Coal-grey clouds blanketed the sky. Bright blue lightning and shocks of thunder punctuated the murmuring wind. Safe inside, Amelia gripped the long handle of the carved black spoon as she slowly stirred the thick ochre potion. The ancient pewter cauldron was covered in intricate runes and inlaid with black and purple gemstones. Pop! A bit of potion bubbled up and splattered the front of her velvet dress, sizzling against the silver lace. Amelia rolled her eyes, then waggled her wand at the spot, murmuring in a language heavy with rolled r's and hard o's. She pushed her bushy black hair out of her eyes and haphazardly adjusted her jeweled comb to contain the chaotic strands. Slowly, she churned the creamy potion. Occasionally, she whispered to it in the same exotic language. Suddenly, a dark grey long-haired cat jumped onto her shoulder. It digged its claws deep into her cape for purchase.
Ernestine's home lay nuzzled deep in a fragrant, idyllic valley. Birds chirping, colorful flowers, all that nonsense. The tiny grey one-family castle had two turrets and a mill wheel just for show. Amelia often thought that her mother would dress her mill-wheel up in seasonal costumes if she could. A santa hat for Christmas, a witch's hat... for those rare times when she visited. It's not that she didn't love her mother. It was just that. Well. Life was easier when she stayed away.
"Arrrgghh! Down, Harris!" She groaned at the enormous cat. Harris wobbled and meowed, then scrambled onto her head. Amelia had impeccable balance and, not wanting to interrupt her spell, adjusted her posture to support her cat. She returned her focus to the potion, snapping her fingers to summon a smoking tincture of purple fluid to float her way. Without looking, she closed her fingers around the bottle and added it to the mix. A spray of glitter rose from the concoction, perhaps a little too much so, for she let out a warning, "Ahh.... Ahhh". Harris' eyes went wide... "Choooooooo!" she sneezed. Harris fell indelicately to the floor, knocking over several bottles, jars, and flasks and creating a rainbow of liquid all over the floor and himself. Groaning with resignation, Amelia waggled her wand at the spoon to continue its work without her, and set about to clean up the colorful mess. Harris meowed from a distance. She locked eyes with him, growled, and rushed him. The overweight cat scrambled away just in time to escape Amelia's wrath.
The mess handled (more or less), Amelia added a few drops of something red to the pot, and the whole batch turned transparent. Smiling at her success, she ladled the potion into little tupperware containers, leaving them lidless to cool. She checked her hair and makeup in an ornate silver mirror, brushing aside several cobwebs in order to get a good look. She added more dark red lipstick, a touch of smoky eyeshadow over her green eyes, and didn't touch the bird's nest of hair. Some things can't be helped. A knock at the door resulted in a misstroke of eyeliner, which she hustled to amend before scurrying over to answer the caller.
There in her doorway stood a shining figure. Dressed from head to toe in creamy white lace, dripping with pearls and diamonds, long, white-blond hair cascading down her back, Amelia's sister smiled at her. "Hello, Amelia," she said in a voice like a tiny cartoon character, "May I come in?"
"That depends, Danica," snorted Amelia,"Will your wings fit through the doorway?"
Danica pouted, "I dont know why you give me such a hard time about my life choices. No one else complained when I applied for Angel status. Actually, Mom and Dad were pretty cool about it. What's your deal? Wait, I'm coming in out of this storm first." She stepped directly into Amelia's personal space bubble, forcing Amelia to back up into the room.
Amelia snickered, "I've never heard of an Angel barging in uninvited like that. Have they relaxed the rules a bit?"
Danica ignored this latest slight. She brushed drops of water from her wings, which turned into diamonds before tinkling onto Amelia's floor. She looked around, her gaze settling on the tupperware. "Whatcha making?"
"Lunch. For work. It's healthier than fast food," replied her sister. Danica examined the little containers.
"But what is it? I don't recognize this soup," she said.
Amelia couldnt stifle her excitement. "That's just it! It's a new spell I learned. " She picked up a container and waggled her wand at it, murmuring a spell. ZAP! The container was now filled with fried chicken!
Danica giggled, covering her mouth with a slender hand,"Sure. Healthier, riiiiight."
The slightly plump witch took a deep breath. "What are you doing here, Danica?"
Her sister seemed to catch herself and stop laughing. Looking down, she apologized, " I'm sorry. That wasn't very angelic of me. I'm here because of Mom."
Amelia held up a hand, "That's enough. You know how I feel about Mom. I am not going home, if that's what you're asking. You can just go now if that's all you're after." She pointed towards the door.
"Well, yeah, I am asking you to come home. But I have a really good reason this time. You see, Mom's pregnant."
"What?" Amelia couldn't believe it. Their mother was easily three hundred years old. Way past fertility age. And here, fertile little Amelia couldn't even get a date! She was beginning to feel a little grumpy about all of this. Amelia just let her mouth hang open and huffed in different directions around the room, putting her hands on her hips, letting them hang, and then crossing them. Harris had reappeared and compunded her frustration by jumping around at her heels. "This is not a game, Harris!" she burst.
Danica waited patiently, one might say, angelically, for her sister to absorb this information. Then she said, " There's one more thing,". She looked at her sister very seriously, " Mom is pregnant with a dragon."
"Wait, what?" Amelia just felt confused now. "How did she... Oh. She really gets around doesn't she?"
Danica pretended not to be amused. She raised her nose, " Our mother is free to do what she likes at any time. She is, after all, the Earth Goddess."
"Blah blah blah," Amelia dismissed this bull with a wave of her hand. She knew her mother used the "Earth Goddess" excuse all the time to get away with heinous behavior. "Thanks for the gossip," she said, trying to rile her sister, "but I'm not coming. Tell mom 'mazel tov' for me."
Danica didn't seem to understand the request, but her face widened into a sneaky grin. "I thought you might say that. That's why I left this last bit out. Mom's giving birth right now, and Palmer is her doctor." Danica looked all cat-who-got-the-cream about this.
Amelia went a little pale. Palmer. A doctor? Huh. Oh. Weird. She seemed to only be able to think in snippets. She stared off into space. Harris meowed at her in a concerned way.
Danica snapped her fingers in front of her sister's face. "Come on, she said. Let's go. Get your stuff." Amelia looked dazed. She gathered an exquisite fabric bag made of richly colored tapestry and shoved a few dresses and Harris into it. He rawled in protest, but she threw a piece of fish into the bag with him, and a couple of her lunch containers, and zipped it up. She donned her burgundy velvet hat and scooped up her black laqcuered broomstick.
Danica regarded the broomstick with disdain. Her wings fluttered a little. "Ugh. You're going to ride that thing? Haven't you found a classier ride yet?" Amelia, frustrated and angry with the whole situation, and not a little impatient with her sister, stepped outside of the cottage and locked the door. She straddled her broomstick, waved her wand, and suddenly a cloud of black, silver, purple, and blue swirling smoke surrounded the broom and buffeted her up into the sky. With a CRACK! She shot off into the sky, soaring across the clouds with a sparkling trail of black glitter in her wake.
"Show off," grumbled Danica. She laboriously beat her enormous, clunky wings in slow pursuit.
***
But here she was, spikey boots sinking into the grass, wondering why she was here. Oh yeah. Palmer. They had a history. Sure, it wouldn't fit a whole history book. Maybe just one page. But still. History.
She knew, since Palmer was delivering the baby, not to stop in the house. She went in just long enough to dump her bag, and then she headed for the back door. Then she turned around, went back to the bag, and let Harris out. Back door again. Behind the house was a small pond. At the edge of the pond closest to the back door were stone steps leading down into the water. Amelia took a moment to regard her beautiful velvet dress with regret. Then she sighed, and walked down the steps into the water.
The steps led down, down into the unusually deep pond. There was a railing for those who needed help counteracting a tendency to float. But one waggle of the wand, and Amelia was breathing and heavy. As if she needed to be any heavier. She rolled her eyes dismissively. No self-hating! she told herself. There are enough haters here already. I am a total hottie! And she opened her jeweled compact to verify this fact. She smiled at her reflection. Hooray for waterproof makeup!
"Don't break the mirror!" Danica said lamely in a gurgly tiny cartoon character voice. Amelia refused to give in. She aimed her megawatt smile at her catty sister, turned and proceeded down the steps towards the castle at the bottom of the pond. Danica tromped behind her. Maybe she'd overdone it on the heaviness.
Palmer's castle was made of phosphorescent blue-green stone. It had organic lines curving and bowing here and there, rising in towers and ending in round walls that wrapped around. No hard angles here. All softness. She smiled nostalgically up at the beautiful home of her beautiful friend. Friend. That's all. Harrumph. Frowning again.
They were close enough now to hear strangled screams and hollering. Someone wasn't having a very nice day. It was probably the laboring woman inside.
Amelia turned to her sister as they reached the door. "Really? A dragon?" she asked.
Danica grinned confidingly, "A dragon."
"That means the father has to be…" The door opened and cut her off. At the door was a beautiful mermaid. Long, flowing purple hair curled in ringlets over a mother-of-pearl chain mail shirt and a barbed tail that shone with purple, white, and gold scales. The mermaid tossed her hair, pursed her perfect blue lips, and narrowed her eyes at Amelia and Danica. She was chewing gum. Then she sighed, bored. "Come on in, girls. Your mom is, like, almost done with her thing." She swam inside. The sisters followed her.
They entered a pale blue hall with walls of semi-opaque sea glass. An enormous chandelier of shells and pearls illuminated the room. At their feet were soft rugs made of sea moss. Amelia's spiked heel became tangled. She shook it off. The mermaid, who was Palmer's sister, Jasmine, lounged on a plush clam couch and punched away at a handheld video game.
"Um, Jasmine," Amelia asked, "Where is she?"
Jasmine didn't look up from her game. "Upstairs. " Chew. "In the guest room, duh." Chew, Chew, Chew. Pop!
Amelia looked at Danica with a can she be serious? look. Danica rolled her eyes and smiled. Sometimes, these ladies agreed with each other. They went upstairs.
At the top of the stairs, they could hear their mother screaming, yelling, cajoling, and otherwise making a ton of complaining noises. The girls followed their ears until they reached a shiny, golden door. It was ajar. They went in.
"AARRRRGH! YOU ARE A HORRIBLE PERSON, PALMER! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!!!!!! RAAAWWRRRR! Oh, hi girls!" Ernestine, pale and tired, smiled warmly at her daughters. She sat on the edge of the bed, enormous beyond belief with "child," with Palmer beside her. He wore blue gloves and a whie coat over his strong chest and dark blue and black tail that flashed in the soothing light. His longish dark blue hair swirled around his face and he met Amelia's eyes with his impossibly dark blue eyes. And he smiled.
Hottie, she thought.
"Hello Danica. It's been a long time, Amelia," he said, holding her gaze for just a little longer than was necessary. Ernestine noticed that she was no longer the center of attention. She made piteous little panting noises and whimpers. Amelia was reminded of Harris' manipulative ways.
"Oh girls," pant, pant, "I'm so" pant "glad you could" pant "make it," she moaned, holding her belly with drama. "Amelia, it's been so long. I've missed you. Really, you should visit me sometime."
"I'm visiting you right now," Amelia said patiently. Let's see how long that lasts.
"Ahhhhh!" Ernestine called out. She panted and puffed. Palmer turned to her, "Ok, now, onto the birthing stool." He helped their brown-haired mother onto the little stool. She clambered onto it and assumed a squatting position. "AhhhhhhAAAAAHHHHHH!" she cried out, reaching impossibly high notes. Palmer looked at the sisters apologetically.
Danica backed up a little, thumb pointed behind her. "We're just gonna, um, wait with Jasmine," she said. She went out. Amelia shrugged at Palmer, lingered a moment, and then followed her sister.
***
A couple hours later, Palmer called the sisters back into the room. There lay their mother, exhausted and cradling what looked like a little blue lizard. The dragon.
Ernestine cooed and purred to her little creature. Amelia and Danica weren't quite sure what to say. For once.
She looked up, beaming. "My family, all here." She sighed, "How wonderful."
Amelia smiled a little, "Great job, Mom. What are you going to name it?"
Ernestine's eyes narrowed. " 'It' is a boy, and his name is Sebastian." She smiled down at her little lizard. It opened its mouth to yawn, its eyelids drooping.
Palmer smiled in a relieved way, "Looks like a healthy little Sebastian." He got up and began to gather his tools. "I think I'll clean up and, if it's all the same to you all, I'm going to catch a few winks." He winked at Amelia. Her heart flipped. She smiled.
He swam out of the room. Danica walked over to get a closer look at Sebastian. She and Ernestine began a light chat. Amelia was lost in thought. She was remembering.
***
When Amelia was young, she lived in the stone castle with her sister and her mother. Her father visited on occasion, but he lived on the mountain and was usually busy with his work. Amelia was a headstrong young lady, highly magical and quite out of control. It was everything Ernestine could do just to convince her to focus on an area of study. Amelia wisely chose witchcraft, and even her mother agreed that it was the best use of her powers. So she became a little witch. And witches cast spells. And when you learn to do something, you need to practice. So Amelia would go out to the pond and practice casting little spells.
She turned toads into rabbits, and rabbits into toads. She turned the water purple, green, orange. She turned the water to air and created a giant dome of water over where the pond should be. And that is how she discovered Palmer and Jasmine.
Amelia was so focused on suspending the water dome over the air pond that she could barely hear the shouting. When it finally registered with her, she looked down and saw an iridescent carpet ofgasping fish on the bottom of the pond. She saw the stairs. And she saw an angry merman lying among the fish about 30 feet out, shaking his fist at her and shouting.
"Put the damn water back. NOW!" he yowled. She spread her arms wide in one quick motion, and the water dome crashed down into the pond, causing a huge wave to rise up in front of her.
"Ooops," she said, and the wave crashed over her.
Amelia found herself tossing and turning in the murky pond. Angry fish slapped her with their tails as she zoomed past, hurled with the force of the settling water. She couldn't breathe, and she couldn't reach the surface in this out-of-control limbo. She still had her wand, so she created the breathing/heaviness spell. Slowly, she sank down to the staircase. Although the water still churned, she was magically unmoved and able to gather her wits.
The merman swam up and confronted her. Hands on hips, he said, "Do you REALIZE that you almost killed EVERY SINGLE FISH in this pond? My sister and I can breathe air just fine, but our friends and food were about to be singlehandedly wiped out by your ignorant ass! What is your purpose here? Where do you get the AUDACITY to play around with lives like that??!" He had a moment in which he tried to think up more scolding things to say, his dark blue eyes narrowed and his normally pale skin flushed with anger.
Amelia gulped and turned red herself. "Um, I'm sorry. I was just… practicing my magic. I really didn't mean to hurt your friends and… food. I'm really, really sorry." She also searched for more to say. "Can I make it up to you?"
The merman wasn't expecting that. He paused to think, "How would you do that? We don't need any air/water switching down here. What else can you do?"
"Anything!" she said with naive enthusiasm. It was not meant to be sexy.
Palmer looked intrigued, "Anything?"
"Yes," Amelia responded, not catching on, "I have been able to do every spell I have thought of. If you need something done, I can do it for you! Need any large stones lifted? Want to turn some seashells into gold? Or better yet, want to turn seashells into tacos?" She was becoming bubbly. Obviously, she loved her work.
"What are tacos?" Palmer asked.
"They're like, meat and cheese and lettuce, in a corn tortilla, folded in half," she pantomimed a taco with her hands.
Palmer was amused, but still tried to look stern. "How do I know you aren't some evil sorceress who is trying to destroy my family? We merpeople have powers, too, you know. You should be afraid."
Amelia wasn't buying it. She could tell he'd softened. She grinned, "Well, what can you do? Also, I'm Amelia."
Palmer smiled back, "I'm Palmer. And I can make all the fish do exactly what I want. Watch."
Suddenly, a host of silver, shimmering fish of all shapes and sizes encompassed them, swirling around them like a tornado with them in the center. The fish tornado closed in around them, forcing them closer together. Amelia noticed Palmer's dark eyes looking down into hers. Her breath caught a little, her blood thumped loudly in her ears. Palmer felt warm all over as he looked at her pretty face, felt her closeness. They didn't say anything for a while, just lingered in the fish tornado.
Then, Palmer remembered himself and released the fish. They swam off in different directions. Palmer and Amelia drifted apart to a safe distance. Just then, they heard a voice calling Amelia's name from the shore.
"That's me. I gotta go. You think of what you want me to do, and I'll meet you here, tomorrow, okay?" Amelia was very sincere.
"Ok, sure thing," smiled Palmer, a little sad about her leaving, and jumbled up about their fish tornado moment.
"Ok, great!" Amelia turned and ran up the stairs, waving behind her as an afterthought, her big black hair bouncing and curling in the water behind her.
Palmer crossed his arms and watched her go. He shook his head, turned, and headed to his home.
***
Now Palmer had just delivered her baby brother. He hadn't expected to see her. What a shock that had been.
After that day, they had been inseparable. They were mostly friends, not quite sure how to act on their feelings, except for a kiss or two. But then she went off, and hadn't been back since. She hadn't even said goodbye. He had no idea why she left. He had been really angry and confused for a long time. But then, days when he didn't think of her became more and more common, until she became a memory he kept locked up to avoid an inevitable pang of hurt.
He went to his bathroom and cleaned up. He threw his coat in a pile, and scrubbed his hands. Then he headed toward his room. There, standing by his door, was Amelia.
"Hi," she gave a little wave. Shy after all this time.
"Hi," he said, "It's good to see you again."
"Yeah," she looked down, "Sorry I haven't visited sooner…"
"Yeah. A call or a letter or a goodbye would have been nice," he chided her gently.
She crossed her arms. Uh oh.
"I'm sorry. I got in a huge fight with Mom. I left and figured you'd forget me better if you had a reason to be mad. I hadn't planned on coming back ever. And I didn't know what to do….about us." She looked away.
Palmer swam up to her, and held her arms in his hands. He looked into her eyes, "I could never forget about us. You meant everything to me. I would have followed you, but you know I cannot leave the water for a long period of time. No one would tell me where you went," his expression looked pained. "I've been sad, Amelia. I've been sad for so long that I didn't even realize it anymore. Until I saw you today, I'd forgotten what hope felt like. I need to see you. On a regular basis. Come here often, and stay. Let's have our relationship again." He searched her eyes for some glimmer of agreement.
She smiled. Hope and happiness unfolded inside her like a flower. She brimmed and simmered with emotion. "It feels so good to hear you say that," she looked up at him. "I think I should like to see you more often. I've missed you, too. I needed to leave my mother, and I thought I had to leave you, too, because you are so close by. But now, I realize that it doesn't matter what my mother does, because being with you is more important."
He wrapped her up with his arms, and she clutched him desperately, resolutely. It had been a long, long time for them both, but now their friendship was renewed. She sighed. Everything felt right.
"Ameeeeelia?" her mother called from down the hall. Palmer released her with a knowing smile. She chuckled. "Yeah…I gotta deal with this. You should rest," she poked his chest as she said it. Lightning fast, he grabbed her hand, held her gaze, and lifted it to his lips. Heat rushed through her, and she blushed.
"Ok, I'll see you later," he winked, and went into his room. Amelia let out a long breath she hadn't known she was holding. Then she turned and went to her mother.
***
Ernestine was alone in the room, except for Sebastian, who was snoozing in a cradle beside her bed. She sat upright and tense in the bed. This can't be good, thought Amelia. But still, if I'm going to come back here, I have to let it all roll off my back. For Palmer. She strengthed her resolve, and met her mother's quivering stare.
"Why have you been gone for all this time?" Ernestine asked her.
"I've only been gone for five minutes," Amelia sassed back. Habit.
Ernestine crossed her arms. "No, I mean for the past ten years. You abandoned me. You abandoned Danica. You abandoned your family. Every day, we felt the hurt from your betrayal. How could you do this to us?"
Amelia took a breath to prevent the accusations from sinking in. "I am sorry that my actions resulted in your pain. I acted in the best interest for me, and hopefully for us. I knew I could not be around you without fighting all the time, so I took myself out of the equation. Haven't you had a peaceful life in my absence."
Ernestine huffed. "I don't want a peaceful life. I want my daughter. What you did was selfish. I am your mother. I deserve a relationship with my daughter. What do you mean, you can't stop fighting with me? I'm not argumentative. You need to grow up. You need to be loyal to your family."
"I understand where you are coming from. Please understand that these difficulties come from me, not you. I'm working through some things. And I want peace. I have had peaceful space to learn and grow in the past ten years. And I love you, but I would not change my decision. I needed that space. I still need space now. I can come back now and again, I won't stay away completely. But understand that this is the way it has to be for me to live my best life. I'm sorry if that hurts you."
Ernestine made angry sounds, the kind of sounds that used to cut straight through to Amelia's quick and rile her up, readying her defenses. "I can't believe that you could be so horrible and selfish, I-"
Amelia held up her hand, "That's enough. Please don't call me names. I will not continue to have this conversation if you insist on being negative and unhelpful."
Ernestine raised her voice, "Huh? Unhelpful? What? No, you are the one-"
Amelia turned around and left the room. She walked down the hall, wrote a quick note, and slipped it under Palmer's door. Then she walked down the stairs, out the door, up the stone steps out of the pond, and into her mother's castle. She whistled for Harris, gathered her things, and walked out the front door, past a rather animated and inquisitive Danica. Then she calmly mounted her broomstick and flew away.
***
When Palmer awoke several hours later, he found the note. He read it.
Dear Palmer,
I'm so happy with our little reunion today. I really needed that. I care about you very much.
My relationship with my mother is half selfish anger, half peaceful acceptance. Guess which half is mine? I really can't be around her, Palmer. She is so negative and unwilling to accept me or my boundaries.
But I need to be with you. I have an idea. I live near the sea. Would you be willing to relocate? I can use my magic to transfer you safely, and help you build a new home. There are merfolk in the sea; I've been to their cities. They are warm and kind, and their cities are glorious! Perhaps you would consider just a visit? Jasmine can come, too. If you decide to stay, you can put your medical knowledge to more use serving the populations there.
Let me know. This paper is magic; if you write your response on the back, I'll receive it. I'll come to you any time you ask. (within reason)
I need you back in my life, Palmer. Let's figure something out.
<3, Amelia
Palmer read and reread the letter over and over again. Then he smiled, flipped the letter over, and wrote his response. The paper fizzled in his hands, and a moment later, his writing had disappeared.
***
Amelia was sitting in her house when felt a warmth in her pocket. She reached in and brought out a little letter. She recognized Palmer's handwriting. Harris nudged her insistently as she read the letter, and she absentmindedly stroked his soft grey fur. When she finished reading, she gathered the cat up into her arms in spite of his loud vocal opposition. She stood up and swirled him around the room, singing and dancing. Then she put him down and began to rush around the room, her velvet skirts swirling after her as she selected a vial here, a jar of eyeballs there, and whipped them into the cauldron with loud crashes and splashes. She poured the resulting brew into a vial, gathered her things, and donned her hat once more.
"Come, Harris!" she summoned her cat,"We've got magic to make and a man to fetch!"
CRACK!
She whizzed off into the sky.
The End.
