Judith Kay於1950年出生於紐約，從事英語教學也寫短篇故事。

「鏡子」故事中女主角Elena從小就是個美人胎，每個人都稱讚她天生麗質，現在雖然已經五十五歲了，卻依稀可見美麗。 在高中班級舞會，她被戴上后冠成為眾星拱月的焦點，她像童話中的公主憧憬著幸福快樂。大學剛畢業她與Jim結婚，生了兩個孩子，家庭生活幸福美滿。後來一切都走了樣，就像童話中的巫婆嫉妒公主，用黑魔法取走她的一切好運。
Then one day it all went sour. What caused the change Perhaps Elena had been too lucky Or too pretty. She remembered the fairy tale of the witch who, out of jealousy toward a beautiful, young princess, cast a spell on her one day. Maybe someone secretly hated Elena and had wished her evil.

好像做惡夢般Jim和Elena分手了，但一年後Elena已經不再悲傷。這天是情人節也是她的生日，在外地工作的孩子寄來禮物也打電話問候她。但Elean內心空虛寂寞，她開車到鎮外散心。天色漸晚時，她逛進一家骨董店，在橡木梳妝台上發現了一把鏡子，她覺得鏡中的自己變的年輕快樂，老闆卻說他不記得店裡有這個東西，就以五十美元賣給她。
Her eyes were drawn to an antique hand mirror. She was surprised she even noticed it. Covered with lace, it lay on top of an old oak dresser. Elena picked up the mirror and stared at her reflection. "I look happy and younger," she murmured to herself.

鏡子的鏡框是橢圓銀質的，把手上精雕著玫瑰圖案，她把鏡子放在臥室梳妝台上。第二天晚上她照鏡子，「我連一根白髮都沒有了，難道鏡子把我變年輕了，不可能的，是我自己胡思亂想吧！」過了幾天她到鎮上美容院做頭髮，店裡每個人都說她變年輕了一定有去做整型。Elena接著到市場，不知為什麼她買了冰淇淋、熱巧克力以及花生糖吃，上了年紀之後她就不曾吃這些甜點了。回家後她照例看鏡子，她像回到二十歲，光滑的肌膚看不到一點皺紋，很詭異又很奇妙。
Looking in the mirror had become a daily ritual. This time she was positive she saw a difference in her face. She looked as though she were in her early twenties again. Her skin had the glow of a young woman's. All her wrinkles were gone. It was  eerie but wonderful.

當天晚上她做了一個惡夢，夢中她是小女孩在草地上摘野花，一個巫婆追趕她進入寒冷黑暗的森林要吃掉她，這是她孩提時常做的夢，嚇醒時喉嚨乾渴，像是回到童年。她心有餘悸走到梳妝台，她居然拿不到鏡子，她踮起腳尖抓到鏡子把手。她尖叫出來，鏡子險些掉落地上，鏡中的臉是那麼熟悉、漂亮，但卻是個有對大眼睛的小孩。
She screamed and almost dropped the mirror. What she saw was a face that was very familiar to her. It was a face that was beautiful and young - very young. Staring back at her from the mirror were the big eyes and small face of a child.