Cinder

What’s the number one rule of being a witch?

Do no harm to others?

I mean, duh? Is the sky blue? The most important rule is to get yourself a supercool familiar, of course.

Familiars are spirits that have been given a second chance in the world of the living. The souls of the old, ancient, and wise; the foolish, cunning, and wily. Brought back to this earth to settle a karmic debt, they often flock to those in need of guidance. It is said that familiars find you based on how your energies align and settle. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t manifest your ideal one.

Being a young witch is hard, as I should know. There are many times when the call of the darkness looms over you, a dark flower blooming in your chest, taking hold of your soul. The magic that I practice is purifying and warm. My magic is to heal, not to hurt. A familiar helps you keep your values on the right path. Witches, although connected to the otherworld and have gifts beyond measure, are still human. The key to becoming more in tune with the spiritual world is acknowledging our humanity. Let me put down my notecards real quick, it’s honestly more exhausting trying to remember this whole spiel.

Don’t go for a cliché black cat, that is so 15th century. Feathered, finned, or furry, familiars come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s time to break away from the stigma that only those onyx fiends can be a companion.

My friend, I’m going to tell you the story of how my familiar found me. What would you like to drink? Butterfly tea grenadine? It’s absolutely delightful.

Let me start by telling you that the women in my family are not the stereotypical witches that you see flying across the night sky with a rickety broomstick with a cat in their lap. First of all, that is beyond physics. Second, we like to drive Porsches, preferably black or gunmetal gray.

Maman came here from Togo, a country in West Africa, with the secrets of the flora and the fauna. Her mother before her, my Mémé, was one with the water and talks to the moon. And I, Audre Laurent, have my own affinity for the earth. I see things that are meant to be hidden; I can sense emotions trembling underneath the surface.

As you may know, when gifts come in, it was very overwhelming. I would be simply drained just from a measly eight hours at school, my soul weary, my mind racing. All these feelings, all at once, hitting me like a technicolor pinball machine. I felt extremely empty, not knowing myself because I would absorb everyone's emotions like a sponge. Feeling pain sharp in my gut, knowing that it was not my pain, my skull dully throbbing. Then I felt dark. I could feel it sink into my very being, taking over every crevice of my body. My skin, once a radiant brown, dulled into an ashen pallor.

Maman saw the change in me, and I would avoid answering her questions, ignoring her concerned eyes and frown. She didn't realize my powers would come in so fast; the fact I got powers at all shocked her. But try as she might, Maman didn't know why my powers were affecting me this way. Her warm hugs, always so filled with the ember of a thousand suns, felt cold as the first snow. She went through everything she could to give me back my light, the spark that I had lost. Concoctions of sunflowers, cardamom and cinnamon didn't help.

One night, as I curled up under the blankets, struggling to get warm, I stare at the red cinnamon candle my mom lit until my eyes start to water.

Please, help me. I don't know what's wrong with me. It was so easy for my mom and grandmére to adjust. Why can't I? Please, Oshun, goddess of light, help me. Hecate, I call on you. Isis, heed my call. I need help.

I felt something in me shift.

However, the days were normal. I leaned into the ebbs and flows of life, taking the darkness as it came. I tried my best to absorb it and convert it to light. I start praying more to the goddesses, the mothers of the earth, sea, and celestial bodies. One day, I walked into my room to see a small cat perched on my bed. Her eyes were sage green, and she looked at me with love and kindness.

My name is Cinder, she says as she stares into my eyes.