#OriginalFiction – November 6

As she got near the house, she could see her mother’s car still in the driveway. Soon her mother would be gone to work the dinner shift at the restaurant, but until then, she knew her mother would be moving unpredictably about the house. . It would not do to have her mother see the lockbox. There would be too many questions, and her mother did not understand the magic.

There was a wood pile at the side of the house, covered with a tarp to keep the logs from getting too damp. She balanced the lockbox carefully atop a section of stacked wood and then pulled the tarp back over it.

She would have to think of what to offer her brother for his help. She could hope that he would do it for the mystery, but she knew better. He understood the magic well enough to know that he could make her pay for his help.

She entered the house through the back door, hoping to make it to her room with as little interaction as possible.

“Mina, is that you?”

“Yes, mom.”

“Thank goodness. Aria called in sick. I need you to come work the dinner shift at the restaurant with me tonight.” Her mother stepped into the hall, blocking her path. “Just look at you! You’re covered in dust. You can’t go to the restaurant like that. Hurry, go change.”

Mina thought of trying to argue with her mother, but the truth was, that was even worse than trying to argue with the magic. If her older sister had called in sick, there was no way her mother could handle the dinner rush all on her own. And since the restaurant was what kept them all fed and clothed, she would need to go with her mother.

She slipped past her mom in the hall. “Five minutes,” her mother said.

“Yes, mom.” Mina closed the door to her room. She quickly changed out of the clothes covered in the dust of the old shack into something clean. Well, maybe she could simply pay her brother out of the tips she would get tonight.