New Prompt (for August 24, 2022):
"The world revolves around an inherited Class system. Farmers breed farmers, nobles breed nobles. But inheritance and infidelity work in strange ways, fusing Classes into variations that can be crippling—or liberating. You became an adult today, and the Classes available to you are unexpected." {credit to u/Kancho_Ninja in r/writingprompts}
Old Prompt (from August 10, 2022):
"You picked up an injured cat and patched it up overnight. The next morning, you woke up to see a family of witches standing beside your bed, and one of them is holding the injured cat in his/her arms. That witch said, 'My cat wants to adopt you, so you're now one of us.' " {credit to @writing.prompt.s on Instagram}
My Short Story: How I Accidentally Joined a Coven
It was late. By "late" I mean around three in the morning. Why am I out at three in the morning? Well, because I had a crap day, and I needed some ice cream.
I struggled to pay rent from being laid off, my car engine overheated and nearly caught fire, and my boyfriend broke up with me. It had been a long and expensive week, so ice cream was my solution.
As I walked back from the convenience store to my apartment, I popped open the top of my pint of Ben & Jerry's chocolate fudge brownie ice cream and started eating with the plastic spoon the convenience store clerk gave me. A small meow from the alley beside me almost made me waste my delicious four-dollar purchase on the sidewalk.
I peered into the darkness to figure out where the sound had come from. A lone streetlight allowed me to see the gleam of white fur near a fence closing off the alleyway. Two bright green eyes of a short-haired calico cat stared back at me.
"Hey, kitty." I slowly walked toward it, extending the lid of the ice cream pint. "Here, have a taste."
At first, it flinched away from me, but I could tell it couldn't escape. It lowered its head to lick some ice cream, keeping its eyes on me. Until it relaxed a little, I admired its black and tan splotches around its head. As clean as the white fur was, someone cared for this cat. I needed to get it back to my place and try to find its owners.
"I'm not going to hurt you." I scooted closer to the cat.
It had tried to hop through a hole in the metal fencing, but its back left paw was stuck in some of the jagged wire. It also had some matted fur on its back.
"This might hurt," I whispered as I reached for its paw.
Surprisingly, it came free easily. The cat limped away from the fence and turned to look at me. It gave a quiet meow before rubbing its head against my knee. I ran my hand over its head and scratched behind its ears. It instantly started purring.
"Let's get you patched up." I scooped the cat up and it nestled into my arms.
Remembering my ice cream, I also knelt down and picked it up before continuing on my way.
The cat didn't mind the elevator ride up to the third floor of my apartment complex. However, it did paw at the lanyard connected to my apartment key. I chuckled a little before walking into the apartment and setting the cat down on the floor. With a quick turn, the lock slammed into place behind me.
When I turned around, the cat had made itself comfortable on the rug beside my heater. I placed my ice cream in the freezer before focusing on the cat. I dug through some cabinets in the bathroom and managed to fish out some rubbing alcohol and a small roll of gauze.
Using a Q-tip, I gently cleaned out the cat's wound. Besides some leg twitching, it really didn't protest. I wrapped the leg in some gauze and checked the cat for more injuries. The only thing I found was that clump of matted fur on its back.
With a pair of scissors from the kitchen, I cut the matted fur off its back and then rubbed its head. While returning the scissors to the kitchen drawer, I pulled out a small bowl and filled it with some water. I also warmed up and cut a piece of chicken and placed it on a small plate.
"Here you go, buddy." I placed both the bowl and water in front of the cat. "I'll have to pick up some cat food tomorrow. Gotta keep you fed while I find your owner."
I stifled a yawn as I shuffled over to the couch. "Maybe just one more episode tonight."
The cat happily munched on its food as I started another episode of the latest drama I had been watching.
*****
Something soft tickled my nose. I backed my head up as much as possible and squinted at what could be making my nose itch.
I was met with bright green eyes. "Hey, buddy." I gently pet the cat's head. "Need to go to the bathroom?"
"She shouldn't need to. We let her out a while before you woke up."
I gasped as I noticed the five people standing in the living room of my apartment. There were four girls of various ages and one guy who looked to be in his twenties.
"I don't have anything worth money." I held up my hands. "I'm a laid-off designer who still has college loans to pay.
"We aren't here for that," The oldest-looking woman said. "We came for Analise."
The calico cat hopped off my chest and scampered over to the youngest girl, who couldn't have been more than eleven years old. She picked it up and looked deep into the cat's eyes. Then she nodded. Her gaze shifted to me.
"My cat wants to adopt you, so you're now one of us." The little girl smiled.
"Wh--?" My brain couldn't even form words.
"You'll have to forgive Gwen. She's still learning how to communicate." One of the other women said. "My name is Ileana, the eldest is Selene, and the other woman is Dierdre. The boy is my twin, Zander. What can we call you?"
"Jaqueline, my name is Jaqueline." For some reason, knowing their names made me feel calmer. "How did you get into my apartment? I know I locked my door last night."
The one named Dierdre shrugged. "Human locks are no difficulty for us."
"What do you mean 'human'? Are you not human?" I asked.
"Nice going, Dre." The boy whose name I couldn't remember nudged Dierdre with his elbow.
"We're witches!" Gwen (or was it Jen) smiled a partially toothless smile.
"Is she for real?" My head felt like it was swimming.
"She is." Selene stepped forward with an air of power around her. "We are a coven of witches and you healed one of our familiars. Gwen needs to take better care of her belongings."
Gwen frowned but lowered her head into the cat's fur.
"She said I was one of you now. What does that mean?" I asked.
"When a familiar makes an attachment to someone it typically means there is something special about them. It wasn't a mistake that Analise called out to you." Ileana tucked some hair behind her ear. "You're more than welcome to join us. There is a chance you have some sort of magical ability."
"Magical ability?" I chuckled. "I'm magic?"
"I know it sounds absurd but are there things in your life that you can't explain?" Ileana asked.
"Well, I lost my job, my car almost exploded, and my boyfriend broke up with me all this week. I'd like to be able to explain that." I shrugged. "My life is normal."
"She's cursed." Dierdre shot Selene a look.
"What do you mean?" I shook my head.
"Somehow you've attracted some dark magic to cling onto you. Either from upsetting another witch or breaking some cosmic rules, you made someone mad and now you're dealing with the consequences." The boy crossed his arms. "But I can fix it."
"Zander specializes in spells and curses. Dierdre dabbles in controlling dark beasts and creatures, Selene is our potion master, Gwen has the gift of sight, and I am a healer," Ileana explained. "All we need is a herbal witch and we'll be unstoppable."
"We may have found one." Dierdre ran her fingers over the leaves of one of my succulents.
"No, I just like plants like any other millennial that is going through a crisis." I smiled.
"You're keeping a Livistona alive in Wisconsin in the winter." Dierdre raised a brow. "You're a witch."
"Can you just fix me and take your cat home?" I felt tears welling up in my eyes. "I can't take anything else right now."
Gwen set Analise down and walked over to me. "Jaqueline, Annie picked you. She wants to help you. Let us take away your stress. I've seen it. Your life gets better with us." Her cold fingers wiped a tear off my cheek.
"You're right. I don't have anything to lose by going with you. My life is at its worst point right now. The only way to go is up." I looked around at all their faces. "I'll go with you, but you may want Zander to cure me first."
"That was happening even if you said yes." Zander stepped forward. "We don't make a habit of taking bad hoodoo with us."
I closed my eyes as Zander slowly moved his hands around my body's aura. It felt like a hundred weights left my body. I think I could float if I wanted to. Then, everything was back to normal.
I opened my eyes and Zander was sweating. "Whoever you upset was powerful. Glad we got rid of that."
"Well, let's get going," Selene said. "We can come back for her plants later."
"Where are we going?" I stood from the couch to follow them.
"You'll see when we get there." Dierdre opened the living room window and jumped out.
The others followed suit until it was just Ileana and me in the apartment.
Ileana extended her hand to me. "Do you trust me?"
Happy writing and until next time,
Ally Mac
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