A Witch's Wish Part 2

Okay, okay. It's Halloween. This is the park. Witches meet their soulmates on Halloween if their birthday falls on a full moon.

And my birthday is on a full moon this year. I know. I ran the lunar calculations five times. And I'm a witch...

(pause)

Um, I am a witch, right? Oh, I hope that I didn't lose my powers somehow. I'm probably just catastrophizing. But I have heard that it can happen. Although, it is extremely rare.

(pause)

Buuttt...I should test it just to be safe.

Um, let's see....

Abernatha!

Ha! Well, at least I can still turn water into ice. That's means...

Oh hey, sir! Watch out! That puddle is ice!

No, it's better if you just go around it.

I'm sorry. I was practicing my spells.

(pause)

Yes, yes I'll fix it. Sorry. I'm fixing it now.

Oh um...

Ananatha!

See? It's back to water. No harm done.

Yes, I'll be more careful in the future.

Good day to you too.

(sighs) I'm glad that Jinx wasn't here to see that. He'd probably yell at me for being senseless.

(laugh) To think I went so many years of my life thinking familiars always respected their witches. Then I met Jinx. He's...well, I guess he is about as respectful as you would expect from a cat. Which is not very.

At least, I know that I'm still a witch now though.

I hope that guy wasn't my soulmate. He seemed pretty ticked off. I don't think he's the biggest fan of witches.

Although he was also 80 years old. I don't think that an 80 year old could be my soul mate. You never know though. Love is funny sometimes.

Ugh, I've got to stop talking to myself. If he watching is me right now, he probably thinks that I'm crazy.

Okay, okay. Relax.

(sighs)

Okay, I'm just going to sit down on the bench and read my book as planned. Hopefully, he notices me. Just play it cool.

Let's see...I think I was on page...AAHHH!

What the? Ah! Get off me! Ugh! Who the heck even for you?

Whoever you are, you can't just go around scaring people like this.

Stop laughing! There is only one person I would ever let tease me like that and he's....

Oh, it's you. I...you're back?

No, I'm happy to see you. I'm just surprised.

You seemed so dead set on leaving here for good this time. You kept saying that you had bigger dreams to chase elsewhere. So, I'd thought that I'd never see you again. Well, not in person at least.

So, what brought you...

(pause)

Hey, I asked you first! Well, I started to ask you first at least. You never could wait when you got excited about something.

Anyway, I never left. So, you can't ask what brought me back here.

(laugh) I just never wanted to is all. I guess that's the thing about being a witch. You can go any where you please in not much time at all. There just isn't all that much reason to move somewhere else.

Actually, that's part of why I never tried to talk you out of leaving. I knew that I could always fly to you if we needed each other.

I was a little worried that you wouldn't ask if you needed me though. You were always stubborn about asking for help too.

Wait, you're not back because something bad happened are you? You can tell me if it did. I promise I won't judge you.

...I don't think that I could ever judge you.

No? Well, that's good. I know that moving away can be tough, but I wouldn't have wanted anything to stand in the way of your dreams.

But...if that's not it. Then why are you back?

(laugh) Stop trying to distract me. I already told why I'm here. I never left.

Oh? You mean why did I come to the park today?

Well, I always come here. (laugh) Normally you came with me before you left. You know how much I love it.

We met by those swings remember? Some boy tried to cut the line saying it was his turn. And you...(starting to realize something) stood up for me. You told him that I was next.

And we've been friends ever since.

Maybe that's why I like this park so much. It reminds me of you.

I have visited it a lot since you left, now that I think about it. I don't know. Maybe I was hoping spot your face in the crowd. Ha, that must sound ridiculous.

(pause)

Oh, um. No....that wasn't why I came today.

I just...

I just wanted a nice place to read my book.

See? This one is my favorite. (realizing tone) But you know that. You're the one that got me hooked on this series. You keep saying that I had to read it. And now I've read it at least a dozen times.

It was just such a nice day that I just couldn't resist coming here and starting it again.

(pause)

I-Um, no. That's not the only reason that I'm here today.

(pause)

Yeah, it's Halloween. You know, THE halloween.

I just-I just thought a park might be a nice to...

(sighs) It's silly. I know.

(pause)

Thanks. It's nice to know that somebody understands. Jinx thinks that I'm being ridiculous, of course. If it were up to him, I would just stay in my bedroom while I waited for my soulmate to fall down from the sky.

But even magic isn't quite that strong. Love, the real kind of love, takes work. And you can't find it unless you put yourself out there.

Well, at least I think that's how it should work. It seems how it ought to work. Who wants fate to simply choose a lover for you and bind them to your side? It be more like an arranged marriage than true love.

(sighs) So, I hope it's not like that. But, in truth, I don't have much idea how the soulmate bond works. No witch does actually. I never heard of anybody's soulmate just dropping from the sky. But I doubt too many witches wanted to test the spell.

After all, if you had a chance to find true love, would you be willing to risk it slipping away?

(pause)

Why are you...?

Wait, you knew my birthday was on a full moon this year. You knew it before I even said it. So, you must have run the lunar calculations too. But why would you...?

Oh. That's you're here isn't it? You wanted to come because today is the day that I'm supposed to meet my soulmate.

You-you don't have to say anything. I can tell that I'm right by that look on your face.

I-

Well, what did you want to do? Stop it?

I just....

Oh, I don't know...

(pause)

Hey, I'm not angry. I promise that I'm not angry. I just wasn't expecting this. (laugh) I didn't plan for this. I don't ever think I even imagined this.

So, now I don't know what to say.

But...that doesn't mean that it's not what I want. It is. I don't know how I know that all of a sudden, but I do. I think that I just didn't realize it before because I never thought it was a possibility.

I was supposed to meet my soulmate on Halloween and you were supposed to go far and chase your dreams. I just always thought that was how it was supposed to end.

But now? Now I think that I'm starting to see the truth. And the truth is that I've spent far too much time letting my life be dictated by fate. And not seeing what was in front of my own two eyes.

But..now that you're here...I want us to make our own ending. And you must want to as well. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come back.

So, let's decide our own fate. I don't care what the moon says. I thought that I did, but all that time I spent dreaming about my soulmate-I was really dreaming about you. I don't know how I didn't realize that until I saw you today. But I'm really *really* glad that you came back to me because I can see you so much clearer now.

And, who knows, maybe you really are my soulmate. Maybe you truly were who I was supposed to meet today. Like I said earlier, I don't really know how it's supposed work. Maybe us meeting again counts the same as us meeting for the first time. It's possible at least.

But, even if I was meant to meet somebody else. Even if you aren't truly my soulmate. I don't care. Because fate couldn't possibly choose a more perfect partner for me than you. I know that. I know with all my heart.

And you know it too. I can see it in your eyes.

So, let's go. I'm far more afraid of losing you than I am of never meeting him

(laugh) And if we temp fate, so be it. True love is the deepest kind of magic. And if we have that, there is very little fate can do to stop us.

And...and I think we have that. Because I know that I love you. And...

(pause)

(whisper) I know that you love me too

*kiss*

(sigh) And even though this is nothing like how I imagined it would be.

*kiss*

It's every bit as magical.