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– A simple mirror, – Koschei finally grumbled, casting a glance at the mirror once again.

– Not at all! – Hope persisted. – There, – she waved her hand towards the mirror, – and here, – she pointed at Koschei, – are two different people!

Gorynych looked in surprise at the mirror with his three heads, each after each, because he couldn’t fit all them in a room at once. He was shuffling his feet awkwardly, hovering on the doorstep. But he could see only himself and Koschei in the mirror. Zmey-Gorynych frowned displeased, as if a toy had been taken from him.

But the brooms turned out to be much defter. They gracefully swang their twig-skirts several times, sweeping away all the piled up dust from the large man-sized mirror. The mops also got down to work right away, piping huge basins of water like they were on a deck. The last of the brooms also ran by and looked in the mirror, and saw nothing but itself. It seemed like a mirror couldn’t place in everybody at once and reflected only one object at a time.

– Are you hazing me?! – Koshei yelled and Hope got really worried that  he was running out of patience. – What other two people are you talking about! Admit, somebody sent you here! – and he bent to her viciously, throwing his clawed hand in the air.

Wait a minute. Where are the claws?!

Koschei froze in amazement and began to view hands. Terrible, long, yellowed claws disappeared, and beautiful almond-shaped nails appeared in their place. 

He didn’t believe his eyes. How could that happen? For how many decades had he seen himself as a gray, slightly hunched, clawed man? But did he really look like this or was it just the way he took himself? How did others see him?

Absolutely weakened Koschei sank into a chair, which his housemates were able to move close by the mirror. He was peering at his hands, and the others were watching him expectantly. 

– I don’t know whether you will please to hear it or not, dear Koschei, but nobody has sent me to you. I’m afraid, I got here by pure chance...

The broom was casually waltzing around the owner’s armchair, attracting everybody’s attention. Hope couldn’t drag her gaze away from such a hard worker. She wondered if that was an enchanted girl. Or are they all enchanted?

– Do I look like a villain who would imprison a living soul in an object? – Koschei raised his head up and lowered it back thoughtfully right away. In truth, what could she think about him, if for decades he had seen himself only as a monster?