Plague Stories

I wake up early in the morning inside my new room. Arthur showed me to a spare bedroom above the store; it seems he and his father reside here. Though it's a very simple room without much furniture or decor I'm extremely grateful for it and the job. Yet I distinctly feel less magic to the beginning of this day than I did when I was back at Rina's. Suppose that can't be helped.

I take a long, relaxing bath to help me settle into the morning. After I'm dressed and prepared to face what I'm sure will be a somewhat challenging day, I eat a simple breakfast with Arthur, and put on the work apron he hands me. We clock in earlier than Arthur normally would "So I can get a head start on showing you the ropes around here!" he announces with enthusiasm. I'm glad he took this arrangement so well. Must be hard with his father not being here to manage the store. He walks me through the wares of the store (mostly household trinkets and helpful-but-basic magical items), shows me how he packages them up, and does some drills of customer service scenarios.

After I start getting into a slight rhythm, wrapping up orders mostly, a postman arrives at our door with a parcel in hand. I'm more than a little surprised to learn it's for me! The parcel is packed in soft, tan cloth, and has a small note on it that simply says,

"For your new apprenticeship.
- from R."

How cryptic of her! Without hesitation I unwrap it and find that inside is a perfectly white robe and matching hat. Arthur sees it and looks quite stunned. "You're a Thread? I've never met a full-fledged one in person before!" I blush as I feel a confusing mix of pride and alienation from his words, but decide that they are quite the honour to hear after all. I run upstairs to my bedroom to change into them immediately, placing my work apron over them with care. Gazing at myself in the mirror, finally dressed in the robes I've been chasing all year, I can feel that this time will be different. Throughout the rest of my first day in the store, I feel somewhat as though I'm in the way despite Arthur's patient training and my best intentions.

When night comes I eat another simple meal with Arthur, and as we eat I take occasional glances at Charcorn's eye up in the sky. Arthur graciously makes some time to share some of his Craft knowledge with me after dinner, and even makes me a promise to do so every night after we finish work. To my benefit, I come to learn that he has a small amount of skill in the Thread despite being dominantly being a Tide, and that in games of strategy, such as chess, he's monstrously talented. We follow the blueprint of this day for the next three weeks, with him officially stepping up as my Craft tutor.

One morning, a girl who looks to be my age enters the store, and I notice she's wearing vermillion-coloured apprentice robes. "That makes her an Ember!" I think to myself excitedly; I had always secretly hoped I would be one of them. Her long black hair seems to gently flow as she walks by me. She approaches Arthur at the counter and politely, yet energetically, informs him "I'm here to pick up an order for my dad." He puts down his newspaper, and almost spilling his coffee as he springs up from his chair, says "Y-yes miss! Right away!" What a dork. "Here it is. I just need his name, as well as your name and signature for my records."

"Name's Sable!" She signs her name swiftly then grabs the parcel, which is beautifully wrapped in black paper, and spins to leave the store. As she walks past me, I notice she has a broom tucked under her arm. But it's broken into two pieces. I call out to her "H-hey . . . m-miss?" Oh, my God. Now who's the dork? "Hm?" She turns to face me with a smile "What is it?"

"Your broom--" I point awkwardly. "Maybe I can fix it?" She looks surprised for a moment, then beams a big smile. "You'd do that? Yes please!" And before I know it her broom is in my hands. I instantly feel a wave of anxiety and regret. She didn't hear me say "maybe"? Well, I have to try. Arthur watches us from across the room, an encouraging yet nervous look on his face. I set the two halves of the broom down in front of me, and focus intensely upon it. For several moments nothing happens. I'm about to give up, when I notice small fibres inside the fractured ends of the broom are starting to stand up, and the halves moving slowly together across the table. "Whoooa . . ." Sable exclaims as she watches. After a few more moments the two halves are firmly together, with only a slight seam visible between them, which is also vanishing slowly.

"Sable practically screams "That was amazing!" She takes both my hands in hers in excitement. "The store I was gonna mail it to told me it'd be over two weeks. Where'd you learn to mend like that?" The next ten minutes with Sable are a blurry barrage of questions that I will surely not recall later as I mentally battle this new possiblity that I may have something great to give to the world after all.

After she leaves the store, I thank Arthur. "If it wasn't for your patience and the knowledge you shared with me over these past few weeks, I would never have developed my ability this far. And I would never have met that girl today. Thank you so much, Arthur." He looks slightly embarrassed and he chuckles "No need to thank me, . I should thank you, you've been an amazing help. To be honest, I was reaching my wit's end handling the store by myself. I can do the work, but doing it yourself all the time gets lonely." I finally make the sad realisation that his father is probably very rarely around. He muses, "You know, I never thought of myself as much of a trainer, and I certainly never thought I'd have an apprentice so soon after finishing my own training. But passing on what I know to you has felt remarkably natural so far. Maybe I should look into academy work when I'm an adult" he muses thoughtfully, and I agree with him wholeheartedly. We casually discuss other future plans and things before saying goodnight and moving to our rooms for the night.

The next morning whilst me and Arthur are setting up for our shift, a tall man dressed in a very dignified navy suit enters the store. He practically ignores poor Arthur, walking straight past him, towards me. He introduces himself "Hello, I'm Henry. I believe you helped my daughter Sable with her broom yesterday?" I try to conceal a perhaps too-proud smile as I respond "Yes! That was me." He smiles "Perfect; just the girl I'm looking for. You see I have this watch . . ." he produces a slender box from his pocket, opening it to reveal an elegant golden dive watch inside. "It is very precious to me . . . I realise it's an extremely complex job. Witches and wizards of the Thread are hard to find, and of those I have found none have been able to help me with it in the several years since it sadly fell from some height. But I would really appreciate it if someone of your abilities could take a look." Someone's been talking me up, I see. "A-absolutely, sir! I'll see what I can do."

Just like I did yesterday, I place the watch in front of me and begin focusing on it. Moments pass without any noticeable effect. Several more pass by, as Henry, Arthur, and I both watch on in great anticipation. By the time several minutes have passed, a small effect starts to become visible. The minute hand begins to move slightly, and some slight scratches on the watch's bracelet and crystal seem to 'polish' away. But I hit my limit and find that I am unable to continue. Right on cue the minute hand stops moving. I feel like a total failure until Henry says "That was quite impressive, young miss. You accomplished significantly more in these past handful of minutes than others have managed in full business days."

His words make my emotions do a full one-eighty, and I'm back to grinning with foolish pride. He tells me "If it's agreeable to you, I would like to leave my watch with you. After what I've seen I'm confident you may have it in full working order one day. For now, please take this as payment for today." He hands me a small amount of money from his other pocket. "No, please, sir, I can't accept this. I didn't even finish the job for you!" But he won't have it, and insists I take payment for what I did. "At least accept this as a first installment. I'll pay the full amount after it's fully fixed. Deal?" And he reaches his hand out towards me. I shake it agreeably "Deal."

Satisfied with our deal, Henry says "good day" to me and Arthur and turns to leave the store.

Over the course of the next two weeks, I'm given jobs similar to Sable's every day. So much so that Arthur has to expand the area of the store he set up for me, to the point it's almost as big as his counter. One afternoon whilst I'm repairing a glass vase for an old woman who stopped by, Sable burst into the store with her usual bubbly swagger. "Hey, ! How's it going? I came to invite you out to lunch. If you're not too busy, that is." she says, taking note of my focus as the nondescript glass shards on my desk reshape themselves into a rather ornate blue floral vase. Since we met that day, we've become fast friends and spent a decent amount of time together. "Lunch? That would be amazing!" I exclaim, looking over to Arthur "Would that be okay, boss? If I leave the store for lunch?" He laughs and waves his hand in a care-free way that says "Go for it." I think he's looking forward to being the main focus of this store again for a couple of hours.

"Perfect!" Sable beams "Meet me on the corner of Baker Street at one-thirty!"

Mum, as I finish writing this letter to you, I want to express how amazing this year has turned out to be. I enter my fourteenth birthday with amazing new friends, an education at last, work in a profession where I'm highly respected, and I have total optimism for what's next. I'll be visiting home soon with my friend, Sable (she'll fly us!). Can't wait to see you and Books.

Love,