Y12-006 Three Reunited
This was by far the weirdest spell Astrid Dangerfield had ever cast. She gazed with wide eyes as an elderly woman stumbled to her feet. Her strawberry red hair was streaked with grey and her blue eyes darted around the room. “Excuse me! What is going on?” She bristled indignantly. Astrid felt a swooping sensation in the pit of her stomach. “Gr-Gramma?”
The old lady stared at her, and her eyes lit up with recognition. ”It can’t be- Astrid! It is you, isn’t it?” She stroked Astrid’s dark hair. “Oh- it is!”
Astrid shook her head, dazedly. “But you’re dead, Gramma! You died years ago, in a car crash.”
“Did I?” Gramma said. “Well, no time like the present, I say.”
Astrid’s sister Fiona glared at her. “Take it back!”
“I can’t!” Astrid exclaimed. “You know that witches like us are only learning how to use our powers.”
Fiona sighed and turned back to Gramma. “Sorry, but you are going to be stuck in this time line for a while. Genius here somehow managed to magic you into this timeline, and we’re going to have to figure out how to send you back.”
Gramma didn’t seem fussed. “What year is it?”
“2003,” Astrid replied.
Gramma didn’t look bothered. She pottered around the room like she used to. “Look, this grand piano is still her after ten years!”
“Um, Gramma,” Astrid said, cautiously. “Were you a witch too?”
Gramma snapped her head up. “Of course I was! Manners and etiquette!”
There was a whoop from a room and Fiona gasped. “No!” she yelped, dashing into the living room. The others followed her. A young girl with strawberry red hair and a cheeky grin was on the bed. She tried to run past but Fiona grabbed her arm. “Whoa! Not so fast, young lady.” Fiona cast a despairing look at Astrid, who took charge.
“Come on, talk to Gramma!” she snapped, her pale cheeks very red at the sight of ‘Gramma’, who was now in her drawers and corset, attempting to pull on one of Fiona’s dressing gowns. “Don’t make ‘em like they used to,” she muttered. The girl was shunted forward, looking disgusted. Feeling slightly guilty, Astrid pulled Fiona into a broom closet. “This is the most bizarre spell we’ve ever cast.”
“No,” Fiona said, “No, there was the time when I accidentally cloned you, and there was the other time when Lawrence cast a spell that mad us switch bodies.”
“That isn’t helping!” Astrid said. “What’s going on?”
That’s funny, I was going to ask you the same thing!” Fiona hissed back. “Can I say in my defence, that I did not take part in any of this. It was you who thought that casting a spell to make you look youthful was a good idea, and I told you again and again but you didn’t listen!”
“Shut up,” Astrid mumbled, her cheeks going pink. “It’s easy for you. You’ve got lovely fair skin and red hair. My skin is all waxy and my hair’s all dark and oily.”
“Well, thanks to you we’ve got a very old Gramma to deal with and a little girl who looks a lot like me.” Fiona sat down on a bucket and, to Astrid’s despair, started to cry. “I just don’t know w-what to do anymore,” she wept. “I don’t think I’m cut out for being a witch.”
Astrid awkwardly put an arm around her big sister. “Don’t worry, sis, we’ll figure this out. Together.”
Fiona sat upright, her eyes blazing with tears. “Don’t you see?” she shouted, tears falling onto her lap. “We have no idea how to get Gramma back to her timeline, we haven; the faintest clue who this girl is who looks like she’s fallen from the sky”-
“Actually,” Astrid interrupted, “We do know that.”
Fiona looked up.
“Think of it this way,” Astrid said. “We’ve got you, Fiona, from the present. Next Gramma appeared, from the past. Now we have a little girl we never met before. The three generations of Dangerfield’s women united together”-
“My daughter,” Fiona whispered, breathlessly.
“What?”
“She must be my daughter,” Fiona breathed. “Lawrence and I are getting marred this summer- there’s no other explanation. I always wanted a daughter called Treasure with blue eyes and”-
“Fiona!” Astrid said in exasperation, tapping Fiona’s cheek. “Focus! We need to talk to the other two generations and explain that they don’t belong here. That way the spell will activate it.”
Fiona took a deep breath. “Okay.”
They opened the door and walked into the living room. Treasure and her disgruntled looking great grandmother were playing checkers.
“Treasure,” Fiona said gently, helping the small girl up, “It’s time to go home…”
“How do you know my name?” the girl said, looking up at Fiona with big, blue eyes.
“I’m your mother,” Fiona said. “And this is Auntie Astrid.”
Astrid attempted a smile.
“You don’t want to talk to her, though,” Fiona whispered. “She’s a bit grumpy sometimes…”
Treasure giggled.
Astrid helped Gramma up and gave her a quick hug. “See you, Gramma.”
“Were going?” Gramma said, surprised.
“This is going to be hard, Astrid thought.
“Gramma, much as we enjoyed three generations of Dangerfield women reunited, this isn’t how thing are meant to be. Treasure isn’t even conceived yet, and you’re”- Astrid stopped for a moment, because the memories of the crash were too painful. “We can’t rush these things. Let’s just enjoy the moment. Goodbye, Gramma.”
Suddenly, a fierce wind began to blow, and a swirling bubble appeared. Gramma slowly walked towards it, holding hands with Treasure. “Goodbye!” she called.
Fiona tore away from Astrid. “Wait!” She met her daughter’s eyes and ran forward, embracing Treasure in her arms, hugging for the first time. Then Treasure floated off with Gramma through the bubble, and they slowly disappeared. Astrid looked at Fiona, but her eyes were dry. She wasn’t crying, because the next stage of life was soon to come.
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