maybe it was Grandma's?"

Her eyes lit up as she stared at the ancient looking-glass. "Do you think he'd let me have it?"

"Oh, he'll give it to you all right...just not the way you'll want it!" He indicated with his head toward her bottom.

"I'm going to ask. It never hurts to ask!" She reverently carried the ancient item back down the stairs and through the living room.

As they walked toward the van, Megan stopped her father just as he placed a package on the ground. "I found this in one of the boxes...is it Grandma's?"

Michelle glanced up; her eyes froze upon the strange, but familiar object in her daughter's hand. Before she could get a better look, Ian and their daughter began to slowly walk toward the house. Michelle's heart began to beat wildly, her face felt flush and she leaned against a stack of boxes for support. Her hands trembled and she felt ill, perspiration began to bead upon her lip.

"No...not now!" she gasped as she supported the weight of the child within her womb.

***

Ian felt his heart fall into his feet - it had been years since he had seen the object that dramatically changed his life. With a trembling hand he took it from Megan. "No honey...it once belonged to a friend of mine."

He slowly rolled it over in his hands, its reflective surface facing away. Ian crouched down so he could be nearer to eye level with his daughter. "Let's put it back in the box, right where you found it...please don't ever touch it again. Okay?" he said as gently as possible as he ushered her inside.

"Sure...sure dad," she replied softly, unsure of why a strange old mirror would be so important to her father.

"Told you so..." Gregg reminded her as they parted company, one returning upstairs behind her father with the mirror...the other outside.

Ian led the way up the stairs and placed his boxes down, watching as Megan crossed to where she had left the box open. Inside of that box, she placed the mirror and struggled to return the flaps to their locked position. Ian gently hugged Megan and waited until she had backed away, then he re-closed the lid in the manner it had been earlier. She watched as her father sat the box up very high, then he turned toward her and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Promise that you won't touch it again?" he held out his hand, littlest finger toward her.

"Pinky swear?" she groaned softly, hoping to have been able to avoid the dreaded pinky swear.

Ian nodded toward Megan. She sighed deeply and interlocked her own diminutive pinky to his. "Fine..."

As they were descending the stairs, Gregg raced into the doorway, "Dad! Mom's collapsed on the lawn!"

Ian raced for the door, rounded the corner and headed across the living room. Almost stumbling down the stairs, he followed his son into the yard. There in the grass, Michelle was struggling to sit up.

Ian quickly examined his wife, and he noticed that sweat dappled her flushed cheeks. "Megan, get your mother a glass of ice water! Hurry!" She didn't need to be told twice and at once, raced into the house as Gregg and Ian helped Michelle inside to the couch.

"I knew you were trying to do too much!" Ian scolded. "I should be beaten about the head and ears for allowing you to do that much!"

Megan returned with the water, "Here, Mommy!"

Ian took the glass from his daughter, and held it so Michelle could drink. After several sips she pushed it away. "I...I'm fine!" Ian ignored her and took his hand and removed some condensation from the outside of the glass, wiping it onto her forehead. "It...it must be the baby..."

"Sit there. Don't move. The kids and I will put the rest of the stuff away!"

-Seventeen-

Night had fallen, and almost everything had been put away or at least been placed into the garage. Ian sat in his chair quietly chewing the pizza that had been delivered for their supper. As he sat chewing, Michelle studied his strong profile.

After several minutes he noticed her intently watching him, "Feeling better?"

She inhaled deeply and rubbed her temples. "I’m about as well as can be expected, under the circumstances!"

"It'll get better...once you've had the baby!" He reached out and caressed her leg, Michelle's gaze stayed upon the area he touched.

Silence consumed the air around them, upstairs the children could barely be heard. For several minutes, nothing was said. Ian began to drop off in sleep, and soon his soft snoring permeated the room.

Michelle struggled to her feet and approached the stairs, slowly she ascended them one at a time and using the rail for support.

She bypassed Gregg's room, because she saw that he was busy putting his belongings away. Michelle paused at Megan's doorway. "Honey?"

"I'm putting all of my things away...do you want to see?" She bounded to the doorway and took her mother's hand and pulled her into the room. Michelle smiled and stroked her daughter's face lovingly.

"It looks good honey. You're becoming such a big girl!" Her daughter beamed with pride. Michelle sat at the foot of her daughter's bed. "Megan?"

"Yes, Mommy?" Megan paused as she was placing items into her play box.

"That thing you were showing Daddy...?" she paused, searching for the words.

"The mirror?" she said with a smile.

"Yes, honey, the mirror." She gave her daughter a nervous grin. "What did he do with it?"

"Daddy had me put it back in the box. He put it high, out of my reach!" She pointed up into the air. "He made me pinky swear that I'd never touch it again."

"Can you show me the box, honey?" Michelle stood up slowly, her swollen belly not allowing her to stand too quickly. She held out her hand to Megan. "Show mommy."

Megan led her to the attic stairs, together they climbed them carefully. Once inside, Megan pointed the box out for her mother. Gingerly, Michelle stood on her tip-toes and brought it down to a lower level. It was like opening the cage to a wild animal, and tears began to collect in Michelle's eyes as soon as she saw what it contained.

Michelle lifted out the looking-glass and slowly sank to the floor, tears streaming down her face and falling onto her blouse. Megan sat stunned by her mother's sudden sadness and scrambled down the stairs to get Gregg.

In moments, Michelle heard someone coming up the stairs. Ian, still in his stocking feet stood at the doorway. "Kids, I'll take this from here...you two go back to your bedrooms."

They watched with confusion mounted upon their faces, but they were obedient, and they drifted back down toward their respective rooms.

"I...it's just a mirror, Michelle," Ian whispered to his distraught wife.

She looked toward him, tears clinging to her chin. "How...how did you get this? I thought I had lost it long, long ago!"

He sat on the floor beside her, "When you ran away, you left it at my house. I hid it...it can’t really hurt you anymore!"

Michelle looked down at the floor. "Why did you keep it?"

He replied, "I thought...maybe someday I could figure out how to reverse what it did to you! It’s been in that box, hidden away in the garage for all these years…I forgot I even had it."

They each grew silent, shrouded deeply with their own thoughts. Finally, Ian looked at his wife. "I never wanted to ‘trap’ you in this life..."

She nodded, "I have never looked at myself as being ‘trapped’! I’ve come to accept what happened to me and I always thought you did too?"

Ian leaned his head against several boxes, looked up toward the ceiling, and a laugh escaped from his throat. "I accepted it too…I always thought that if you wanted that out...I’d gladly give it to you, if it was possible.” He smiled at her and gently took her hand into his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “And by the unforeseen forces of sheer luck...we meet on a campus almost a thousand miles from our homes. I ended up marrying you...giving you your last name!"

He turned toward her; she was looking at him. Her long lashes framing her captivating crystalline blue eyes, "It's a good name," she whispered.

Ian's face grew silent, no expression was visible. Finally his fingers touched Michelle's beautiful face, "I didn't think of the ‘old you’ when we first..."

"Made love?" she whispered, finishing his sentence.

He nodded, his face growing red from embarrassment. "Yeah..."

"I’m glad you didn’t...I was a woman through and through, by then." She took her small hand and turned his face toward hers. "I wanted you, and I didn't want it any differently!"

"If it's any consolation...it’s all I thought about from the first day when we met..the second time." he said with a smile.

"Oh you dirty boy...” She said with a laugh.

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, "Remember when you were younger, I always teased you about being small?" She waited for him to nod, and then she continued. "You grew to be over six feet tall...neither of our lives played out as I would have initally imagined."

Ian grew silent, his mind became as troubled as his expression. "Michelle?" He frowned, pursing his lips in thought. "What will we tell Gregg and Megan?"

Michelle smiled, "The truth..."

"Oh?" he whispered, concerned. “Are you sure?”

She continued, interrupting him, "That their mother and father met in college, fell in love, were married and because of their love for each other, had them." She waited to see how her words would play upon his face.

Ian smiled. "So...we're still okay? I don’t want you to be mad for me keeping that mirror."

Michelle leaned toward Ian and wrapped both her arms around his arm that was closer to her. "We're more than okay, Ian!"

He stood and looked down toward Michelle's upturned face, using his left hand, gently stroked her stomach. "Knowing who we were, and now are, I can't believe this is possible!"

"Sure it's possible!" She removed one arm's grasp from him and placed her hand upon his, moving him to a spot upon her stomach. "Feel that?"

"The baby...it's kicking?" he said smiling.

"We did that! Without you being who you are, without the transformation from who I once was, into who I am now, none of our children would have been possible!" She smiled up at her husband, tears collecting in the corner of her eyes. "If I would have had the choice whether or not to look into that mirror and start the transformation again...knowing what I know now...I'd do it again in an instant!"

Ian cleared his throat. "Uh...do you think there is any danger in that mirror's reflection again?" he asked, looking at it in her grasp.

She looked down at it, her smiling face reflecting back from its polished surface. "I don't think there's any magic left in it. I feel pretty confident that it was all used on me that first day."

"Megan wants it...she thinks it belonged to my mother, I told her it once belonged to a friend of mine." Ian said with a laugh. "Should I give it to her?"

"I think it would be safe enough...but I'd wait until she's quite a bit older."

"That's probably a pretty good idea," he said as he took it from Michelle and laid it back in the box, refolded the lid and returned it to where she had retrieved it.

He turned back toward his wife, "You about ready to go to bed?" he asked as he helped her to her feet.

She smiled. "Oh...I'll go to bed, but I'm not really that tired."

"So, do you want to watch some TV?" he asked as he turned off the light and they started down the stairs.

Michelle paused, looking slightly over her shoulder. "No...I think I'll go to bed."

Ian frowned, with a confused look on his face. "I thought you said you weren't sleepy?"

She turned to face him at the bottom of the stairs, and leaned against him. "Who said anything about sleeping?"

******

Was it a curse? Perhaps the young woman, who caused the death of an ancient one thought so. Maybe even Ian and Micah believed it was...but that was long ago. Twisted and transformed through the looking-glass' spell, Michelle and Ian found a destiny they were never really looking for. A destiny which could only be contrived within...THE TWILIGHT ZONE!
The End