Neon Blue E Frost (speld decodable readers .TXT) š
- Author: E Frost
Book online Ā«Neon Blue E Frost (speld decodable readers .TXT) šĀ». Author E Frost
The realization that Iād have been a little jealous, but not disgusted, if it had been a woman, doesnāt make me feel any better.
The salamander finally wakes up for the last part of the potion. The part where I imbue the magic milk with some of my living energy. It should sap me. Leave me drained. Instead, brewing always makes me feel intensely alive. Like really good sex. I feel like I could build bridges, move mountains, afterwards.
Power flows into me easily when I call it, channel it into the potion. I reach out to the salamander and let some of that energy flow into the little lizard. Not that it actually did anything while I was brewing, but magic is generous. The salamander hisses, laps at the air with its forked tongue. Its spotted crimson and cream body glows. Echoing the glow from the cauldron.
I raise my hands over the potion and call the Elements. Dust, fire and water swirl around me. A rising storm of primal energy. I reach up and the ceiling disappears. Blue sky. The crack of thunder. And then a bolt of lightning sizzles down to explode whitely inside my cauldron.
I lower my hands. The light fades. The ceiling reappears. Only the smell of ozone, and the taste of power, linger.
I smile at the lizard. āNow thatās what I call cooking with gas.ā
The lizard flicks its black tongue at me and disappears.
āYouāre welcome,ā I say to the empty air. Then I pick up a ladle and begin scooping the magic milk into containers.
My last appointment of the day is Mrs. Feeney. Sheās been referred by Mass. Generalās Fertility Center. Four successful I.V.F. implantations. Four miscarriages very late in the second trimester. My heart aches each time I read her file. A note from a specialist at Mass. General suggests that Mrs. Feeney may be a pre-symptomatic diabetic. But a special diet and monitoring during the last pregnancy didnāt prevent the miscarriage.
I had little hope that Iād be able to help Mrs. Feeney after our first consultation. The magic milkās not a cure-all. But reading through my familyās handbooks, I found a recipe written in my great-grandmother Jetaās spidery hand and marked, ābest for ladies who lose late.ā
Itās taken a month to brew. The recipe was very exacting. But it finally finished aging a few days ago, and when I opened the oak cask sitting in my herbarium, it smelled right.
I set out a cup and a gallon container of the potion on my desk. The potionās a deep orange, and it glows like a pumpkin in the late afternoon sunlight slanting through my office windows.
Mrs. Feeney arrives late, breathless and sweating. I let her catch her breath while I explain about the potion.
āAnd you really think this will help, Doctor?ā
I correct her gently. Linās the doctor, not me. āI think we should give it a try. Say a month. Finish the jug.ā I give the gallon container a pat. āAnd then Iād like you to have some blood work done. See if anything has changed.ā
Iām hoping there will be some clinical change. I canāt ask her to go through another pregnancy and risk losing another baby, only to find out if my great-grandmotherās recipe works.
Mrs. Feeney nods tremulously.
āCould I ask you to take the first dose now? Iād just like to observe you for a few minutes afterwards.ā
āObserve me?ā she asks, looking alarmed.
Iād like to smell her, actually. Sheās always smelled a little strange to me. Sickly-sweet. Like overripe bananas. I want her to drink the first dose and see if it makes any change in that funny odor.
āSome women feel light-headed or dizzy afterwards. Iād just like to wait a few minutes after you take theāā I catch myself before I say potion. āFormula. And see how you do.ā
Mrs. Feeney gives in gracefully. She drinks a cupful of the potion with a small grimace. Guess it doesnāt taste as good as it smells. I take her into Linās recovery room and let her relax in there with a magazine for fifteen minutes while I clean off my desk and dictate a file note. I hear the front door buzz as Iām going to check on Mrs. Feeney.
āHave a great weekend,ā I call to Lin. āBring me back a peck.ā
She doesnāt answer; she must be out the door already. I continue down the hallway into the recovery room.
Mrs. Feeney tells me she feels fine. No light-headedness or dizziness. I nod sagely and pretend to peer at her pupils while Iām really leaning close enough to get a good sniff.
Still that sickly-sweet odor. Strong enough that it wrinkles my nose. But maybe itās just a little less. And now thereās a different scent. Fresher. Slightly starchy. Like just-cut potatoes.
I feel the faint rush of euphoria I always feel when I know my magicās working. Not all magic has to be flashy. Some works quietly. Either way is fine with me, just as long as it works.
āThatās great, Mrs. Feeney. I think itās okay for you to go. Why donāt you give me a call in three weeks and tell me how youāre feeling? Then Iāll send a referral slip over to Mass. General for that blood work.ā
She thanks me and shakes my hand and says sheāll show herself out. I tuck away the magazine sheās been reading and head back to my office.
My desk clock reads five-fifty. If I leave now, Iāll be home in time for dinner.
Cold sweat pops out on my forehead, slicks my palms. Another night with the demon in my house. What will I hear through
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