Cosmical Beings

Chapter One

The windows were open in my bedroom and there was a soft September breeze blowing through my window, making my curtains move about. The sky was a light purple and the rising sun was still dimmed. I turned in my bed stretching my arms and legs grateful that it was Saturday and did not have to force myself out of bed to go to class. I rubbed my eyes, rolled over, and closed my eyes once again delighting in the fact I could sleep in. I was soon slipping into sleep until I heard a quieted pattering from somewhere within the house.

I threw the blankets off my body and rolled out of bed throwing on my house slippers. The pattering continued and was accompanied with clanking pans from somewhere downstairs. I groaned a little knowing that my family was up and ready for the day. I opened my bedroom door and slowly stepped down each step on the stairwell not trying to attract any attention to myself. Each stair creaked and just as I was reaching the bottom of the stairs the cat glared at me from the bottom giving a dramatic meow. I rolled my eyes at Adalaide and picked up her body in my arms.

The pattering continued and I peered through the curtains of the front door. A stocky woman stood on the other side of the door waiting anxiously for an answer. Her blonde hair poked out from her hair clip and it looked as if she just came from bed too. "Hey, did you guys know that there was someone at the front door?" I yelled to the women buzzing around the kitchen as if they have been up for hours. Clanking continued and there were a range of scents coming from the kitchen making my stomach gurgle in hunger.

"Yes, she was not supposed to be until 7 and she's almost 45 minutes early. These people do not understand the importance of preparing for our work," My grandmother angerly yelled as she threw down all the jars from her arms. She turned back towards the shelves and rubbed her chin in concentration, trying to gather all the ingredients for their next concoction. "Well let her in already." She continued to command to me as she was snapping her fingers for my sister to grab the utensils from the drawer. I unlocked the door and walked away from it not feeling kind enough to open it and welcome the guest in.

There was many guests in and out of the house at one time as that is how my family made money. Love spells, tarot card readings, palm readings, and Seances to reach to town members crossed over beloved family. It truly was the cliche witchy shop that you can find anywhere; however, we have hundreds of returning people that swear by the work that my family does. I would not believe in the work they do but I have bore witness thousands of times of their abilities.

I walked down the short corridor from the door, past the stairs into the kitchen where the six women scrambled, quietly chattering amongst themselves. "Can you please go collect a few things since someone could not do it last night," My grandmother pointing blame towards my sister with her words as she handed me a basket with scissors. In return I gave her a glare in protest, "Go on girl." As she pushed me out the back door and shoving a warm bagel in my hand. The woman from the door entered into the kitchen frantically asking questions and her voice dipping in volume.

I shook my head, took a bite of my bagel, and took my coat from one of the hooks before going outside. I put the basket down with my bagel in it on the concrete step and put the jacket over my arms and zipping it up my body. I took a seat on the concrete and finished my bagel looking over the expanse of the backyard. A tall wood fence closed in the yard and tiny stone pathways led from the back entrance of the fence to different parts of the yard. The yard was covered in plants and if they weren't trimmed or picked from by the family I am sure the yard would turn into a jungle. Different herbs, flowers, and leaves grew from the ground many of them I do not know the name of.

I took a deep breath of disappointment that I was up at such an early hour but continued to pull myself from the step onto my feet. I picked up the basket in one hand and started on the path wrapping towards the back end of the yard. I knelt down intermittently cutting and picking at the plants growing from the ground and throwing them in the basket. White air blew from my mouth as I exhaled into the chilled air and my nose started running. I wiped my nose ready to go back to the warm house; however, I continued to finish the task at hand. I stood up one last time and walked to the end of the path. The greenery hung over their stone barriers onto the path and were squished against the fence. I knelt down once again picking and prodding at the leaves while looking at the roots.

I continued until I saw a small object poking out of the dirt below the plant. I drew back the leaves and closely looked still not sure what the object may be. It was covered in speckles of dirt and debris hiding and masking what was buried underneath. I wiped my nose and sniffled before digging the dirt from around the object. I heard the cat from behind me releasing a half meow as it took a seat next to me nibbling at the contents of the basket. I dug until it was revealed, giving me a sick feeling. A hand poked out of the ground and once the realization hit I fell backwards in fear.

The palm faced up to the sky and was manly in nature. The fingers were round and short, blood crimsoning the finger nails along with dirt. I covered my mouth in shock not sure how to react to the finding. My stomach twirled, my mind was cloudy with confusion, and tears pecked my eyes that were made with unknown fear. The cat meowed once again and walked away from the scene. I stood up quickly from my spot on the ground and picked up the basket, my eyes blurred from fear but it seems that I could not pull them away from the hand sitting in the ground. I spun around on my feet to see my grandmother's figure four feet away from me.

Her grey hair blew with the breeze of the morning and her eyes bore holes into my body. She walked closer to me while clicking her tongue at me. Her eyes moved from my body to the hand exposed from the ground and in one motion she grabbed the basket from my shaking cold hand. She looked at me one more time before giving me a smirk, "Curiosity killed the cat." She turned on her feet and started moving towards the house, her cloak scraping against the path.

I remained still in my position not sure how to move forward. Many questions arose about the findings and fear made my body quiver. My family was not into the practices of the normal tourist attraction with shop but something that was too dark for my understanding. I turned once again to find the hand was retracting into the ground. It was soon not seen and was once again covered by the dirt.