Fame Isn't Everything [Elvis]

Chapter 2 - The Thorny Bush on the Side of the Shed

I looked over and eyed her for a moment, and I inwardly wished I could see her without all that heavy makeup. I was all for makeup on a girl, but not the extent that she wore it. "This is really a thing now, huh? I'm not dreamin' it."

She turned her head, and I met her brown eyes. "Yes, it's a thing. Now, I should go so you can get a start on this. I hear there's a new person coming to work for you soon."

"Yeah... you think she could be the one?"

She smirked, turned and walked away, and when I turned to watch her go, she was gone. Like she wasn't even here. I blinked a few times.

"Is she a witch or a ghost?" I shook my head. "Nevermind. I have to somethin' about this."

I went back to the house, and I found Daddy and Gertrude in the kitchen. They both looked at me, not saying a thing. "What?" I asked and went into the kitchen. "Were you two talkin' about me?"

"Your father told me about what happened yesterday," said Gertrude. "Quite the story."

I grabbed a banana from the bunch and leaned against the counter near the stove, but I didn't open the banana. "You're tellin' me. I'm starting to believe that it's an actual thing now. And before you ask how I came to believing it, I'll just tell ya. I ran into Hugh in the backyard, and he directed me towards this thorn bush in the back of the shed, one that has a bright pink flower on it with many petals. Turns out Ignis put it there, and that flower is how much time I have left to find someone who can see passed my fame." I saw their expressions. "You both think I'm nuts, huh? Well, join the club."

"I just think this is fascinating," said Gertrude. "My mother and grandmother told me about witches and enchantresses and told me that they weren't just characters in fairytales. They're actual beings, and people can learn the art of magic. I remember being so fascinated by it all. I wouldn't mind meeting this... what was her name?"

"Ignis, Latin for fire, apparently," I said.

"Well, I think meeting her would be great."

"You just missed 'er. She was outside with me as I was oglin' the flower bush. She was just solidifying the fact that this is all real. And you wanna know somethin'? She turned a mouse into a bird yesterday, and I thought that was a trick, but just now, she turned one of those big black spiders into a blue butterfly, like I saw the thing morph into a butterfly. It was unnatural."

Gertrude's aging face lighted with interest. "Ooo! I would love to meet her!"

I smirked, amused by this. "I'm sure she would like to meet you, too, but she comes and goes like a stray cat. I think it has to be her idea."

"Is she pretty?" asked Gertrude, a sly eyebrow up. I shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess so, if she didn't wear so much makeup and dressed for the time. She dresses like someone from 1880 and looks around twenty years old."

"I see. Well, I guess you wouldn't completely mind her coming and going as she pleases."

"Psht. I don't want to think about it. A new worker is comin' today, and I wanna make sure that she's welcome. She's Hugh's daughter, and I want to give 'er a good first impression."

"What time is she gonna be here?" asked Daddy.

"Later in the mornin', accordin' to what Hugh told me. My guess is around ten or eleven. I'm just glad that she isn't much to look at."

"My, you shouldn't say that, Elvis," Gertrude reprimanded. Once Momma passed she became something of a matron for me. She was like an aunt, actually.

"That's what Daddy said, and he got it from Hugh himself. I guess I don't want to deal with another pretty face."