The Centaur, The Witch, and The Werewolf

Farmers’ Market

    "This altar just doesn't look right," I said to Roux as she placed the last set of tulips. I tapped my chin while thinking, stepping back and examining our work; we dressed the Ostara altar in green, pink, and baby blue fabrics. As the backdrop, we had a picture of baby lambs jumping in open pastures. Sprinkled around were white tulips, clovers, and yellow daffodils intertwined with stones of aquamarine, amethyst, and rose quartz. Roux had placed a jar filled with honey and a basket of colored eggs decorated with gold leaf paper.

    "Maybe a lucky rabbit's foot," Aeson jokes, walking by with cleaning equipment. He looked hilarious with a bandana around his head, yellow rubber gloves while carrying a blue bucket. I gave him a playful slap on the arm. While he pretended to be hurt, he walked away, beginning to scrub the sink. It had gotten all sorts of gunked up from our various potion making and shenanigans.

    "Maybe he's right," Roux began. Quickly I shot daggers with my eyes at her. "No like little statues of rabbits." That idea was much more pleasing.

    She walked outside, grabbing a clump of dirt and setting it down on the floor. We held each other's hands. She concentrated, drawing power from me. Within a minute, the soil had shifted to clay and began to weave itself in an incredible display. We ended up with a family of three minor white-status rabbits.

"For fertility," she said, looking quite proud of herself.

    "Much better."

    Petal and Leaf were planting our springtime garden in the greenhouse while Aeson and Niky began spring cleaning. It was Roux and my job to set up the Altar then help with the dreaded cleaning.

    "I can't wait for tomorrow's party," Roux said. Ostara was all Petal and Leaf's planning, and they had been planning forever. If I knew one thing, this was always the most fun holiday. Petal and Leaf's parties were always fantastic displays of fun magic.

    "What are you going to wear," I asked.

    "I have a feeling we'll all end up in the nude again anyways." We giggled at the idea. Before Petal and Leaf joined us, they ran a cult of peace and love. It was probably the most positive cult of all time but still a cult that stole people's money. Nobody ever said flower power had nothing to do with financial domination. Petal and Leaf somehow escaped without being arrested, but again no one forced anyone to join.

    "Well, either way, I'm bringing Arnab, and hopefully, he finds a wild bunny babe to enjoy his time with."

    "Huh, that's somehow perfectly poetic."

    "Maybe baby bunnies in our future."

    "I want one of Arnab's wild offsprings," she laughed.

    I decided to check on the duo; they were in the greenhouse attached to the house by a small mudroom. The greenhouse was tall and long. On either side were cabinets, while the middle held soil plots perfect for planting. The walls stretched up high and sported windows that allowed the most beautiful flow of light. The counters were made of brown stained concrete, and the cabinets were painted a shabby chic white. The handles were once a true black but had faded to lighter charcoal. The most visually appealing thing about the greenhouse was all the different fantastical plants that could be spotted throughout.

I had just caught the duo as they were preparing a rain spell.

    "Perfect timing, V," Petal said, dancing around me. The three of us joined hands, and as Petal drew her power from Leaf and me, she created two small clouds to shower each plot of soil. As her concentration grew, so did the clouds, and after a second, a drizzle fell on the soil plots. Leaf couldn't help but stick his tongue under the rain clouds to get a drink of water.

    "Fresh," he said, smashing his lips.

    The three of us filed into the mudroom and straight to the kitchen.

    "Guys, I just mopped the kitchen floor," Aeson groaned as the three of us walked in. With a flick of the wrist, Roux whisked the dirt outside.

    "We're off to the farmers market," Leaf began summoning their basket.

    "We have some herbal soaps and bath products to sell," Petal added.

    "Oh, I wanna come," I said gleefully, finding my way out of cleaning.

    "If you're going to help us sell, you can't come in your goth wear."

    "Fine, I'll change, but I'm raiding your closet."

    A half-hour later, I came down with a new look. It consisted of a short yellow and black daisy dress, white platform heels, and a simple white sun hat. Though I lived in black, total darkness and despair were my aesthetic; it was fun to play dress-up every once in and while. Besides, Petal and Leaf had such an infectious love that did make you want to follow them. Niky whistled. I hadn't noticed he was helping clean out the fridge. Niky spun me around as I held on to my hat.

    "A little different," I asked while pressed against his chest.

    "But still just as beautiful."

    "Righteous," Leaf smiled.

    Petal was gassing up the VW Van while Leaf helped me into the car. The VW Van was the place to be on road trips. They had snacks; they had lava lamps. They had all your hippie dreams come true in a small 90 square foot home. The outside was a classic white top with a powder blue bottom; it held us all comfortably. It was probably the only item in our lives that didn't need to be changed by magic to make it perfect.

    The soaps smelled delicious; despite the duo's love and peace vibe, they sure knew how to make money. Their apothecary online was constantly sold out, and whenever we did pop-up shops and farmers markets, we'd sell out instantly. Petal handed me a pair of rose-colored flower glasses. I was happy to play a part in their branding today. We drove out of the mountains and into the city with the windows down, and The Beatles were blasting. Leaf stuck his head out of the window and howled out an "ouuu ouuu ouuu." This gesture made Petal, and I laugh. I snacked on the assortment they had stored away until Petal paid for the Farmers Market permit, and we parked. It was your typical fruit, vegetable, and flower farmers mixed with delicious food vendors.

    "That smell is making me have the munchies," a red-eyed Petal said. Leaf began to display the products while he sniffed the air.

    "Mmm churros," he began.

    "Guys, I can set up if you all want to check out the munchies," they grinned at each other and began to walk away, "bring me back some." Set up was a breeze.

---

    It was about mid-afternoon now, and the stand had almost all but sold out. Leaf and Petal were amongst their people and somehow found an exceptional herb dealer; this dealer specialized in the herb one smokes to relax.

    After wrapping up the order that they just sold in brown butcher paper, Petal turned to the new customer in front of her.

    "Oh my goodness, these smell amazing," said a brown-haired customer with sweet chocolate eyes. She was tall and towered over me, but her presence commanded you. She had picked up a brown butter coffee soap bar. It had micro coffee beans on top of it. I had sat down, fanning myself with a giant paper flower fan that I found in the van.

    "That'll wake you right up in the morning," Petal smiled.

    "Do you have anything that will make you super clean after a rough hike in the woods? My man comes home smelling like a dog."

    "You need our charcoal, sea mud, and vanilla shampoo and soap bar," Petal said, knowing instantly. She walked off for a second and came back with a small smell sample. It was a black soap bar containing: micro-exfoliating charcoal bits, sea mud from the dead sea in Jordan, and Tahitian vanilla for that deliciously yummy smell.

    "Oh yes, I could eat him up with this. I'll take it all!"

    "Are you sure we can cut you off a bigger piece?"

    "No, I'll take the whole bar. It's like he rubs himself down in the dirt all day."

    "I'll cut it up for you right now,' Petal bounced away to cut up the soap for her and package it up.

    "Excuse me," she asked me.

    "Oh yes, how can I help you," I got up quickly.

    "I haven't seen you guys around before."

    "Oh, we just moved up here yesterday," I said truthfully.

    "Oh," she exclaimed, "Welcome to Oar's Rest." I couldn't help but giggle. That's the place I had picked.

    "Thank you," I said, there was an awkward pause, "I'm Mave; my friends call me V."

    "Bella," she said. A second later, her boyfriend came and put his arm around her waist. "This is my boyfriend, Axel."

    Axel's body was the definition of a bodybuilder. His arms were massive, his calves huge, his neck even looked more prominent than average. But as soon as he was around Bella, he was just a soft cuddly teddy bear. He had short black hair, a wicked tan, and brown eyes that matched Bella's.

    Something inside me made me wish I could love like the both of them. Even when I looked at Leaf and Petal, they had so much love and understanding between them. Something I truly craved. Niky was the definition of perfection, but something was just wrong. He could feel it too. That's probably why he never tried to rush me. It was like his higher self knew just as much as mine did.

    "V," I turned to point, "That's Leaf and Petal."

    "Wait, seriously," Axel asked.

    "Seriously, Cupid has a sense of humor."

    "He must," Bella added, "Babe, you have to smell this; it smells amazing." They began to shop for more soaps and all the wares that were out in our makeshift shop.

    A few hours had passed, and it was beginning to be noon. We packed up the rest of what was out and climbed aboard the SS VW Van. I wondered if the other three had finished cleaning. Before long, we were home.

    "Amour," I said from downstairs. Aeson came around first. A few seconds later, so did Niky. He gave me a quick peck on the lips. But I felt as though I hadn't seen him all day. The peck wouldn't suffice. I pulled him down into a deep kiss, and when I heard a howl from Aeson, I pulled my sun hat off and blocked his view.

    "At least let me watch," he pouted.

    "Eww," Roux said, walking down looking disheveled.

    "What's wrong with you?"

    "Couldn't get a spell to work."

    "Want my help," I asked, pulling myself away from Niky's lips.

    "I think you have your hands full," she said, slumping down on the couch, "whats the pot look like today?"

    "We got this primo Herb from a dude..." Leaf began looking excited.

    "No, I mean the cash."

    "Right," he said, putting away his stash.

    "1070," Petal proudly chimed.

    Aeson came over with several bowls of popcorn. Niky took the recliner as I sat on his lap with our bowl. Aeson tried to cuddle up with Roux, but she was more interested in the popcorn. Leaf and Petal not so sneakily snuck off to find their entertainment.

    "While you all cleaned and went to the market, I found out where the locals like to hang out."

    "It can't be better than the name of this town," I piped in.

    "It's a little bar called the Howling Wolf."

    "Stop," Aeson laughed.

    "Get this. This place is called Oar's Rest."

    The others cracked up laughing.

    "So anyone fancy hitting up a bar tonight," Roux asked. Niky looked at me. I mulled it over in my head for a second, I was too tired from the day's festivities, and tomorrow would be an even bigger day.

    "Amour, you go, I'm going to study a bit and head to bed," I kissed his soft lips and headed for bed. Later I heard Roux, Aeson, and Niky all leave.

    A bath was starting to sound very good. I lit all the white candles I could find around our small claw-foot bathtub. I sprinkled some dried flowers and other elixirs in the bath that my favorite hippie duo had set out. The dried flowers had been of the rosebud variety. The mixtures had been purple and smelled like relaxation in a bottle or what others might refer to as lavender.

    While undressing, I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair had stayed short since that horrible day my father had ripped it out. It was still raven black. My lips had grown plumper, and my eyes the same icy blue. My neck felt slimmer from a genuine lack of interest in food. Had I maybe ate a bit more, my chest could have been fuller, but at the moment, they stood perky and petite. My stomach flat that leads down into small thighs and calves. My butt was nothing remarkable. My fingers were long and slender with tiny wrists. Feet looked like that of a child's but were perfectly proportionate to the rest of me. My burn caught my attention. It would never heal; something about the scar was cursed; it had so much hate in it there wasn't an elixir or healing spell that could fix it.

    The sound of water dripping on the floor took me out of my trance. I quickly turned off the water and let out a little, allowing myself to dip in. When partially submerged, I held on to the sides and dunked my face down. Within a couple of minutes, I was completely relaxed. I wondered what Niky was doing, but my mind quickly wandered back to my parents. It had been years, but my body craved my mother's gentle, loving touch. It craved her comfort. A few tears had escaped my eyes for her. I wish she were here right now. Arnab came hopping in, probably summoned by my distress; after all, he was my familiar.

    "Don't cry," his message was clear across my mind.

    "It's mother; I miss her so much."

    "She wouldn't want you to be sad."

    "Your right."

    "Here, you can pet me instead." I laughed at the little ball of fur and stroked behind his ears gently. I let my mind relax and allowed my thoughts to wander, and before long, I felt myself drift off into sleep. An hour or so later, I woke up feeling the water turn ice-cold, and Arnab was gone. I got out, wrapping myself in the most oversized plushest towel I could find. The only things that sounded appealing were my favorite pajamas and my bed. Just as I was pulling back the comforter on my bed, I realized that ice cream was missing from my late-night pity party. It was late, but the trio hadn't come home yet. I found a blanket to wrap myself in. In the kitchen, I found the freezer stocked with everyone's favorite ice cream. In the back, I pulled out a simple cookie and cream tub and grabbed a spoon. As I sat down at the table, the back door slowly opened, and Aeson looked down at me.

    "You look like hell," I said, shoveling ice cream in my mouth.

    "Yeah, thanks," he grumbled, getting a spoon from the drawer, "What are you doing up?"

    I went to the fridge to get Aeson some of his favorite mint and chip ice cream, not to be nice, but I didn't want to share, "Couldn't sleep too much on my mind. Where is Niky?"

    "I'm not sure, I found a cute little local who rocked my world, and when I was done, I couldn't find either of them."

    "Eww, Aeson," I shook the mental image from my brain, "what if something terrible happened?"

    "I asked the bartender, and he said they walked out fine together," Aeson looked at me with the sides of his eyes, waiting for me to say something.

    "I'm sure they are up to no good." My mind relaxed. If something were wrong, one of us would have felt it.

    "What was on your mind?"

    "Nothing I want to talk about."

    "Parents?" My eyes swelled, and I just shook the thought from me again.

    "Yeah," I croaked. He put his warm hand on my back, giving me a friendly rub, "what about you Aeson, how come none of us knows anything about you?"

    "No one ever asks. What do you want to know?"

    "Where are you from?"

    "I have no idea; all I know is that my parents died a long time ago, or maybe they didn't care about me at all. I was raised for the most part in an orphanage for magical creatures and children," he said the words so casually. I had never known and probably would have never guessed. How come he never said anything? I pulled my chair closer to him and pulled him into a hug, wrapping the blanket around the two of us.

    "How come parents f**k us up so bad," I could almost hear him sniffle. I gave him the privacy to feel his feelings by not looking at his face. Aeson was the kind of guy to macho up in front of us, but I could tell he had a sensitive side. After a long silence, I could feel Aeson's hand on my lower back under the blanket. He was friendly and warm. His vulnerability made me not want to push him away. We finished our ice cream and cuddled up on the couch together. Once Aeson fell asleep, I crawled into bed alone.