El espejo

Gabriel approached the mirror, intrigued by the scene he saw reflected. Instead of seeing only his reflection and the empty dining room behind him, he saw a scene that did not belong to that time. The dining room was full of people dressed in costumes from another era, all sitting at the table in dead silence. But what caught his attention the most was a middle-aged man, dressed in an elegant hat, who slowly stood up and walked towards the mirror, observing Gabriel with a vacant but intense gaze. 

Before Gabriel could react, he felt an invisible force pulling him towards the mirror. He tried to resist, but his feet seemed nailed to the ground, and his body began to slide towards the reflection. The man in the mirror stretched out a hand towards him, and in the blink of an eye, Gabriel was absorbed into the mirror, disappearing into the scene of the past. Everything went dark, and when Gabriel opened his eyes, he was no longer in the cellar. 

He was in the old dining room, surrounded by the same diners he had seen in the mirror. But now, everything was alive. Murmurs filled the room, glasses clinked with toasts, and the air was charged with an oppressive sense of doom. Gabriel, desperate, tried to scream, but his voice did not resonate beyond his own ears. I was trapped. 

In the real world, Don Enrique went down to the winery the next day, following his daily routine. When he reached the mirror, he stopped. The image it reflected was not that of a simple empty dining room, but that of Gabriel, trapped, frantically banging on the glass from the other side. His eyes, full of desperation, begged for help.

Don Enrique watched in silence, expressing neither surprise nor compassion. I knew this would happen sooner or later. The Inn had its own price, and this time, Gabriel had been the victim. Gabriel's reflection slowly faded, being replaced by the image of the empty dining room, as it was in the present. Don Enrique, with calculated coldness, turned around and left the winery.

Upon arriving at his office, Don Enrique picked up the phone and dialed a number. On the other side, Gabriel's wife's voice responded with concern.

—Don Enrique? Is Gabriel there? He hasn't returned home since yesterday.

-I regret to inform you, madam," Don Enrique said in a soft but firm voice, "that Gabriel will not be returning." He has run away with one of the girls who work here. We didn't know about their relationship until now. I am very sorry to have to give you this news.

Gabriel's wife stood in stunned silence, unable to process what she had just heard. Don Enrique hung up the phone without further explanation and sat at his desk, in the dark, while a shadow slowly slid across the wall. Gabriel, now trapped in the past, would continue serving the Inn's diners, condemned to repeat the same night over and over again, while the outside world forgot him. And Don Enrique, knowing that the Mesón had claimed another soul, continued forward, patiently waiting for the next victim to walk through the doors of his restaurant.