A Plan?

“Oh you are adorable!”, A young woman says to me as she sees me enter the kitchen to help with lunch. How many caretakers were in this orphanage? There is only about a dozen kids kept in very few rooms. I spot Dandelion in my periphery but decide to leave her be this prep time. I need to think of a plan to persuade her to teach me magic. Viola enters the room with a feathered chicken’s corpse.

“Oh hello Lydia.”, The elderly caretaker greets me as she walks over to the island. “You might not be too helpful this time around.”, She tells me as she slams the dead bird onto the island. “Fran.”, Viola says as she looks at the younger woman, “Could you assist our little helper with gathering some herbs?” The younger woman nods as she walks over to me and grabs my hand.

“Come on Lydia.”, Fran says to me with a gentle smile as she takes my hand. “It’s not large but it is a beautiful garden.”, The caretaker adds as we head out of the back door of the kitchen.

The small garden is nothing impressive but the way the vibrant colors of the plants is beautiful. The midday sun shining on the plants truly makes the red of the bell peppers pop in my vision. This place has spices not just herbs!?

“Oh the peppers have finally grown!”, Fran cheers as she stops in front of the plants. Fran bends down and begins to rub a finger on a pepper. “Nice and ripe.”, She says with a gentle smile. “Oh Lydia.”, She continues as she looks over at a different plant. “Could you please grab some thyme? A handful should be enough.”, She requests of me. I nod and walk over to the little green plant.

“Your handful or my handful?”, I ask the woman as I begin to pluck the thyme.

“Yours is fine dear.”, The caretaker answers as she is plucking a few peppers. She continues, “It doesn’t seem like much but it’ll be more than enough for the meal. Maybe even enough for dinner too.” She walks over to me with a smile on her face, reminding me of my mother’s when I was little. “Lydia? Are you alright?”, Fran’s voice caringly asks me as she turns my head to face hers. She was so blurry. “It’ll be okay.”, The woman says as she wraps her arms around me in a hug. The embrace fills me with warmth and melancholy. “Let’s get back to the kitchen.”, She adds as she puts the peppers in my hands and carries me back.

The two of us head back inside to the sight of Viola deboning the now featherless chicken whilst Dandelion is standing in front of the oven holding a string once again. I set the thyme and bell peppers on the island in Viola’s periphery and Fran lowers me to my own feet.

“Got the herbs!”, I announce.

“The bell peppers were ripe so I decided to grab them too.”, Fran adds as Dandelion heads over to the cabinets in the back, the oven fire blazing thanks to her magic. “What should we plan with them?”, The woman asks Viola.

“Chop’em.”, Viola answers as she tosses a few bones onto the island. “We can make a tasty stock with a few of them, water, and some of these bones for dinner.”, Viola orders us as she sets aside more bones. “We’ll use one of the peppers in the salad.”, The elder adds. “Dandelion, you got the salt?”, Viola inquires the teen.

“Yes ma’am.”, Dandelion responds as she walks over to the island. “How much will we need?”, The teen asks as she looks at the deboned chicken.

-- -- --

How do I get Dandelion to teach me magic? I ponder a plan as I eat the chicken salad before me. I cannot really threaten her. I have nothing to really bribe her with. I could technically annoy her into doing it. But that would just make her not really teach me anything, she could possibly merely haze me instead.

“Do you need to go?”, The girl next to me asks. “You’ve got that face again.”, She adds. I stab my fork onto my plate, not realizing I have finished my meal.

“What?”, I respond as I finally register someone talking to me.

“You’ve got that, ‘I gotta go’, face again.”, She reiterates as she takes her last bite.

“I don’t have to.”, I answer, “I’m thinking.”

“That’s weird.”, She says to me with a chuckle. Before I can retort the girl hops off her chair and runs out of the room. I really hate children.

-- -- --

I open my eyes to the darkness. I finally slept well but still no closer to an idea to get Dandelion to teach me.

“Oh good, you’re awake this time.”, Dandelion’s voice whispers before my eyes adjust. The teen grabs my shoulder and helps me out of bed as my sight has adjusted at last. “Let’s get going.”, She says as I get up to my feet. We step out of the cramped bedroom into the hall. A silence falls between us that I break with a sigh in resignation as the two of us walk towards the kitchen. “What’s wrong Lydia?”, Dandelion inquires as she stops us and turns around to face me. I take a moment before finally just giving up.

“Can you teach me magic?”, I blurt out my question in defeat. I expect her to turn me down once again. She squints at me as time feels like it has begun to move like a snail across a yard. I hold my breath as I feel the silence between us begins to feel like it is choking me.

“Fiiiiiiiiiiine.”, Dandelion finally answers with so much irritation I can almost sense my body itch. “I’ll teach you some basic magic later today.”, She continues as she grabs my hand once again. “Happy founding day.”, She adds as she turns back around.