AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What is your problem?” I shout in frustration, and the sugar rabbit makes a pouty face at me. “Do you want to drink the potion or something?”
He shakes his head.
“Do you… want me to work on my potions more?”
Momiji nods, and I get a little choked up. Even my familiar can feel how much the path I’ve chosen is draining on me. He probably just wants me to do what makes me happy. My magic and life force and Momiji’s are directly connected. I don’t think he feels my feelings, but I know he feels my exhaustion. He knows that charms doesn’t come naturally to me, and he likely wants me to practice potions just as much as I do.
I scoop him up and put him over my shoulder, hugging him closely to my chest. Maybe we’re both exhausted.
Ping.
I check my phone to see a text from my dad.
Dad
It was really nice seeing you this past week. Don’t be a stranger. Love u.
Indigo
It was nice to see you too, love you.
However complicated my family can be, it really was nice to see them. Maybe next time my mother will show me more kindness. As it stands, I only visit home for Gratefulness Week. Iris visits during Christmas, Spring Break, random days over the summer. I know, because my mother gloats to me about it, trying to use it to make me feel guilty for not visiting more often. I wish she’d stop to think that maybe I’d visit more if I felt more welcome there—that maybe it’s her that keeps me away.
As I start to doze off again, my mind is a maze of emotion. I try to tether myself to reality, that I need to focus on my job, bettering my relationship with my family, and maintaining my friendships, but I am so attached to my dreams. Dreams of working with potions everyday, of coming home to a girlfriend, maybe even one day a wife, and her having green skin. Green skin… and black hair… and a septum piercing… and a tattoo of her favorite constellation. If a shooting star flung itself across the sky right now, that is what I’d wish for.
* * *
Beep. Beep. Beep.
What the fuck is that awful sound? Oh right, my alarm.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
My eyes will hardly open as I snooze my alarm for the third time. Wait, third time? Oh shit… it’s Monday. I have work today.
fourteen
INDIGO
I’ve always hated Mondays,but this Monday feels different. There’s a tension in the air, with students buzzing about the school preparing for finals, but there’s also a note of excitement. It’s subtle–the early Christmas gifts exchanged between friends and the cookies for Hanukkah. Though some of the staff will be here during the break between fall and spring semester, the students will not, so many of them celebrate their holidays early.
Being such a young teacher has its ups and downs. It’s annoying to constantly get mistaken for a student–and I believe some mages and staff members take me less seriously–but overall, it’s a blessing. I relate to my students on a level many of the other professors won’t understand, because I was literally one of them a few years ago in undergrad. And even just last year, I was attending Augury for grad school. Many of the professors here went to other universities around the world. For people like Adeib and Dean Bariel, regardless of where they attended, it was so long ago it might as well have been another lifetime. So here I stand, grateful I’m recognized in our cafeteria. A perk of being a favored professor of the freshmen class is that I get to cut in line.
I’m here because I heard the special dessert of today was cranachan, and it would be an offense to my ancestors if I didn’t try some. Composed of cream cheese, oats, raspberries, whip cream, and honey, the Scottish dessert is delectable. I’ve only had my father’s rendition, and he was never the greatest in the kitchen.
My favorite satyr and elf duo, Eden and Raven, let me cut them in the astronomically long line. I usually only see them in my history class, so it’s fun to see how they are outside the classroom. They’re doing their nails, which amuses me. I never knew there were portable nail kits. I rarely get my nails done, as I’ve always had too much anxiety about it, scared of all the choices I’d have to make at once. The color, the style. It makes my brain hurt. I turn back around, facing forward.
Emilia, a pink-haired mermaid from one of my charms classes, is in line in front of me. She’s not the kind of merfolk that can shift, so she uses a portable tank that runs on magic. The upside of having a tank is that there’s room for advertising and decorations. Emilia has decked the backside of her tank with infographics on different political causes she supports, and it amazes me to read them all. Merfolk want their own school, as well as a tubing system so they can swim through Sunspell City without needing a tank. I scan the QR code and sign the petition.
Her phone beeps, and she looks back at me. “Professor Watson? Thank you!”
“Of course,” I say, not realizing she’d get an immediate notification.
The line moves quickly, and I get my treat. I snap a picture, meaning to send it to my Dad, but accidentally press Daelor instead.Shit.
Vega
getting a treat?
