Enchanted

The Statue

     Ever since she'd moved into the house her grandmother had left her, Anna's life had been... strange. The oddities were subtle to say the least, things she might not have noticed if it hadn't been for the letter, and the potential suggestibility of the contents. Anna probably would have dismissed the whole thing entirely if not for the way her mother had responded. There was just something suspicious about the way the woman had gone from congenial to downright surly in the blink of an eye. She'd refused to discuss it at all, and claimed Anna's grandmother had been nothing but a batty old lady twisted up by superstition, and fairy tales.

     This, of course, prompted Anna to seek answers – to learn the truth. Anna had hoped by moving into the old Victorian house she might find them, but all she'd really found were more mysteries, and more unanswerable questions. Oh, and things, lots of odd, seemingly random things.

     Like the statue. It was rather unassuming, and she wouldn't have paid it any mind if I hadn't been for the fact that it kept moving. Anna had first unearthed it after poking around in the attic. It had been in a small tarnished silver box with etchings on the surface. She had returned both the statue, and the box, to the place she had found it, but the next day had awoken to find the statue sitting on her bedside table. The following day she found it on the fireplace mantle, the day after in the middle of the kitchen table, and so on, and so forth.

     Despite her best efforts, Anna couldn't seem to rid herself of the statue.

     After nearly a week of trying to convince herself she wasn't losing her mind, Anna had decided to seek out answers. Her quest led her to the shoebox interior of the Bedford Barrow. A co-worker who was into this sort of new-age stuff had directed her to it when she caught Anna in the break room scouring the pages of a library book on witches and the occult.

     It had been a rather awkward conversation – mostly Anna assuring the woman this wasn't something she was normally 'into', and the woman just smiling with that 'Okay, honey' expression in her eyes. The last thing Anna needed was for her co-teachers to start spreading rumors that she was some sort of devil-worshiper, or danced naked in the woods covered in chicken blood, or something to that effect.

     Anna had a feeling that such a notion wouldn't go over well with the mothers at the next PTA meeting. Leaning against the counter, Anna tried to keep her cool.

     "So do you have any idea what it is, or maybe know someone who can help me figure this out?" she asked, keeping her voice low. The sound of bells jingling caught her attention for a moment. She glanced over, long enough to take note of a tall, dark haired man as he crossed the threshold and stepped into the shop, but in the same breath her attention was back on the shop owner.

     "I know what I told you sounds crazy. I mean, I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it for myself." Maybe Anna could just give it to the woman and be done with it. Yes, that's what she would do. The woman wouldn't even have to pay for it as long as the thing didn't find its way back into her house.

     The woman lowered her dark eyes to the statue and Anna could sense her hesitation. Just say something, she begged silently, watching and waiting. Finally the woman reached out and picked up the statue. The dark, polished wood almost matched the chestnut color of the woman's skin as she turned it one way and then the other.

     Anna held her breath, watching the woman expectantly, and silently praying she would be able to offer some sort of solution. Anna had reached the point where she'd be willing to do almost anything for some sort of relief. If she had to spend one more night lying awake, and wondering where that damn statue would end up next she might snap – or worse.