Thor's Cave

In a small village in the green valleys of the Peak District, Sarah gave birth to a son, after a decade of trying for a child with her husband, Peter B Perfekt. It was a joyful occasion for the farming couple, who lived a modest life on their small farm. After much deliberation they decided to call him Johnny B Perfekt. Johnny, being the only child was spoilt by his parents. Whenever he did something wrong or silly he was never punished nor told why he should not do that. This led to a number of tantrums, whenever he was told 'no' or 'don't do that.' Especially in the supermarket, where he would regularly erupt in tears if he was not an item he desired. Johnny who looked pale and frail was clumsy, forgetful and had a tendency to make mistakes all the time. Despite his shortcomings, he had an insatiable desire to be seen as flawless in the eyes of others. At school the kids teased him, labelling him the class clown, but he was still popular. His calamitous nature had made him a lot of friends, even the teachers were quite fond of him, despite his 'goldfish' attention span and poor grades. He had a loving family and his Grandpa Bob had once told him about a magic mirror hidden in a place called Thor's cave. This mirror had the power to reflect back the image of the person gazing into it, but with one catch, it would always show them as perfect, flawless in every way. He warned him that living a life of delusion would only lead to disaster. Johnny was never one to listen to a warning and after very little deliberation ventured into the peaks, searching for Thor's cave. It was a murky day with persistent rain and little rumbles of thunder, but he was determined to find the mirror. As he got to the cave, he could see it was dark and slippery inside, but he still searched high and low for this mirror. A couple of time he feel and grazed his knees, but continued on his quest. He finally found the mirror behind a large rock. Too his shock, he saw skeletal remains around it, which made him hesitate and gave him the shivers... But he had come too far to give up. The mirror was dusty and the size of his palm with a gold patterned frame. Excited by the prospect of finally achieving his lifelong dream of perfection, Johnny, wiped away the dust and eagerly gazed into the mirror. To his delight, the reflection staring back at him was everything he had ever wanted to be, tall, muscular, handsome, smartly dressed and with an air of confidence that seemed to radiate from within. He decided to keep the mirror, so no one else could be as perfect as him and skipped along the pebbled path back home. Thrilled with his newfound perfection, Johnny paraded through the streets of his village, basking in the admiration and envy of his school friends. He saw his Grandpa Bob at the butchers, who reminded him that being modest and humble were the most perfect traits, but he didn't listen. After a few months he passed all his exams with perfect scores and all the girls were infatuated with him, which meant many boys were quite jealous of him. As time passed though, his vanity and 'big headedness' increased, his funny nature decreased and he began to notice something peculiar. No matter how hard he tried to maintain his flawless image, he couldn't shake the feeling of unease that irritated him from within. It became worse when Grandpa Bob died. Johnny started to feel regretful. But told himself, his pursuit for perfection had no room for regret. People around him started to act strangely too. They would go out of their way to avoid him, whispering behind his back and casting suspicious glances in his direction. No one at school spoke to him, he quickly became very unpopular and even the teachers were very short with him. He struggled to keep a relationship, as girls became tired from his narcissistic behaviour. Despite his best efforts to maintain his perfect facade, Johnny found himself feeling increasingly isolated and lonely. Even his mum and dad stopped asking him to help around the farm, as Johnny felt he was too perfect to tend to pigs and sheep. Then, one fateful day, Johnny encountered an old woman who seemed immune to his charms. No matter how hard he tried to impress her with his flawless image, she simply shook her head and chuckled to herself. Finally, unable to contain his frustration any longer, Johnny demanded to know why she wasn't impressed by him like everyone else. With an insightful smile, the old woman gestured to the magic mirror that he had been carrying with him everywhere. "You see, my dear," she said, "true perfection cannot be found in a mirror. It lies within the heart of the beholder." With those words, the old woman vanished into thin air, leaving Johnny alone with his reflection. As he gazed into the mirror once more, he realized the irony of his situation. In his quest for external perfection, he had overlooked the most important lesson of all - that true beauty and worth come from embracing one's imperfections and embracing the uniqueness of oneself. Johnny realised that there is no such thing as perfection and so, with a newfound sense of humility and self-awareness, he set out to live his life not as an idealised image in a mirror, but as a flawed yet genuine individual, worthy of love and acceptance just as he was. He threw the mirror into a well, so no one would suffer his fate. The next day, his mum got a shock, when she saw him cleaning the pig sty with a big smile on his face, full of muck. At the same time a farmer's daughter called Angelina walked past and as they both made 'eye contact' a sense of romance filled the air. Eight years later, Johnny became a very famous comedian and married his beloved Angelina. He still visits Thor's Cave, but never goes inside.