The Baker and the Witch

“Thank you miss, have a good evening.” A male customer smiled widely at Serena as he wheeled his grocery cart away from her. “You do the same.” She reluctantly retreated to the store’s bakery where she worked. The young woman finished cleaning up, flicked off the fluorescent lights, then headed up front to clock out and go home for the night. Forcing a smile and a courteous manner was very draining on her, it wasn’t that she was incapable of smiling and being friendly to people it was just her current state of mind. Serena has dealt with struggles and mental illness for most of her life and there’s only so long you can stay strong externally. As she started up her frosty cold car her mind swirled with worries and narratives from her day. She found herself feeling more and more resentful toward her coworkers and managers, but it wasn’t their fault, they’re all just pawns in the game like she was. This “real world” was too much for her, her soul yearned to travel, find refuge in nature and be free. Yet she felt incredibly stuck and like her dreams were a childlike fantasy. She drove home on autopilot, too distracted by her suffering to pay much attention to the repetitive details of her daily commute. As she shut her black car door, she noticed the bright shining reflection of the moon in the car paint. She turned around to look up at it. The moon had always brought her comfort, something about it felt very nurturing and safe. Serena could tell the moon all of her secrets, hopes and dreams and she would feel heard and understood in its silent presence. “Thank you for being there beautiful.” She smiled softly and felt at peace, her racing mind ceased, and a calm came over her body. With a sigh of relief, she headed up the stairs to her front door. Upstairs her family was warm and cozy playing video games. “Mommy!” a little boy set down the Xbox controller and ran up to serena with outstretched arms. “My big man! Did you have a good day?!” her face lit up and she embraced her son. “Yeah! Race!” he pulled her over to the desk where he was gaming. “You’re racing Emmie? Are you winning?” she joked, bending down to give her wife a big kiss and hug. Serena’s home life was the best it had ever been she was so blessed to have a loving partner and son, a warm home with plenty of food and entertainment to be had. And yet Serena and her wife Emily were barely scraping by and felt burnt out on the daily. They wondered together how other adults managed to live such full and rich lives, we’re making the most money we’ve ever earned and yet still living paycheck to paycheck. They were optimistic that together they could accomplish anything despite their hardships. That night they lay in bed together talking and cuddling. Emily turned to Serena and said, “If $20,000 fell from the sky tomorrow I would pay off my car loan and we would have so much more money to put into savings for our first home!” she giggled. Serena turned to Emily. “Okay, sounds good let’s do it!” she said with seriousness. She sat up in the dim light of their bedroom, “We already have that money. We already have our home. What we speak comes into existence.” Serena said matter of fact. “I read that if you say things like they’re already done that it can manifest it into existence. “Alright then. We paid off my car loan, saved up enough money to buy a house and property and are planning a trip to another country.” Emily said with a smirk and laced her fingers resting them on her abdomen. Serena gave her wife a warm smile and kissed her forehead before turning the light off for the night. “Sweet dreams.” They sweetly kissed goodnight.

Several days of the same old routine had passed, everything was still the same, their car loan, their bank account, their expensive apartment, their stress. But at least they had each other and a little boy who loved them. They were thankful every day for their blessings despite their hardships. One morning Serena felt the urge to make a simmering pot made out of orange peels, bay leaves, cinnamon and sage leaves. She then felt the urge to strain the liquid into a spray bottle. “I call it my spicy abundance spray!” She held the small glass bottle in her hand in front of Emily’s face. “Oh yeah? What does it do?” Emily asked with a smirk. Serena held the bottle close to her heart. “Well…it creates abundance of wealth and adds spice? She let out a chuckle about how silly she just sounded. “My witchy wife!” Emily pulled serena in and kissed her. “I love it when you do what makes you happy.” Emily said as she caressed Serena’s cheek. She felt so loved and supported for the first time in her life.

When Serena went to work, her wife worked from home while caring for their toddler son Wolf. Emily did the housework, changed diapers, potty trained, cooked and cleaned up after Wolf everyday while simultaneously working a full-time job. She was truly a super mom. Serena admired Emily like no one else. Serena had Emily and her son on her mind at all times. She wanted to make all of their wishes come true and for them to never need for a thing. She spent most of her time daydreaming, planning, manifesting their future.

“Alright family! I’ll see you later tonight after my shift!” Serena kissed her son’s forehead and then her wife’s. She descended the staircase and headed to their car. She stepped down onto the sidewalk and looked up at the sky. “What a beautiful winter day…” she thought out loud. She took a step and crashed into someone. They both clattered to the ground along with their belongings. “I am so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was stepping!” Serena pleaded to the pedestrian. She found herself stunned, looking eye to eye at an older woman who looked almost exactly like her grandmother, just different, more familiar! Serena couldn’t make another sound come from her gaping mouth. “Close your mouth dear you look like a trout.” Said the mysterious woman with a winking smirk. Serena snapped out of her shock and laughed. She helped this woman to gather her belongings that had fallen to the ground during their collision. “Ma’am I’m so sorry, I hope you have a great rest of your day. Are you sure you’re okay?” She wringed her hands in worry. “You’re fine dear, accidents happen.” The woman patted Serena’s left shoulder and walked past. “Oh, honey, this must be yours.” The woman handed Serena a small black hardcover journal. Serena stood confused, examining this book she had never seen before. It almost pulsated in her hand causing her to come back to reality and realize this woman was mistaken. “No, this isn’t……mine.” She called out but she was now alone on the sidewalk. She sighed. “I’ll just check the inside cover to see if there’s a name.” she thought to herself out loud. She pulled the elastic closure back and looked at the first page. It read “in case of loss” but then nothing. She flipped through the ivory pages but still it was blank, a small piece of paper fell out of an expandable pocket attached to the back cover. She slowly picked up the paper and turned it over, what is written shall be. “What the heck does that mean?” Serena was overcome with confusion, questions were buzzing through her head, what just happened? Why was that woman so familiar? Why did she think this book was mine?

“DAMN! IM LATE FOR WORK!” Serena ran up to her car and threw the journal in the passenger seat then sped off. Her twenty-minute break finally came around and she went out to her car to relax. She placed her phone on the charger and looked down at the little black journal. Something urged her to open it up and write. Serena opened up her center console and found a ball-point pen, click. She touched the pen to the paper and felt a sense of calm. $20,000 to pay off our car loan. She quickly shut the book and looked around to see if anyone happened to be nearby, as if what she had just done was a crime. She giggled to herself, “Be it so!” as she snapped the elastic closure shut over the black cover and slipped the journal into her glove box. “I guess it’s time to head back in…” she mumbled to herself as she put on her work hat. She stepped out of the car and headed towards the building to finish out her shift. While she worked, she went over the scenario that played out earlier with the woman on the sidewalk over and over again trying to make some sense of it all. Suddenly one of her coworkers named Ashley ran up to her, exasperated Ashley said, “Serena! You’re never going to believe this! One of our regular customers just won the Mega Millions jackpot and he’s giving every single employee $20,000!!!” Immediately Serena felt the blood drain from her face and her heart sank into her stomach. “Serena! Are you okay?! We’re all rich!” Ashley held onto Serena’s arm. “Yeah…yeah, I’m fine, that’s unbelievable…Why, how?” She scratched her head. “what a day!” she hugged Ashley and said, “I need to go call my wife!” she ran to the break room and grabbed her phone. Emily didn’t pick up, so she sent a text. You are never going to believe the day I’ve had! I need to hurry and get my work done so I can go tell her this news! The entire store was in an uproar of celebration. Every employee was talking and laughing, some even up and left their stations to go home. Serena hurried home barely containing herself, she rushed up the stairs of her home as fast as she could. “Emily! You are never going to believe this!” she bellowed. Her wife very clearly startled jumped up from her computer desk, “What happened?! Are you okay?” she begged. “That $20,000 you wanted to fall from the sky came today.” Serena said stoutly. Emily laughed, “What are you talking about?” Serena took a few steps closer to Emily and grasped her hands. “A customer at my work won the lotto jackpot and is GIVING every single employee at my store $20,000! She pounced onto her wife embracing her tightly. “What are the chances…” Serena interrupted Emily, “Oh and if that’s not unbelievable enough I’m about to blow your mind…” Emily stood in anticipation. “Before I left for work, I collided with this incredibly mysterious old woman who then quoted my favorite television show and then gave me this journal and told me it was mine.” Serena pulled the small black book from her purse and opened it to the page that she wrote on. “On my lunch break I just decided on a whim to write down our wish. I know that must sound crazy.” Emily started laughing. “This is all so unbelievable, do you think that by writing that down, it happened in real life?” Emily began fidgeting from anxiety and intrigue. Serena flipped to the back cover and pulled out the small piece of paper. “what is written shall be.” The couple stood in momentary silence just looking at each other, then sat down in their office chairs. Serena laid the journal down on the desk and pulled Emily’s light brass coated pen out of its holder. “So, what do we want next?”