Witch

Chapter Ten

"Did I black out after throwing up yesterday?"  I lay in my bed, an ice pack resting on my forehead.

"Yes,"  Mother replies.  She's busy with my kettle brewing a potion.  "But don't worry, this potion will have you up and running in no time."

"Hm,"  I answer.  "It's funny. I just got healed for one thing, and now I'm bedridden by another."

We hear a knock on the door.  "Can I get some clothes, please?  I have class soon."

"Hold on,"  Mother takes a shirt and skirt out of Limerick's laundry basket and hands them to her.  "I'm sorry Limerick but you cannot come in here, or else you will catch cold."  We hear footsteps walking away. 

"Aren't you afraid to get sick?"  I ask. 

"Dear, I'm getting older now,"  Mother adds the spine of a trout into the potion, which turns into a bright blue, then settles into a comforting lake color.  She fishes out the spine.  "There's not much that these bones haven't faced.  You're younger though, and more susceptible to these things."

I wish I could understand, but instead patiently wait for my potion to be ready.  Mother takes her time with them, but I could have finished it minutes ago.  I believe it is because she takes care of them and gives them her love, not just because she is slow. 

"Can I go to class today?"  I ask weakly.  I feel my body ache as I turn over and rest my cheek on the pillow.

"Stay on your back so you can use the ice."

I sigh and flip over again.

"Tomorrow,"  Mother stands, holding a small glass of clear green liquid.  She swirls it a few times. "Sit up, please, love."

I sit hunched over in the bottom bunk and take the glass. 

I know how it will taste.  I pinch my nose, open my mouth, and down the entire glass before I can vomit again.  Salty, briney, and burning I try to get it down before my taste buds realize what it is.  You would think that after seventeen years of taking these potions, one would be used to it.

I quickly grab my glass of water from off the bedside table and drink it as fast as I can to get the taste off of my tongue. 

"I'm leaving now!"  Limerick calls from behind the door.  "I'll come back at lunch time."

"Bye,"  I call back to her.  I fluff my pillow and lie back down on it.  Turning, churning in my stomach.  I stare up into the slats of the bunk above me.  The wood has swirls and dots and splotches of dark, which I make out to be patterns.  A field of flowers here, a drop of water in the corner, even some small stars in one corner.  My eye is drawn toward the metal piece holding the slats in place, where a small, shallow etching is written on the gleaming black piece. 

"You…"  I squint to try and make out the words.  "You have the blessing."

"What's that, Willow?"  Mother looks up from her reading.

"Mother, what is the blessing?"  I turn on my side and face toward her. 

She tells me that she has no idea, and that perhaps it has something to do with the Goddess.  I turn back on to my back, and look at it again.  This time, it isn't there.

"I feel good as new!"  I stand out of bed the next morning, pop each of my vertebrae, and roll my neck around a few times. 

Mother looks down at me from the top bunk, and smiles.  "I guess the potion worked alright."  She mumbles.  "You may go to class."

I am ecstatic, a whole new person, almost.  I jubilantly take up the clothes Mother had set up the night before and bring them into the small bathroom.  I peek around the corner into the study to find Limerick sprawled out under her blanket.  She snores lightly.