Autumn Anecdotes

Kidcraft(Pt. 1)

"I want a baby," I told my wife.

She looked up at me from the book she'd been reading. Her eyes just screamed "you've got to be kidding."

"And just how do you plan on doing that?"

"Where there's a will, there's a way."

"My love," she started, standing up and looming over me with her giant like height, "In case you haven't noticed, we're both women."

"Yes, but you see, I kinda broke into the runes library and began researching life spells and-"

"My lovely, beautiful, wonderful, darling dear," she interjected, she adds more adjectives the angrier she gets, "Are you telling me that you broke into a very sacred pagan archive to rummage through old runes so that you and I can have a child?"

Beatrix has always been very straight laced, which is part of why I love her so much. She always keeps me in check. We balance each other perfectly. She's orderly and logical and methodical. Her forms of magic are very tamed, like astrological magic and divination. They both had a consistent schedule with them, whatnot with the moon cycles being as strict as they are.

I on the other hand, have been described as a human crow. I see shiny trinkets in the woods and I take them, even though the "hording" drives Beatrix insane. I indulge myself in plant magic and faery faith. They seem silly and frivolous, but when I see that rock, I can't help but gather an entire life story from it and pick it up and give it to Bea as a token of my affection. Like I said, we're perfectly balanced.

"Yes, exactly!"

I rushed over to the table to pull a leather bound book out of my messenger bag and let it slam onto the table, throwing the dust from the cover into the air. I opened it up to the bookmarked page and gestured Bea to come over.

"So, this says that you can create a vessel for the lost soul of a child out of plants with a green witch, then, a divination witch can communicate with the lost soul to convince it to take hold of the vessel. You and I practice plant magic and divination! We can have a child!"

Grinning from ear to ear, I took her hand and pulled her close to me, feeling her braids brushed against the top of my head.

"We can be a family," I whispered hopefully.

She sighed, turning her face into a tired half smile.

"Alright, my dear," she whispered back, "for you."

I squeezed her tightly, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You go create the vessel, I'll get my candles."

I rushed out of the room and into the garden in search of a plant that could be used as a vessel. Flowers would be too delicate, watermelons aren't in season, corn is too misshapen. My eyes fell on the pumpkins. I could have the sturdy stem shape into a body and use the pumpkin as a head. I got to work, communicating with the pumpkin and convincing it to reshape itself. It was a little stubborn at first, but I eventually wore it down and I had the perfect body for my future child. The best part was that with a soul possessing it, the body wouldn't decompose until the soul left it and it would keep growing with the soul, so the child would have a natural lifespan. In a strange way.

The vessel still needed something, though. I looked around, my eyes falling on a clothing line and then it hit me! He needed clothes. I brought the vessel inside and got out my sewing needles and got to work. Within two hours, I'd pieced together warm clothes for the autumn season. It was a long white cotton shirt and brown pants with suspenders. I was quite proud of them. I rummaged through some old toys of mine from my childhood and pulled some small leather shoes and cotton socks from a dusty porcelain doll. Now I have a whole ensemble.

I rushed into the living room with the little clothes to show off to Beatrix. She sat at the table lighting six white candles in a circle atop a white table cloth. 

"What's that," She asked, looking up from her matches.

"Clothes for the vessel!"

I began putting the shirt, shoes, and pants on the vessel and then placed him in the center of the candle circle.

"Are you ready, Sybil?"

I looked to my wife.

"Absolutely, my love."

I grinned from ear to ear.

"Are YOU ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be."

We closed the blinds, shutting out the last of the light of the sunset. We sat across from each other at the table, holding hands.

"Youthful ghost, come to us this evening. We seek a child who's life was taken too soon to raise as our own. We promise to cherish you and love you and protect you from all harm the world may inflict. Youthful ghost, come to us for a second chance."

It really took her two whole hours to memorize that? Oh well.

A chill passed through Beatrix and I as we tensed up, still not letting go of each other's hands. Just as the chill had came and gone, the vessel we'd prepared had begun to twitch ever so slightly as the pumpkin's essence was released and the child's soul filled that empty spot.

The vessel sat up on the table, their legs crossing and their arms coming to their chest, almost defensively. Almost scared. It seemed to look around, even though the pumpkin had no eyes or any holes for where some eyes would go.

"Hello!" I say softly, yet enthusiastically.

They looked to me, and excitedly stood up, nearly tripping on their newfound feet, and stumbled across the circular table to me.

I moved the candles out of their way so they wouldn't burn themselves and they collapsed into my arms. They seemed very affectionate.

"Hi there," I chimed, letting them sit on my leg, "what's your name?"

The child looked to me and shrugged. I looked to Beatrix who looked back at me with a look of empathy. Poor child didn't know their name.

"Are you a little boy or a little girl?"

Once again, they shrugged their shoulders.

"That's okay, you can decide that for yourself when you get older. How does Blair sound for a name?"

The pumpkin that stood in for their head looked down for a second, as if contemplating, and then looked up and excitedly nodded. The vine atop their head whipped back and forth like a little puppy's tail wagging.

"Well, then, that's decided," I said, this time at a normal tone while standing up and setting him on my hip, "How about you meet your other mommy?"

The pumpkin's head turned to Beatrice. They leaned away from me, facing Bea and began waving their short arms, as if gesturing for her to hold them. I handed them off to Bea and they just looked at each other for a second.

I'd never seen that look on Bea's face before. She looked to them and her usually stone face just softened. Her body relaxed, yet her arms held them close and defensively. Her normally perfect posture seemed to slump down to get closer to them. The vessel was about as big as a two year old, yet she held them like they were as fragile as a new born.

I snapped out of my trance and hugged them both. We were a family now. I had a family.

(COME BACK NEXT WEEK FOR PT. 2)