The dark December weeks were always difficult for Mia. She cried and wanted beer, but if she got it she cried even more and become confused. Last Christmas went badly for her and every day she talked about suicide. But everything changed on Christmas Eve when she got the mirror and, during the first week with it she was so happy. She had the mirror on her writing table and looked at herself occasionally. When she did this she smiled happily, perhaps because she had discovered she was beautiful. During the second week she began to behave strangely. She could sit looking into the mirror for hours and if you tried to take it from her, she screamed in anguish. Worst was that she begun to bleed. She must hold the mirror, and she told us that if she was prevented she would be dead in one hour. But sometimes she didn't want to hold it. Instead she got angry with it and tried to smash the glass. However, the glass was unbreakable.

Mia begun to sleep with the mirror pressed against her cheek. Her condition was now really bad and the bleeding got worse even if she lost contact with the mirror for a single second. She was no longer beautiful; she looked like a corpse. Despite this, she always wanted to see herself in the mirror and as long as she had contact with it, the bleeding stopped; she didn't have to look. It was obvious that medical care was needed for both her physical and mental condition, but Mum wanted us to wait a few days to see whether her illness would cure itself. If it really was an illness. For my part I really had begun to doubt it.