Sebastian

I watch Cassandra walk away, my face still feeling hot from the encounter. Watching the fence, I recall not seeing a whole lot of choices when it comes to tools in Aunt Mariam’s garage. I suppose she always used magic to repair things. Unfortunately, I don’t know any magic and I’m sure not going to pretend to. So far I’ve been managing to fool everyone, they just assumed I know because of Aunt Mariam.

Locking the door to the house, I head into town. The mid morning sun was inching into midday and the sea breeze was accompanied by the scent of low tide, the briny mix of sand and sea. With my hands in my pockets, I cross the Main Street towards Harry’s Hardware store. As I walk, I wonder if I could possibly buy everything I need to buy without raising any suspicion. I could use the same excuse I used with Cassandra.

The doorbell above my head tinkles as I walk in. A man wearing denim overalls and the name tag Harry, stands at the glass counter near the entrance as if he was waiting for me. I smile and wave.

He waves back and adds, “Let me know if you need anything, son.”

I nod and head to the back of the store. Along the way, I grab a plastic basket. I walk down the short aisle of nails, screws and hammers. The store is quite small and I notice that there isn’t an aisle on power tools. I spot the area with the screw drivers, luckily I find a set with varying sizes. Feeling like someone is watching me, I peer up the aisle. Harry briefly lock eyes with me and then proceeds to place gloves on a hanging rack.

I grab a set and go to the screws and anchors. Taking a box of each, I realize that the best approach would be to replace the hinge. I wasn’t sure how old the hinge was and to avoid coming back to the hardware store I decide to find a hinge. I walk back and forth between the five aisles. I sigh, knowing that I would need to ask Harry where they are.

Placing the basket on the glass counter, Harry peers into it and says, “Ready to check out?”

“Actually I need one more thing,” I say and scratch my cheek. “Where do you have your gate hinges?”

“Ah, follow me.”

Following Harry past the brooms, buckets, and mops; he stops at the end of the aisle and points.

“These are what I have left. I won’t get another shipment from the Outside until next week,” Harry says.

“Thank you. I’ll take a look.”

Harry doesn’t make a move to leave, instead he says, “Got yourself a project with a gate?”

I nod and look at one of the silver hinges.

“I like a person who doesn’t depend on magic to get things done. You would think I don’t get a lot of customers because they can just use their magic, but they come in as a last resort,” Harry says and he takes hold of his overall straps. “They come to find that magic has limits.”

“Well, I do like doing things myself.”

“I know. You’re buying more than any other person I’ve seen. You want to do it from top to bottom.”

After placing a hinge into the basket, I follow Harry to the counter and he rings me up. I always wonder why they use money, why not just barter. Spellbound Cove is like a remote island, partially connected to the outside world, yet it functions almost like any other town. Even if I live here another few months, I still won’t understand Spellbound Cove.

I thank Harry and grab the gifted tote bag with my supplies. Outside, the sun hides behind a few clouds. The wind has died down enough to hear the ocean. As I cross the street in front of a car, I hear my name. I search and find that it’s coming from the car.

“Hey, Jolene,” I say as I walk up to her driver side window.

Her freckled face beams at me with a smile. She wears an orange blouse and her dark hair is pulled back in a ponytail.

“Something broken?” Jolene asks.

“Oh, it’s the front gate. I’m replacing the hinge on it.”

“You’re doing it yourself?”

I nod.

“I usually do things without using magic too. Just to be sure it gets fixed right,” Jolene says and her eyebrows knit.

“I like to be handy myself,” I say, feeling foolish for saying it that way.

Jolene chuckles, which makes me smile realizing she has a crude sense of humor.

“Since you’re still new in town, maybe we can catch up and I can show you around?” Jolene says.

“Uh, sure. I would like that.”

“Maybe Friday evening, after I get out from school. If we stay out late for some reason then I don’t have to worry about feeling groggy. My kids will certainly pick up on that.”

I swallow, imagining what staying out late meant, “Ok, I can meet you at the Coral Square then?”

“That’s perfect! Well, I gotta go. I have papers to grade before this beautiful Sunday ends,” She says.

Getting back on the sidewalk, I hear Jolene toot the horn twice and I wave. She’s been a consistent friendly face and I appreciate her helping me out. She had helped me clean out my Aunt’s place and she had brought floral bouquets that she had put together herself for the wake. Jolene had worked for a short while with my Aunt at the school, before Aunt Mariam became a retired teacher.

Passing by Coral Square, I see the bubbling fountain with its statue of the founding person of Spellbound Cove, Lydia Smith. It looks like she’s being hoisted by the water. I don’t know much about Lydia, except that she started Spellbound Cove with her magic; maybe she was a witch or a wizard, not sure. On the other side of the street is Sam, he’s kicking what I would assume is a pebble. He seems to be heading the other way, with his head down.

I place the tote bag near the gate and start on the gate. Putting in a couple of hours of work, the sun and sea almost meeting. I wipe my brow and place the wrench back in the tote. Peering up and down the street, I was glad that no one was around to ask any questions. I don’t have any answers to give and most likely never will.

I head back into the house and set the tote bag down near the door so that I could remember to organize them into the garage space. My stomach gurgles as I reach for the handle of the refrigerator as if anticipating a meal. I pull out a bottle of kombucha and some leftovers from Mel’s Diner. Popping open the plastic lid, I get a whiff of the savoriness of the meat loaf and potatoes.

Placing the microwavable container into the microwave, I remember buying the appliance a few weeks ago. It took some stealthy moves to take it from the appliance section of Electronics Outlet to the check out counter. Luckily they had just installed the self check out earlier because the store owner had past away and they were short on staff.

Apparently, there were others who could create heat with their magic, Aunt Mariam was one, hence the lack of microwave in her house. The microwave pinged and I took out the steaming meal. I stare at it. Concentrating on the meat loaf and potatoes, I try to think of heat. I knew the leftovers still needed more time in the microwave, but I thought maybe I can heat it up like Aunt Mariam used to do.

Nothing seems to happen. I take out a fork and stir the contents and then try again. The meal doesn’t seem any hotter than it was when I first took it out. I sigh. Taking the container to the dining table with the kombucha in hand, I sit at the head of the table the faces the bay window. The view is of the ocean, with its jagged companions. Since the first day I saw the view, it has always comforted me.

I could see why Aunt Mariam never wanted to leave Spellbound Cove, even though my mother tried to convince her many times to. My mother gave up after a while to the point that she stopped sending my aunt letters. Everyone in the family excommunicated from Aunt Mariam, they didn’t understand who she was, like I did.

Aunt Mariam was always eccentric as I remember it as a child. She would do magic tricks, which everyone thought were tricks, yet I knew that it was real. She knew that I knew as well. It was like a secret between the two of us. Much to the chagrin of my mother and father, she would show up unannounced and would lavish everyone with gifts and tell stories of Spellbound Cove.

One day I told my mother that I wanted to visit Aunt Mariam and she scolded me saying that it was not a place that I can go because it was strange and not safe. Yet, it didn’t stop me from imagining what it was like. I kept all the gifts that Aunt Mariam would give me, like the luminscent shell, the walking wooden stick man made from sea wood, and the pair of self tying shoes.

I chuckle as I remember those days, wishing I could live in Spellbound Cove. As I seat taking a fork of meat loaf into my mouth, I see that I have managed to get here. I don’t know how long I can stay, and if anyone would say anything, but one thing I know for certain I can’t let anyone know that I can’t do magic.