ATHENA: Not a goddess but a creature conjured for advice. Once called upon, an Athena will guide the caller to their fated destination and purpose.
Tim growled out his truck noises as he sat, buckled into the seat of the grocery cart. I could only smile at my little brother's innocence, grateful that he at least had it for now. "What ya playing, Tim-tom?" I cooed to my little brother as I halted the cart next to the shelf that held Tim's favorite cereal; Cookie Crisp. Tim glanced up for a brief moment from his toy pick-up truck before turning back to it and answering without looking at me. "I, is playing the fast and the furry." Tim answered, his voice small at his four-year old state. I smirked at this as I dropped the box of chocolate-chip flavored cereal into the back of the cart without Tim realizing. He began to make the engine noises once more as I turned to push the cart along yet again.
My dad had warned me that Tim had walked in on him watching 'The Fast and the Furious' and had taken a liking to it. He insisted that my little brother had been playing with toy cars forever since then. I chuckled at my little brother's antics as I pushed the cart in the direction of the freezer-section. With the amount of chocolate within my smaller brother's cereal, we would have to balance it out with frozen vegetables that I could cook together.
"You want some baby food, Tim-tom?" I teased my smaller brother as I searched the frozen glass of every compartment, searching for the vegetables. Almost instantly Tim's tongue darted out in disgust at the mention of baby food. "Nuh-uh, Sib," Tim growled out. "I is a big boy, Sib; I is a big boy." He announced proudly. I snickered at the thought of Tim being a "big boy". He never seemed to grow any older despite his change of appearance and his now talent of talking. "Oh, really, Tim-tom? Are you really a big boy?" I teased as I pulled open the freezer compartment that held the frozen carrots. Tim's head bobbed vigorously as he settled his toy truck onto his lap. "Yep! Yep! I is almost this many!" He cried out, raising up both hands wide open.
I could only laugh at Tim and his mind. "Sorry to say, honey, but ya got six more years to go." I laughed as I dropped the frozen carrots into the back of the cart. Tim's eyes caught hold of the carrots and followed them to the back of the cart. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened in delight as his eyes laid upon the Cookie Crisp. His small hands darted to the back of the cart and his body twisted in a way that concerned me to reach the chocolaty cereal. "Ah," I quipped righting him in his seat. "You'll have to wait until morning; that's breakfast, not a snack." I scolded as I placed my hands on the handlebar to drive the cart forward.
I pushed the cart forward at the end of the aisle when abruptly the front end of another grocery cart appeared and collided with mine, the metals scraping and scratching. Immediately I peered down to check that Tim was alright though it was a small collision. "Oh, Simone, honey! I am just so terribly sorry," A ragged raspy voice cried out from the handlebar of the opposite cart. I whipped my head upwards, shocked to see the elderly woman from across the street. Mrs. Hoffman had always been a kind old gossiper that had gotten me lemonade as a young girl and paid me to shovel her snow in the winters. She was a small woman, smaller than my own tiny form only by a few short inches at 4'5". Her long mahogany hair had always been pulled up in a messy bun, always clipped at the back with a jeweled pendant of sorts. Today she appeared more casual than I'd ever seen her in an olive and custard plaid day-dress and a set of Mary-Jane slip-ons.
"Its fine, Mrs. Hoffman." I said as I pulled my cart back just the tiniest bit to allow the elderly woman to go forward. "Why, look at you!" Mrs. Hoffman exclaimed as she came up parallel to me. The elderly woman reached a frail hand out, running her palm down my face in an odd way. I furrowed my brow in confusion at why she was doing this. "My, child, you have certainly grown. When I last saw you, you were packing your bags and ready to hitch it on out of your papa's house." Mrs. Hoffman announced. "I wouldn't say that; I just wanted to move out," I managed to murmur though it didn't make it to Mrs. Hoffman's ears. "Oh, but look at me; I better not dawdle. Mr. Hoffman is expecting supper by seven." Mrs. Hoffman said as she began to make her way away from me.
I turned to Tim, my eyes wide and my expression announcing my confusion at the abrupt meeting with my previous neighbor. "What do you think that was, Tim-tom?" I murmured rhetorically. Tim looked up, reaching his hands high and giving a menacing expression before releasing a child-like roar. "Ooh, a monster, you say," I gasped playfully.
"Says you'll be guided to your fated destination and purpose." Donna announced, reading from the Bequemlichkeit as she dropped the bird feather into the basin. I rolled my eyes at the woman as she passed the knife to me. "And then two drops of human blood." I murmured as I lifted the knife to my index finger. "What does it even mean when it says 'guide'?" I questioned as I slit my finger, wincing at the sharp yet thin pain of the cut. "Not sure; maybe make little differences or something. It could be gradual, I'm betting." Donna sighed as she watched my blood drop onto the feathers within the basin. "So it might take a while before it kicks in." She said, reaching behind her to the book of matches. I frowned at this though I couldn't expect any less of the supernatural world, being slow and causing me to become impatient.
"Alright; here goes."
