Free Everspell by Samantha Combs Page B

Between Prudence and Logan, they both had ways of soothing Serena when she got wound up tight as a top. As all of us had had to face at one time or another, our way of life wasn’t an easy one.
    “Today’s orders are all out and tomorrow’s are prepped. Since everything is done, and the afternoon is slowing down, I may close the shop early. Jade and I will be over as soon as I get dinner done.”
    “Oh, no you don’t. Dinner is over here tonight. It’s about time we did a big family night together. I won’t take no for an answer.”
    I laughed. One of our big overstuffed dinner nights sounded like heaven. Jade and I eating alone at our dining room table meant for six could seem a little sad. And when she went out with Sully, which was often, I ate alone. A lot.
    “You got it. We’ll see you later.”
    “All right. Bring a pretty centerpiece home. See you then.”
    I hung up the phone and went back to work. The afternoon moved forward as quickly as the morning did, and before I knew it, I had finished all the prep work. I decided I would close the shop early and I locked the front door and turned the OPEN sign to the CLOSED side and drew the shades.
    As soon as I turned back to the counter, I knew something seemed different. I no longer stood in the center of Free Spirit Flowers , my boutique flower shop. It seemed to no longer exist. I looked around warily, and I could see that the stalks of beautiful blooms in their vases I had so recently been arranging had also changed. In their place were ugly, snarling flowers with live heads, bobbing and leaning toward me with tiny rows of snapping teeth. Quickly I backed up out of their reach, and straight into the outstretched arms of thick, ropy vines that appeared out of nowhere, snaking their way around the frame of the front door, and down and around the freezer case where we kept the delicate flowers and roses.
    I tried to cast a spell to keep them at bay but found my powers had been compromised. When had that happened? The vines slithered around my waist and arms and began to tighten. I grabbed the closest one to me and yanked it hard, loosening myself from its leafy clutches. I ducked underneath it and whirled around toward to the counter. Several stalks I had cut earlier, intending to bunch and tie, lay on the counter. As soon as I got close, the stalks transformed into a pile of writhing serpents, some of them dropping to the floor and slithering away. I screamed and ran around to the back of the shop. Why did I have no powers? How long had that been the case? I had to get control of this situation before it got control of me. About to mindcall for help, I heard his voice.
    “Mom! Mom! We’re here! Don’t worry! Serena is casting a spell right now! We’ll get you out of here!”
    I peeked out from the back room and was relieved to see my brave son and his amazing girlfriend standing in the center of the shop. Serena had her eyes closed and her arms waved. As she did that, the hoard of snakes turned, in the blink of an eye, into a pile of curling ribbon. Then she directed her attention to the overgrown weeds now nearly covering the front door and refrigerated case. She reached out for one of the vines and as she touched it, it turned to water and splashed to the floor at Logan’s feet. Lastly, she pointed at the flowers with the hideous heads that had rows and rows of razor-sharp little teeth. Right before my eyes, the petals of each flower rose up and closed over the head of the flower. Even as the flower-heads protested, the petals closed and twisted until the heads gave a final twitch and ceased movement. Serena made a final chopping motion through the air and beheaded every single flower, with Logan handily catching the heads in a bucket as they fell. He then lit a match and we solemnly watched them burn in the bottom of their make-shift grave.
    “Serena, Logan, thank the stars you got here in time. Something’s happened to my powers. I can’t seem to