Rhian Oran and the Floating Calcite
Deliberately awoken by her chao, Enki, Rhian Oran arose from the warm shield of her duvet. Blinking slowly, the delicate strands of led lights dangling above her bed came into focus. She stretched her long legs, and feet snuggled in her fuzzy plush socks, and reached over to part the heavy macramé curtain she'd made to surround her bed last summer. With three roommates, Rhian Oran craved a private little cave of her own and had done her best to create one in her tiny room. Enki had bounced on her bed because it was apparently breakfast time. Rhian Oran slipped on her worn BTS hoodie, still stained from someone spilling their soda on her at the last concert. As she meandered through the open plan loft to the kitchenette, she thought of her plans for today. Even though she had lived in the loft for a while, work had kept her too busy to really make the place her own other than her bed. She thought of the job she'd recently been fired from, working in fast food hadn't been terribly exciting but at least it paid the bills. As much as she relished the thought of having a couple free days to look for a new job and finally set up her altar, the prospect of not getting an offer soon was anxiety inducing. She shook the thought from her mind and opened the fridge. Reaching for her favorites, she got ready to make a delicious vegan breakfast for two.
Enki of course ate mostly fruit, and since Rhian Oran was vegan that meant they could share most meals. She quickly washed the Vitamix on the counter which still contained the leftovers of Brix's green smoothie from her 5 am post workout. After a quick scrub with purified water and some thieves essential oil, Rhian Oran dropped in two cups of fresh berries from the nearby forest, a frozen banana, 2 tablespoons of freeze-dried organic acai powder, and a cup of oat milk. Pouring the acai mixture into two stoneware bowls, Rhian Oran topped them with some coconut shavings and made her way to the living room. What a generous way to describe this space in the loft, sparsely decorated but comfortable. The trio of roomies had collected an old electrical wire spool for a table and decoupaged it with old issues of Vogue and Cat Fancy. They paired this with a beanbag from Binx's old bedroom at her parent's place, and an armchair from the thrift store they all pitched in on. With only two chairs, they took turns sitting on the floor for dinner when all three of them were home. This was rare, these days, since Clea had taken a promotion from server to bartender at Seacrest once she turned 21. She was the oldest of the trio, Binx and Rhian Oran were both 19, but Binx was 7 months older than Rhian Oran. She sat Enki's bowl on the cement floor near the armchair, and as she slouched over her own bowl to eat the reflected on her decision to move to the city.
When she was younger, she dreamed of moving to Empire City. Binx moving here first with her cousin Clea made it easier, sure, but living in the city wasn't everything she thought it would be. From the outside, from the flyover cities, you could only see the glamour and bright lights in movies. Up close, the city can be scary, dark and dirty. Garbage piles lined certain streets, and everywhere you went you were invisible. With so many people here, you could almost float in between conversations and fights on the street like a ghost. Rhian Oran often found herself staring too long at a young couple sharing a Frappuccino, or a mother telling her child to stay closer to her. Once she realized her social faux pas, she shook the entrancement from her mind. She'd be lost in her own world, observing, learning, imagining their lives away from this moment. Does the mother always care for her daughter so much, or when they get home does she sink into her cell phone and ignore her toddler playing alone? Does the couple really love each other? Is this their first date or their thirtieth? Does she know he still has Tinder installed and just hidden in a secret folder? Does he know about her credit card debt? It was too personal, too presumptuous, she knew. She'd blink and realize the suppositions she had just made of these strangers, and for a moment she'd wonder if they knew. Could they tell she had been thinking of them? So she'd shake the whole thought away from her mind as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, even though nobody ever noticed how she'd stared. She was a slight girl, only 5' 2". Her shoes did nothing to enhance her height. With her mousy brown hair pulled into a braid, and overly casual band t-shirt and crocs, Rhian Oran was easy to overlook, even with her dusky purple fur. She wondered, "How long will I make it in the city? I have friends, I know, but I'm always alone. Is it because deep down that's what I want for myself?" Cleaning up the bowls from breakfast, Rhian Oran poured a cup of coffee from the chemex in the fridge. As she added her oat milk and stevia she realized she couldn't remember if this was iced coffee she'd made on purpose, or just old coffee she'd shoved in the fridge. She turned around too quickly from the kitchenette, her clumsy feet tripped on the braided rug she'd made from her old jeans. Just as the coffee threatened to spill from her mug onto the cement, she tilted the cup and saved it. She needed this coffee, last night had been a late one visiting Clea at Seacrest.
Even though Rhian Oran couldn't drink, she liked to visit and sample the kombucha on tap the trendy establishment brewed. Clea even named a flavor after her, and Binx too. There was Binxberry, blueberry and anise mixed to create a surprisingly milk brew that reminded them of booberry cereal and of course Oran-ge Dreams, after Rhian Oran. Pretty straightforward flavored of orange and turmeric, Rhian Oran actually didn't like orange, but the name was too perfect of a fit to not be used. Of course, the brews rotated out based on what the staff had been making, and last night actually Rhian Oran had enjoyed a beautiful hibiscus and blackberry kombucha, but also stayed out far too late. Seacrest is a chill spot, with too many manbuns and Birkenstocks to be honest, but Rhian Oran liked the familiarity of being a regular and having a connection with the staff, all Clea's friends. Binx worked at the flower shop just a block away too, so it was an easy place for the group to meet up. The bar had light snacks, all vegetarian but quite a few good vegan options mixed in. Binx had missed lunch yesterday, so they ordered the hummus tray as soon as they arrived. While Binx devoured the assorted veggies, Rhian Oran scanned the room.
She fell into a slight trance, dazed by the aesthetic of the club. She spotted a tall woman with warm brown fur, clad in a vintage brown jacket with leather fringe and torn black jean shorts. She adjusted the wide, round gold glasses on her foxlike nose as she made intense eye contact downward with a gray mouse. The mouse was much shorter than the fox, and so uniquely dressed in only pastels. Many of the customers here had a specific look they wore exclusively; Rhian Oran had always loved this idea but never followed through on it. She began writing the story of them inside her mind. Had they just met? No, she could tell from the way the mouse put her hand on the fox's arm, they knew each other. The fox had such a confident posture, leaning one arm on the counter, shoulders back, all her weight on one leg with her other crossed behind. She sipped on a large beer, likely a local craft brew. She smiled at the mouse, who bit her lip shyly. The fox tucked one of the mouse's rainbow dreadlocks behind her shoulder as the smaller woman blushed. Rhian Oran knew this was love, early love but still, a closeness she hadn't known she was missing. In this moment of intimacy, she suddenly knew why she had felt so alone in the city. There were no quiet moments here where she could feel her heart thumping in her chest. No eyes where she saw her future reflected before her. Not like it had been back in her hometown, it seemed there like anyone could be her forever love story. She realized she'd done it again, absorbed too personal of a moment that she didn't have permission to share. She quickly glanced away, scanning the room again in embarrassment to make sure no one had seen her being a creep. Then she saw Them. Perched on a high wire barstool in the corner, one leg curled up into their body, one hanging lankily down, looking right at her. She couldn't hide her surprise; she'd always been bad at that. She gasped a little in surprise, and quickly turned towards Binx. Reaching for a slice of cucumber, she glanced back, They were still looking. In an electric blue metallic jacket, and torn jeans, blonde fur which tapered into blue curls above Their eyes. With this quick glance she noticed They were sipping a kombucha slowly, still staring at her. She tugged the wrists of her sleeves over her hands further, and awkwardly started a conversation with Binx who had been scrolling through Tik Tok on her phone. The rest of the night had been uneventful, lots of dancing and a few board games. When the trio finally left the club, a few minutes after Clea closed up, Rhian Oran noticed Them again. Leaning on the wall of the bodega across from the bar, near a few people on skateboards and razer scooters loudly trash talking each other's tricks. They looked her up and down, staring at her again immediately. The girls walked away, and Rhian Oran said nothing, but glanced over her shoulder a couple more times as the trio made their way to the next block. They were still looking at her, watching her while sucking on a lollipop. Ignoring the skaters. Ignoring the world except for Rhian Oran. Someone had finally seen her, she hadn't gotten a good look at them, but she felt like she could feel their eyes seeing her soul laid bare in nothing more than a moment.
This morning, she hadn't remembered. That is until she went through her selfies from last night. Lazily scrolling for one to edit and post, she noticed Them in the background. "God that was so weird." She thought to herself. "I've never seen Them there before, maybe I just haven't noticed? No, I would've noticed them. Maybe They'll be there again next time." Why did she think that? Did she want to see them again? Wasn't it…creepy or something the way they watched her like a hungry animal? It should have been, but Rhian Oran wasn't afraid. She wanted to know more, she wanted to see if it would happen again. Putting her phone down, she decided it was time to start the day. Well, start what she could manage. Looking for a job would come later, she wasn't ready to deal with her resume and how to excuse what had happened at Fries and Shine. The next good choice, she thought, the next thing she could manage crossing off her list. From the high shelf on her closet she pulled down the aspirational box of wiccan altar supplies she had been collecting over the last year. She had fallen in love with the concept of paganism, and believed magick was fascinating enough that it's probability didn't need to be considered. Either her spells and incantations would work clearly, and she would be blessed with a new enlightenment, or she had a fun hobby to occupy her time. She was missing a few things, a cauldron of course, that seemed like too much of an investment for a beginner. Also, a wand, that seemed like such an important choice that it should be searched for with intention, not just bought from the combo pagan supply/head shop around the corner. She lifted the lid of the croc box, the same one her shoes had come in, and pulled out a few of the supplies.
Upon a small thrifted end table made from cheap yellow pressboard, she spread an emerald fringed scarf with a vaguely Celtic symbol printed across the center. After arranging the edges to drape perfectly off the oval table edge, she lined up three candles along the rear of the surface, one tall candle stick in the center and two mismatched votives on either side. Between, she laid down a small abalone shell, her favorite purchase for the altar. There was a small corked bottle (waiting to be filled with kosher salt from the kitchen), an incense holder and a couple sticks of cheap incense, and a small athame. She placed these last few items on the table, thinking to herself that the athame was lame, it was really just a knife she bought at a carnival from a sketchy booth, but the adonized blade made it look like it belonged on a ritual table. She turned to get the small pouch of crystals she'd picked up over the last few months, and to her surprise she saw a single selenite crystal floating right in front of her face! She'd been thinking of that one, the first she picked up because of its beautiful sunny color. As she gasped in surprise it clattered, falling back in the box. She looked inside, and saw it laying there, next to the now open pouch. She picked it up gingerly in her fingers, inspecting it closely. What just happened? As she thought about the stone floating midair, and pondered how such a thing could happen, she noticed blurry movement in her peripheral vision. Looking up again, she saw a scattering of stones in the air! The bag too, as if some unknown force had dumped it out on an invisible table. She shrieked and scooted back in shock, bumping the table and knocking the tall candle onto the floor with a clatter. She started panting, confused and afraid, as the stones all dropped to the ground in an instant. What was going on? She heard the front door, and the metallic clink of keys falling the bowl by the door. "Rhian Oran?" Binx yelled "Hey you wanna go to the store? I found a new recipe I want to try but we're out of mushrooms." As the voice got nearer, Binx pushed open the door and saw Rhian Oran crumpled near the window. "Jesus, what happened?" she said, dropping her backpack on the floor and stepping gingerly over the scattered stones. "I-I don't even know I was just…it's stupid, I don't know what happened." Rhian Oran stammered. "I just, it looked like the crystals were…. flying? I don't know." "Wait what?" Binx replied, hugging Rhian Oran who clearly was still shaken. "What do you mean flying? Did you throw them or something?" "No, I didn't I just, yeah I don't know. I just…. you said the store? You want to go to the store?" "Well yeah, but not if you're not okay, we can stay here. Its fine!" "No, no it's okay, I'm okay, let's just, I just want to go…somewhere else." They both carefully stepped over the pile of stones, Rhian looked back over her shoulder at them, then headed for the front door. The door shut behind them unnoticed, even though neither had touched it.