Box of Chocolates

Clouds Across the Moon

Tabita walked along the beach, listening to the murmur of the surf as she watched the wisps of clouds drift across the moon. The sea, like her mind, was restless, the waves chased each other all the way to the long tips of her boots without sense or order, vanishing before she could properly notice and register them, just like her thoughts.

I'm ready, she tried to convince herself as she took a few quick steps toward the shore, lifting the hem of her long black dress, trying to escape the water reaching out for her feet with its long fingers of foam, tireless, inexorable.

Like destiny.

Tabita never wished to explore the space like most of her friends. Becoming an astronaut had never been her ambition, but she always sensed that she would have to do exactly that at some point. From the hazy glimpses of the future she caught in her orbuculum, she understood that she had no other choice if she ever wanted to see him again.

Patrick.

The man she loved, flight commander P. R. Johnson of a shuttle 2-4-7 to Mars vanished a few months ago with his ship and the whole crew, composed mainly of men of Tabita's coven.

She remembered the day when he and a few more 'regular' humans appeared in their village to choose the men who would join the crew of their ship months ago. That was how it worked now-- after centuries of trying to wipe people like Tabita and their magic off the face of Earth, the others finally understood that they could use the powers of the magical folk to their benefit. At present, most men and women with magical abilities were employed in space exploration, becoming pioneers of the human race, employing their magical powers to reach places which it would be impossible to land at for the non-magical folk without their help. Despite having become of great importance, the witches and wizards were not treated as equals on Earth and thus, many of them decided to settle on Moon or Mars with their whole families, like the greater part of Tabita's coven, and even some regular humans, those sypathising with the magicians.

But Patrick was like Tabita. He never wanted to leave Earth forever; that's what he said when he promised her that he would come back as soon as this mission was over. Mixed couples like them were still quite unusual, but Patrick and Tabita fell in love the moment they first met. The memory brought tears in her eyes; she could not imagine her life without him.

In their endless calls during the unending months of Patric's absence, they planned out their future together to the smallest detail. Patrick loved the village where Tabita lived-- one of the very few medieval places left in the world, protected by the coven's charms. They shunned the newest science and technology, refused drones, cars, televisions... The coven only accepted computers, the internet, and the intergallactic connection to keep in touch with the fast expanding world of humans. For all the rest, they used their magic. Patrick meant to move in with her the moment he came back after this trip, marry her, and settle down.

Tabita had been awaiting his return, treasuring the moments during which his voice reached her from the space day after a long day, but when the communication link was lost weeks ago due to violent storms in the asteroid belt, and never restored since, she, and the rest of her coven started to worry. What if the storms were not storms at all?

They did not believe the government, acting as if nothing had passed, insisting that everything was perfect... The medieval New Salem may be a secluded and antiquated village, but its inhabitants were not stupid. The rumors about the intergallactic war reached them, too. Those rumours, seen through the witches' crystal balls, became the frightening reality of the near future.

Unless someone entervened, and tried to change the fate of Earth.

"I'm ready," Tabita murmured over the roar of the surf, observing the waves rolling towards her, fast, strong and resolute, as she sensed the space ship rising unseen, cloaked in the invisibility charm, from the depths of the sea, responding to her will.

Tabita watched as the sea swelled, letting the waves flood her boots and the hem of her robe as the ship materialized, becoming visible for the moment, on the agitated waters. She observed its smooth, disc-shaped surface as black as the surrounding night. It glittered in the moonlight, like the infinite stars and planets shining above her head.

The young witch looked over her shoulder, towards the thicket of small trees growing on the edge of their village, and waved to the ten dark figures waiting for her there.

"Let us go then!" she called to the women even as she stepped into the cone of magical light reaching out to her from the ship and let it pull her inside.

Holding their pointed, wide-brimmed hats, the ten witches ran towards her. They knew well that they had no time to waste. It would take them weeks to reach the Moon, and another month before they would land on Mars... Hopefully, they would find their men before it was too late. And then, if there was a war brewing, they would stop it.