It must have been very late into the night. The streetlamps were on, the sun had set, and the city had gotten quiet. All alone she was- that is to speak of Awa. A young black girl, as one could guess by seeing her in her school uniform. Awa managed to keep a bright face this late at night while walking down the street. Her eyes were free of dark rings, her brows were relaxed, her pace was steady, and her posture was straight. While walking down the sidewalk along an acceptably lit street, Awa spotted something peeking from a trash bin. It was some sort of strange animal. Its figure was unprecedented, and its movements were uncanny. As the creature faced towards Awa in a very deliberate manner, Awa felt like her heart dropped and her legs were about to fail. The creature leapt down from the bin and slowly approached Awa, and Awa stayed put as if her legs were stone. Now only a mere three paces from Awa, the creature spoke, "Please, help me."
"Am I high?" Awa spoke, as much to herself as it was a reply. The creature told her, "No, you're not hi-"
"Oh my god, I am high! Was it the piece of candy I found on the floor, or did someone lace my water bottle again?" Awa cried.
"You're not high! Now please, help me, dammit. I'm starving and there's nothing edible in that trash bin."
Like a light went on in her attic, Awa snapped back into reality. "Oh," She exclaimed. She swung her backpack to her front and rummaged through it, "I might have something. What exactly do you… does your species eat? I have a half-eaten bag of Cheetos-"
"Eww, I'm not eating your leftovers!"
"Uh… okay. I have Cliff Bar."
"Don't you have anything better?"
"I have an Almond Joy-"
"Cliff Bar it is!"
Awa unwrapped the energy bar, kneeled, then offered it to the critter. As the critter approached Awa, the streetlamp shone on him. The critter appeared to be some sort of raccoon with zebra stripes. As the critter ate out of Awa's hand, Awa asked it, "What are you?"
"A failed experiment that escaped."
"Wait, for real?"
"No, but wouldn't that be cool? In reality, I'm more like a fairy from outer space."
Despite not having a human mouth, the critter seemed to pronounce English just fine. The critter finished the energy bar, then Awa continued the conversation by asking, "I'm Awa, by the way. Do you have a name?"
"Yes. It's Erpet."
"Sounds French."
"That's because I am French."
"But you just said you're from outer space."
"Outer space is France."
"Wait, all of outer space is France?"
"Always has been."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Nah, I'm just messing around. I did start out in France, though."
"Start what out? Like, do fairies have jobs?"
"Yep, we sure do. Nine to five, every day. Our job is to make contracts with girls."
Awa waited for Erpet to keep talking, but he sat there content with the silence.
"Well, don't just stop there! You have to explain yourself when you say something like that. What contracts?"
"I was getting there, be patient. As a show of gratitude for feeding me, I can grant you one wish. However, no wish gets granted without strings attached. This is the contract that fairies make."
"Of. Fucking. Course," Awa sighed, "What are these strings I gotta worry about?"
"You only get one wish, and in exchange you must work for me for two years."
"You want to be my manager?"
"In a way, yeah. And unlike the managers at McDonalds, you can actually hug me."
"So, what exactly will I be doing, working for you?" Awa sounded concerned.
"You'll become a magical girl! Instead of having your beauty sleep, you'll be spending your nights fighting witches."
"Witches? Like a 'Wizard of Oz' witch, or a 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' witch?"
"Uh, neither, actually. Witches, as I refer to them, are the physical embodiment of hate, malice, and despair."
"I need to think this over. It's a lot to take in" Awa rubbed her forehead like she was having a headache, "How long do I have before having to decide?"
"I'll give you three days, starting now."
Awa took a deep breath, then replied, "I'm going home so I can sleep on this. How do we stay in contact?"
"I have my ways of locating people."
"Okay… Then I'll see you soon."
Awa continued down her path, walking past the trash bin. Before she made it any further, Erpet called out, "Awa."
"Yeah?" She turned around.
"I don't suppose that the place you're staying at allows pets, hm?"
Awa let out a deep sigh.
"It's my parents' house, but they won't be back for another week. As long as you don't shed like a motherfucker, you can stay for a while."
"Awa, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
"Please, you're already tripping me out with all this magic shit. I don't need you quoting movies from a hundred years ago."
That night, Awa tossed and turned in her bed. Every hour or so, she got up and performed some mundane task. Be it checking her phone, charging her phone, checking her phone again, Awa tried different ways to distract herself. Finally, she got the slightest semblance of sleep at five in the morning. The alarm clock sang the song of its people at six, and Awa woke up. Erpet was resting like a puppy on the couch. Awa's morning routine hadn't changed much, in light of last night's events. While making her breakfast, she asked Erpet, "Tell me more about this magical girl business. Am I going to be some sort of magician?"
Erpet perked up, "Yes! Although you won't be a phony like those street magicians."
"Yeah, and next you'll tell me wrestling isn't real."
Awa placed two eggs and piece of toast on a plate. Erpet couldn't help but ask, "I'm sorry, but what is that?"
"This? I sprinkled eggshells on my eggs."
"What… the fuck?"
"Piss off. I like it this way."
With a fork in her mouth, Awa used her free hand to gesture for Erpet to continue. Erpet stated, "Magical girls wield magic, as implied in the title, to fight witches. I cannot say it'll be easy. Witches are wicked beings, like 'Canadian goose bred with a magpie' wicked."
Awa swallowed her food, and asked, "How strong are magical girls?"
"It varies. I have no idea how potent your magic will be. That is, not until you sign the contract."
"And my wish? You'll grant me anything I want?"
"I'll do my best. You can trust me to do a better job than the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Just know that I have made miracles happen."
Awa muttered to herself, "Two years, damn…"
"Is that a problem?" Erpet had overheard her.
"In exchange for a miracle? No, I guess not."
Awa put her dishes away. Erpet climbed on top of the table and asked, "So, have you decided?"
"No, not just yet. And no paws on the table! It's an antique."
Erpet jolted down at Awa's words. He looked up the leg of the table and muttered, "'Made in China…'"
Awa donned her uniform, put her shoes on the wrong feet, put her shoes on correctly, and then stepped outside. Awa asked Erpet, "Are you just going to chill here all day?"
"If you don't mind. I might watch some Netflix to pass the time."
"Then I'll be back home at around eight. Break something and I break you. Bye!"
With that said, Awa made a brisk trip towards her school. There were tall trees on either side of the wide residential streets. People drove above the speed limit in this neighborhood, but speeding tickets were as rare here as single story houses were in this part of town. Awa's path to class was partially guided by flowers, starting from the sidewalk along the campus and ending at just past the front courtyard. Awa entered the main building, and reached her first period classroom shortly thereafter. She calmly descended into her chair and placed her bag beside her. Awa turned her head to meet the gaze of a blonde girl.
"You look like shit." She told Awa.
"And yet I look like Cinderella compared to you."
"Yeah, before she got the magic makeover."
Awa had taken off her scowl and shifted her face to a grin.
"Thanks, Mary. I love compliments first thing in the morning."
Mary didn't reply immediately. She took another two seconds to get a good look before saying, "Jesus, Awa."
"It's that obvious?"
"Of course it is. What happened? Did you get mugged last night?"
"No."
"Just tell me his name, I'll fuck him up for you. Or is it a she?"
"Nothing bad happened. I just had a lot on my mind last night and didn't get any fucking sleep."
Mary blurted out her words, "Well?! What's on your mind? Boy problems?"
"No! Stop assuming shit. Just let me work this out on my own."
Mary glanced at the clock, then turned back to say, "Late again? How in the fuck?"
"Yah, tell me about it. It's like her specialty, being late."
"We live in the same fuckin' dorm! We leave at the same fuckin' time! What the fuck is she doing?"
The teacher calls out to them from across the room, "Please don't swear in my class."
Awa and Mary gave their teacher an annoyed glance before Awa resumed the conversation, "You tell me. You know her better than I do."
Just seconds before the bell rung, a Mexican girl walks through the doorway. Mary clapped like a drunken idiot and shouted, "There she is! Woman of the hour! Give it up, y'alls."
"Alright, settle down everyone." The teacher tiredly said.
"It's just me, teach. I'll be good." Mary responded out loud. The teacher had made his way across the room to meet the girl, and he said to her without much subtlety, "You've been late nine times already, Juana. One more tardy and I'll have to mark you as absent from then on, instead of just 'late.'"
"Sorry, Doc. Won't happen again, Doc." She replied monotonously.
"Just take your seat."
Juana took a seat by Awa and Mary. She leaned to her side, towards Awa, and whispered, "Hm, did something happen?"
"She looks like shit, right?" Mary interjected quietly.
"Ha-ha! Eat shit." Awa said in a hushed voice.
"Why would I eat you? I'm not a lesbian. Oo-woo." Mary replied, feigning confusion.
Juana straightened back into her chair. Awa whispered to her, "I'll explain another day."
The hour passed, and the group of friends split up to attend their separate classes. The group rejoined for lunch, but this time a fourth girl was present. A Chinese girl, who was dressed the least informal among the group, sat at Awa's table.
"Hey, girlfriend!" Mary sounded like a caricature of a valley girl.
"Hey, girlfriends!" The fourth girl said out loud.
"Hey, Jing." Awa added, although her voice seemed a bit thin.
"Hello, Jing Li. So nice to see you again." Juana spoke in an ominous tone.
"Ugh, God, no old movie references before I've had my lunch." Awa pleaded.
"Is this the part where I ask why you aren't looking so good?" Jing inquired.
"Am I being punked? Did they pay you to ask that?" Awa turned to glare at Mary and Juana, "Seriously, girls?"
"Hey, I didn't do ain't nuffin!" Mary shook her head.
"I might have mentioned something, perhaps." Juana sheepishly admitted.
"Please, I have headache from a lack of sleep. I don't want your group intervention shit right now. Can we put this on ice?" Awa begged.
"Wait, can you repeat that last part?" Mary asked, "I didn't catch the name of the person you wanted me to ice."
All four girls had the same next two classes, but their conversation had very little involvement from Awa. Once school ended, Awa made her way to the gym and asked her coach if she could skip today's training. With her school matters settled, she made no other stops before heading straight home. Once she was home, the first thing she did was slump into her couch. Just as Awa was about to nap, Erpet asked her, "Have you made a decision yet?"
"I don't bother you when you're trying to rest!" Awa sat up and faced Erpet, "And yes, I've decided. I'm making a wish."
"That's good to hear. Just tell me what-"
"But, I have but one question before I make my wish."
"Oh, okay… What would like to know?"
"Is it possible to wish for my own protection?"
"What kind of protection are we talking about? Because your wish might yield latex instead of kevlar. Know what I'm saying? It's happened before."
"Ew, gross. I meant protection from harm, in general. Can you make it happen?"
"Yesss- kind of. I can't guarantee it'll be infallible protection, or a constantly present form of protection. But you will have protection in various ways at times."
"Great, then I wish I was lucky."