Convergence

In the Rain

Demons, witches, magical creatures... who really believes in such things? I can't say that I ever had. Sure some strange stuff used to happen when I was younger, but after many years of therapy, I was able to "get over it"... or completely block it out and suppress it just to get them off my back.  They said my beliefs and fears of being stolen away by a monster all stemmed from my mother's accident and resulting death. I was very young when it happened and don't really remember that much about her except that she was kind and fiercely protective of me. I put those days behind me. Talking about it only made people upset, so decided to be as perfect as possible... but the truth can't stay buried forever.

It had suddenly begun to rain as I walked home. There had been nothing in the weather reports that suggested the sudden waterfall. There weren't any clouds or thunder either. It wasn't unusual, really. Sudden cloudless downpours were common during the rainy season in the desert, but the fact of the matter was that I was trapped outside in it without any kind of protection from getting soaked. That's when I saw a little store. I ran up to the awning and saw it was a metaphysical store. I've never been one to believe in magic and the idea of an entire store loaded up with trinkets dedicated to its practice filled me with so much anxiety, but I couldn't very well stay outside under the waterfall.

I took a deep breath to settle the butterflies before walking into the odd store. A tiny bell on the glass door chimed and I was greeted with a strange smell. The modest store was cramped with cases both filled with and covered with stones on pewter sticks, statues, and gems. The only statue I recognized was a small gold-colored Buddha on the case nearest the door welcoming me with a smile and a wave.

I carefully made my way around a tower of greeting cards hoping not to hit my purse on anything only to tap my knee on a display of rocks in a variety of colors. Each set of rocks had its own little enclosure and a label. I recognized the rose quartz right away. I had gotten a heart-shaped one as a gift once that still held a place on my dresser. No surprise that the label said one of its uses was for love. The solid green aventurine rock was new to me. The label had said one of its uses was for money.

I continued around the store. There was a shelf full of books on magick (spelled with a K), Wicca and Witchcraft, magical herbs, and tarot cards. A particularly large white book labeled Encyclopedia of Spells caught my eye. I huffed at the selection and moved on seeing yet another glass case, this one with a cash register on top. The case was filled with odd-shaped pendants that each held a different colored stone wrapped and framed in silver and there were beautiful bracelets with similar themes. There was another interesting silver-looking piece that had seven stones, each stone a different color of the rainbow. Something about it just sort of held me to it for a moment.

"It is called a chakra wand." An older woman with white streaks in her black hair stood behind the case and smiled at me. She had a strange sort of accent like English was her second language. Maybe she was from Columbia or something.

"Ah." I nodded and continued looking around.

There was a smoking little stick stuck into a long slab of wood next to the register. At least I found the source of the odd smell.

"Can I help you find something?" the lady asked.

"No," I quickly replied. I realized that my statement may have come out harsh and revised. "I mean no thank-you. I only came inside to escape the rain, you see."

"Yes, I see." She smiled and nodded sweetly. "Please feel free to look around as much as you like." She spoke slowly and pronounced every word carefully so I would understand. "Girls your age tend to come in looking for love spells," she pointed to a room behind me. "So I created a display right back there if you are interested." Her R sounds rolled fluidly from her tongue.