It has been five days. Five days of me going from door to door. Five days of trying to talk people into letting me bless their homes, brew them a nice holy potion, or even weave them a dreamcatcher!
Five days, and still no job offers!
I sighed as I remembered why that was. The curse on my family was laid before even my great-grandmother was born, back when wizards hated witches and witches turned their noses up at wizards.
Strife. That was the name of the curse. All of the women in my family would strive for their entire lives without any hope for them at all. Nothing would ever be easy. Money would always be tight.
I hated that—I hated it more than I hated having to eat beans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, knowing full well that my diet would soon be dominated by nettle.
Even the regular patrons who wanted me to read their fortune ignored me!
I shook my head. Come now, Millie, I told myself, as I wandered the streets searching for a house. I hadn't tried to charm up yet. "But there has to be something you can do!"
Even if it was a chore.
I walked. Something wet fell on my nose. I was still wearing my official witch's robes, but I knew I would soon need to sell even those.
And probably parade around in a potato sack dress.
"Dear Mother Nature," I murmured under my breath. "Give me one million quests, if you wish, but just get this curse off me!"
Demanding something of the universe was always done by saying please and thank you. But I was hungry, had a headache from the lack of water, and I was pretty sure that the last can of beans I ate was off.
My eyes scanned the area. At the far corner, there was a single house that looked abandoned! This was my chance to get a roof over my head!
I sprinted towards it. Trying to get out of the rain. But I didn't sprint too fast. Just in case…
I opened the rusty gate with a kick to the iron. It was not the most ladylike thing to do, but with the curse, the probability of my being struck by lightning was very high.
Almost 100%!
As soon as I entered the house, my heart dropped. An elderly lady was near a small fire made up of books.
I tried to sneak away, but she looked my way.
Her eyes were white, her wrinkled face lit up!
"Oh! A guest!"
The woman had no mana in her veins. She was no magical creature—just an old lady who had been left to rot in the ruin of her house. I took off my pointy hat and shook off my boots.
The place might be a hovel, but that didn't mean I had to treat it as such.
"May I sit by you, ma'am?" I asked, not moving from my spot. "I have a can of… beans."
I had no idea if the woman had anything to eat or not. But I still felt like offering.
Just in case the poor lady had not eaten in the last couple of days.
"Oh, how kind! Do come in! I have a pot!"
My heart skipped a beat.
That was my last can of beans. It was only big enough for one person. I had always believed I had an angel and a demon on my shoulders. One of them told me to run. The other said to me that nettle is perfectly healthy.
I choose the nettle over the shame of leaving such a happy grandma hungry.
"That's nice!" I even tried to charm a smile on my face.
The lady placed a nice, clean pot on the hook over her fire from a pile next to her. I opened the last can of beans.
Slowly, my last rations heated up in the small pot, their water evaporating like my hopes and dreams.
"You did a good deed," the lady said, as she took a bowl. I watched as she poured the beans soon after. "Cursed, are you?"
I nodded. My stomach grumbled.
"That's not nice. But if you keep on doing good, your karma will reset!" The old lady winked at me and vanished into thin air!
My beans disappeared with her…
I sighed.
"Well, Millie," I told myself, as I scanned the abandoned house. "At least you have somewhere to sleep now."
My name, Millie Brown, was there, in bright golden letters. The hovel belonged to me. I smiled!
"There is no time to sleep!"
The battle before me was to be a grand one! This place had more cobwebs than it did wallpaper! More dust bunnies than floorboards!
But it was mine!
I was to be the first Brown woman to own a house! The first person who didn't have to get married to live in one!
I pulled my sleeves up. The spell was at the tip of my tongue!
Only for a message screen to appear before me!
"No magic allowed in the house!"
I sighed.
Oh, of course.
I began to walk around in search of a broom. There was no way I would be sleeping in this house before I got some of the dust out!
And so, just because I didn't say please, I got saddled with one million quests to end my family's curse.
Something that would take me years. Something that would make me laugh would make me cry.
But, hey, at least I had a house!
Just as I thought that, the floorboard under me gave!
I fell in the basement! Right on the poker table of a group of gnomes!
"Oh, it's the new roommate," one of them said, as he took a sip from his glass. I had no idea what was in it, but it looked like a golden liquid.
"Roommate?" I yelped! The hell! The house was mine!
"Yes! This is a correction center!" The gnome looked at my bare feet. "Did you get sent in here for indecent exposure?"
I got off the poker table and looked at the hole I had made by falling.
A correction center?
Oh, for fudge's sake!