Her home was broken, brown, and busy. Luci's room was as small as a closet and as dusty as one to boot, but it was her sanctuary. Unlike her older siblings she didn't have to share her space. She heard the words 'favorite' and 'special' used when the discussion was whispered in the halls, but she never cared. As long as she was left alone she was okay. It wasn't as if she had anything to share anyway.

Aside from the toddlers bed she had long grown out of, the stack of storage boxes to hold her second hand clothes and basic television, there wasn't much to look at. Broken toys dotted the corners. Crude drawings, both on paper and painted upon the wall surface were spread about the dirty walls. Still it wasn't what she had physically possessed but her imagination that occupied her for hours. Her family mentioned her being an airhead, a lame brain even. I reality was as fun as her own mind she would have cared or taken the time to understand.

One day her little adventures across the sea and through the ruins were interrupted by and unanticipated knock at her shabby door. She shot up ready to attack with her pirate ninja karate skills. Her father stood there, his eyebrow quirked and a strangled smile twitching at the corner of his lips. Clutched in his massive hands was a pink desk with a white top. His moment of confused emotions passed and he set it down. "Your mom wen' through the thrift store and found this vanity. Thought you might like it. Learn yaself how to be a girl 'n' get out of that funny place in your head."

Luci stared at him dumbfounded and went at vanity without a word. Expecting as much, her father trudged out. Her fingers slipped into the creases, tugging and pulling at the joints until finally the top popped and she was staring into a crayon smeared mirror. Immediately she saw home on the other side. Wild gardens and tall trees. Blue skies and nothing brown but the bark on the trees. She reached into the mirror and found no obstruction.

She reached further and could feel a warm breeze on her arm. She all but leaped through. Luci landed on spongy grassy amongst brightly colored foil age and glittering flowers. Her eyes scanned about and in well full swoop she saw a deer prancing into the woods, a bunny bouncing from meal to meal, foxes stealing meals, and birds teasing all the rest. At her feet a loud croak shook her to a standstill, then she looked down. An old fat wart frog croaked again, complaining about the new obstacle.

Instead of obliging him she crouched and picked him up. Once again he complained and still, no minding him at all. She giggled and rubbed the top of his head with her index finger. To her little mind it was smooth, for she had no knowledge that it should be bumpy and slimy with mucus secretions.

In the doorway of little Luci's her mother sobbed, watching her child stare so faraway into the mirror. Her child was born in this world but had been allowed so short a time to enjoy it. Never would she be allowed to grow past her young childhood where the peace ended. Never in touch. Not since the night she learned that the world is not so innocent and free. That not all is wonderful and splendid. That frogs weren't princes and were covered in warts.