"Where did the mirror come from, dad?" Brad asked, scooting forward to the edge of the seat as he became more invested in the conversation.
"Estate sale," his dad answered. "I was driving around one day and happened upon it. Decided I had to have it, so I brought it home. At the tine I didn't know it was special though. I accidently discovered it worked as a portal one day when I was admiring myself in a new pair of heels in front of the mirror. I lost my balance and well, I fell through the mirror."
"Whoa," Brad exclaimed. "That's almost just how it happened for me, too."
I've stumbled onto a few different things about the mirror, like the need to be wearing the exact same thing in order to return, you can not travel back through any mirror that isn't the one you entered through, and you can not bring anything back you didn't take with you, well almost."
"Can you go back and forth through the mirror any time or only once a day?"
"You can go back and forth multiple times a day, but that takes a tole on your mind and energy. You're better off only making one round trip a day, at first. Brad, I have to know how you got into the room in the first place."
"As soon as I got home from school I changed into that outfit and was wondering around the house when I discovered the door to the spare room wasn't locked," Brad explained even though he still wasn't completely comfortable talking to his dad about wearing girl's clothes.
"When I saw the mirror, I began to look at myself. Then, I was standing with my heels off the floor, trying to see what I might look like in a pair of high heels when, well I lost my balance. I closed my eyes because I thought I was going to fall against the mirror and break it, but instead I hit the floor in the locker room on the other side and I wasn't sure what had happened. Then some things happened, and I got chased out of there pretty quick. I didn't know I had literally gone through the mirror until you told me, and well, I really didn't believe it until you made me go back through. Even when I saw your fingers go through the mirror in your, uh, Miranda's bedroom, I thought it was some trick you were doing, especially since it felt solid to me. For all I knew, that could all have been a dream I was having after being knocked unconscious when I lost my balance and fell. Still could be, I suppose."
When you landed on the floor of the gym locker room, did you feel anything?"
Yeah, it hurt."
Gerald sat looking at Brad. He didn't say a word.
After a few seconds, Brad replied.
"Oh! Whoa, it is real. I get it. You can't feel anything in a dream."
"Okay, so I guess the question now is: Where do we go from here?" Brad's dad asked. "What are your feelings about what you've learned about me? And about what's possible? And do you wanna go back this weekend?"
Brad slumped back in the chair, thinking about all he'd just learned and experienced and how to answer his dad's questions. Gerald let him take all the time he needed. There was certainly a lot of things to consider, especially for a fourteen-year-old.
After a time, Brad sat up again. "Like I said, knowing you like girls clothes too, makes me feel a lot better. Knowing about the mirror and what it can do makes me curious. I think I wanna go back this weekend, but it's a lot. Can I think about it for the next couple days?"
"Yeah, we don't have to make any decisions tonight. Take your time. Of course, you know you can't say anything about this to anyone else, ever."
"Yeah, dad, I know."