Chapter 4: The Witch
America had gone to the nearby woods for solitude. He sat with his back against a tree as all sorts of negative emotions ran through his head. He felt like no one understood him. He felt his alliance with England cracking more and more. He hadn't felt this horrible in a long time….not since the Revolutionary War.
He remembered standing in front of England as he fell to his knees, his tears blending with the pouring rain. Now it seemed like England was the one standing tall and America was the one on the ground. Being brought down like all the times his taxes were raised while England was standing above him and his people.
With all of these thoughts, America decided to take a walk to let off some steam. As he was walking deeper into the woods, he suddenly slipped and tumbled down a big hill. When he picked himself up, he found himself in a clearing in the woods. Just as he was about to turn around, a small, blue, vapor-like apparition appeared, floating in front of him. Immediately thinking it was ghost, America was terrified and dove behind a bush.
But then he heard a hushed, mystic whisper and peeked out from the top of the bush. The apparition was beckoning him to come towards it. Suddenly, America's curiosity overpowered his fear. The little eyes of the creature were drawing him in. He came out from behind the bush and walked towards the creature. It started drifting across the clearing and towards a path in the trees. America followed the apparition deeper into the woods.
Suddenly, the apparition disappeared and America could see a small shop up ahead. As he came closer, he looked up to see the big, red letters that read AMAZING ALBUMS. He was confused; why would the creature lead him here?
He opened the door and heard the clanging of a bell. The place was full of shelves of CDs, cassettes, records, headphones, earbuds, iPods, and MP3s. Next to him was a checkout counter. At the counter was a girl who looked like she was in her late teens. Her skin was tan, her short, curly hair was dark brown, and her brown eyes were framed by glasses.
She turned her head and saw America standing there. "Hello! Look around, see if there's anything you like. Everything is half off."
America looked at her with confusion. "Who are you?"
"Just a music lover trying to make a living," the girl replied. "What genre do you like to listen to? Pop? Rock? Alternative?"
But America wasn't interested in answering. He had turned his head towards the opposite direction….and his eyes grew wide at a wooden broom sweeping the floor by itself. "Your broom!"
The girl saw what America was talking about. She quickly snapped her fingers and the broom fell to floor motionless.
"It was sweeping by itself!" said America, freaking out.
"That's ridiculous," said the girl. She tried to get America's attention back to music. "Do you listen to Green Day? 'Cause I have their new album, "Revolution Radio", for only five dollars."
But America's attention was caught by something else. Lying on top of one of the shelves of CDs was a vegetable, an asparagus. America picked it up, noticing a red bowtie and a monocle on it.
"It's rude to stare, you know."
America screamed and dropped the asparagus when it opened its eyes and started talking in a high-class British accent. The girl ran over and picked up the vegetable like it was a baby bird. "You scared him!" she scolded America. She looked back at the asparagus. "You okay, Archibald?"
America looked at her like she was crazy. "Archibald?"
"He has a name," the girl retorted.
America was starting to put the pieces together. Isolated shop in the woods, self-sweeping broom, talking vegetable….
"You're a witch! That's why I was lead here! You can help me with this guy, England-"
"I am NOT a witch! Too many unsatisfied customers!" the girl suddenly snapped. She took a deep breath and regained her composure. "If you're not gonna buy anything….get out!" She started pushing America towards the door.
"Wait, wait!" America tried to tell her. "Some freaky ghost thing sent me here!"
"I don't care!"
Just as they got to the door, America finally decided that the only way to get what he wanted was to give her what she wanted.
"Okay, I'll buy it all!"
The girl stopped pushing him. "Say what?"
"Every album and gadget."
She was surprised for a moment, but crossed her arms and said, "And how are you gonna pay for that?"
America pulled out his wallet from his pocket and took out a couple hundred dollar bills. "I'll give you five hundred dollars. Will you settle for that?"
The girl and the asparagus gawked at him. "Five hundred dollars?"
The girl made a grab for the money, but America pulled it back.
"Every album and….one spell."
The girl narrowed her eyes at him cautiously. "You sure you know what you're doing?"
"I want a spell to change my ally, England. That would change my fate. So, what do you say, witch chick?"
The girl hesitated for a bit.
….
"Done!"
She took the money and put it in the register. Then she put on a blue cloak that was stashed behind the counter. She, America, and Archibald came out of the shop, closing the door.
"Can't do sorcery where I sell CDs," she said. She opened the door, revealing that the rows of CDs had been replaced with shelves of potions on the walls, multi-colored crystals hanging from the ceiling and a huge cauldron in the middle of the room.
"Lydia, didn't one of your ancestors do a similar spell like this?" said Archibald.
"Yeah, she did," Lydia replied. She proceeded to tell America. "It was for a prince in Scotland. He asked my 8 times great grandmother to give him the strength of ten men and he gave her this for a spell. A spell that would change his fate." She showed America an old ring with two axes crossed engraved in it.
"And did he get what he wanted?" America asked.
Lydia nodded. "Now, let's see. What do I need?"
She started pouring and sprinkling various ingredients into the cauldron and the liquid inside turned multiple colors and bubbled more and more. Finally, something floated up out of the thick, bubbling liquid. It looked like a small cake with a fig filling in the middle. Lydia scooped it out of the cauldron with a spoon and plopped it into America's hand.
America looked confused. "...A cake?"
"You don't want it?"
"Yes, I want it! So, if I give this to England," said America. "it will change my fate, right?"
"Trust me," said Lydia. "It'll do the trick."
America walked out of the shop with the cake wrapped up in a bag.
"Expect the delivery of your purchase in four days," Lydia told him. Suddenly, something came up in her mind for a second and then disappeared just as fast. She tried hard to remember it. "What was that thing about the spell?..."
"Did you say something?" America turned around, but the shop was gone along with Lydia, only leaving a clearing in the woods and a confused America in the center.
"Weird."