Rise of the Wadjet Witch - By Juliet C. Obodo Page 0,16

Let us meet,” she chanted.

She kept her gaze on the golden flake. She was so entranced that she didn’t notice she was no longer walking, but floating toward the leaf. She met it midair and kept it at eye level, and together they fell.

She was floating. The leaf wouldn’t be alone; they would do this together.

“Mommy!” She heard a child’s voice. “Look at the lady!” the child called out.

Memphis broke her trance to look behind her—or rather, below her—to see a little girl pointing in the air. She was pointing at her—she was in the air! Her stomach flipped and she felt as if she weighed a ton.

“Heavy,” she whispered.

And with that, she fell to the ground.

“Oof!” She let out a gust of air. She was concentrating on the pain in her derriere when she suddenly noticed the little girl in front of her.

“Are you an angel?” she asked. Her nose was wrinkled and she wore a slight frown as if she hoped the answer was no. Angels couldn’t simply wear old sweats and sit in the dirt.

“Uh, no, I’m actually a magician,” she quickly covered. She sat up and tried to dust herself off. “I was just working on some magic tricks. Ha, ha. You’re the first person to see my flying trick. What did you think?”

“Oh, it was a trick!” The little girl looked relieved. Her image of angels remained unmarred by a sweaty runner. “Yes, it was great. It looked like you were really flying.”

“Thank you, my dear! Well, I believe that I am done for the day. I shall be off now!” Memphis tried not to cringe at the fact that she was talking like a coked up Mary Poppins. Children always made her nervous, even when she was one herself.

She quickly walked away before the little girl could ask her to explain her “trick.” She headed south toward her apartment, but stopped and turned to look behind her. The little girl was with a woman; she pointed in the air and then in her direction. Memphis turned away and ran home.

By the time she got to her room, she was sweaty and her heart was racing. She was actually flying. Well, technically she was floating, but still. She kicked off her sneakers and removed her clothes, and then she noticed that her computer was still on. She thought she had turned it off the night before. It was old and temperamental; it didn’t appreciate being left running for long periods, so she always turned it off when she wasn’t using it.

The window contained her inbox. She had a new e-mail labeled, “Personalized Horoscope for Memphis Holland.” That was strange. She didn’t remember filling out a form last night while she was searching the astrology websites. It wasn’t from Virgil, the host of The Universe Now. The sender’s e-mail address was [email protected].

She was about to open it when her cell phone rang. She went to answer it. Jill needed to see her immediately and invited her to meet for lunch at their favorite place on Bowery in an hour. Memphis agreed and said good-bye. She rushed to shower, get dressed and catch the train. She needed to straighten her hair. In her haste, she forgot all about her mystery mail.

Jill was sitting at a booth in the middle of the restaurant. It was the most coveted table in the most coveted restaurant on Bowery.

“How did you manage to get this table?” she asked as she gave her a tight hug.

It felt as if she hadn’t seen her in years. It was nice to see someone from the real world. The past few days had felt a bit surreal. Did she actually just fly? Memphis shook the crazy thought from her mind. That little girl must have been mistaken. She focused her attention back to the present and a less bizarre conversation. “How did you manage to get this table?” she asked Jill asked as she gave her a tight hug.

“Oh, well, you know, they usually reserve this table for special occasions. For people celebrating their anniversaries, birthdays, or engagements.” She dramatically put her hand to her forehead.

That was when Memphis noticed the large, sparkly object on her finger. “You’re engaged!”

Her outburst brought about a round of applause from the other diners. Jill soaked in all the attention before she sat back down. Memphis followed suit. She moved their glasses and silverware out of the way so she could better inspect the stone.

“Jill, is this…?”

“Yes, it’s his