She didn’t open it.
Instead, she sat, frozen with indecision, until a memory of Mark’s pantsing flitted across her mind. She cackled aloud and her hand dropped from the door handle. Nothing could ever top that. She could go to church services every Sunday for the rest of her life, but they would always be a disappointment compared to the day that Andy showed up.
Erin pulled her keys out of her purse and tossed the purse back onto the passenger’s seat. She started the car and drove out of the parking lot, headed for the highway onramp just a few blocks away.
She drove through many miles of pine forest. Eventually, the forest thinned to reveal thick grass and tangled shrub bordering the edges of a swamp-like river that glimmered beneath the highway bridge.
Erin pulled off the next exit and followed the two lane road along the river’s edge all the way to a sleepy downtown neighborhood.
An assortment of colorful whirligigs and flags fluttered in the yard of an old Victorian house facing a quiet side street. The sign on the veranda read “The Dragon’s Cave: Olde Worlde Curiosities and Magical Supplies.”
This was certainly a different way to spend a Sunday.
Erin pulled into the driveway underneath an old oak tree draped with Spanish moss.
She’d passed the quaint magic shop dozens of times over the years, when in the neighborhood for an ordinary outing of shopping and dining, but never once set foot in the store. The gravel crunched under her feet as she approached the house.
The stained glass in the heavy wooden door was impossible to see through. Erin pushed the door open carefully, setting a tangle of bells to ringing as she stepped over the threshold.
Mismatched bookshelves and shabby glass cases lined the walls. Woven baskets mixed higgledy-piggledy with plastic buckets on the shelves, each filled with crystals, incense cones, or some other magical accoutrement.
Erin idly picked up a piece of rose quartz and weighed it in her hand.
“That’s for love,” a voice piped up.
Erin turned in the direction of the voice.
A young girl sat behind a cash register. Her colorful dress draped the stool she perched on with yards of overflowing fabric. She tilted her head and focused her large hazel eyes on Erin. “Are you looking for a love charm?” Her childlike features contrasted with the vintage hippie aesthetic of her clothing, making her look simultaneously young and old.
“Um. No,” said Erin, placing the rose quartz back in its basket. “Is your mommy around?”
“She’s upstairs. She’ll be back in a few minutes. Can I help you?” The girl slid off the stool, eager to assist.
“I think I’ll just look around,” said Erin.
“Sure. Okay.” The girl quieted, but stared unselfconsciously at Erin, following her every movement.
When Erin picked up a book, the girl approached. “Are you studying hedge magic? That’s a good one. I like the forest stuff. It’s really helpful. Do you like forests?”
Erin put the book down. “I don’t know.”
“Then why did you pick that one up? Silly. You need help.”
“Probably,” said Erin.
The girl nodded, sending her fine brown hair swishing back and forth. “How about we start with a nice wand?”
Erin hesitated. Raya had done a lot with her wand, maybe even too much. The idea of a wand intimidated her.
“No wand?”
“Maybe not yet. Maybe when I know what I’m doing,” said Erin.
The girl shrugged. “Okay. How about cards?”
“Cards?”
“Fortune-telling cards. You know. Tarot?”
