I remember that day starting with a false sense of security. Jem and I were talking and laughing, enjoying our instant friendship. We went to a drug store where we found food and reinvigorated my kind, caring nature. We got cheese for Quincy and medicine to get rid of his ticks. Jem taught me how to apply it. Through verbal instruction only, of course. He was not ready to touch my furry friend until much later on our journey.
My next mission was to actually find a hobbomak. This would be difficult because I didn’t have an exact address for where I could find one of those. All I could do was walk down the road until I happened to spot one. Now, I wouldn’t say that this was a huge chore or carried very much anxiety because I was walking down a road with an endless canopy trees surrounding me, the satisfying crunch sound of the gravel underneath my bare feet, and my new friend walking next to me and making me laugh so hard my stomach hurt.
We had been walking for a while but found nothing. All of a sudden, Quincy lifted his head from my shoulders and started sniffing. Then he jumped from his perch and landed on the ground, immediately taking off running. Jem and I sprinted off after him, but Quincy was really fast and hard to keep up with.
“Do you think we should just let him go? Maybe he wants to be alone in the forest.” Jem panted to me, but kept running.
“NO! What if he’s taking us somewhere?”
“The mouse is leading us? No way!”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s a mouse!”
“Say what you want, but animals are smart and I think this one is my spirit guide.”
“You mean like in Coco?”
“So you do understand.”
Suddenly, Quincy stopped. He stopped so sharply I almost stepped on him. I looked to my left and about three feet from the left shoulder was a circle of limestone. A hobbomak.
As I would learn in a couple of minutes, behind one of the biggest rocks in the circle was the mother and son stalking duo. Waiting there. Watching me. I was too excited to pay attention to the feeling I had, that I was being watched. I took one look at Jem’s smiling face and I forgot reason and judgement. He was distraction. I quickly pulled out my childhood book of witches spells. Other people thought it should actually be called “witches spells”. But I assure you, no air quotes were needed. I then rushed over to the center of the circle and shouted, “Spirits! I respect you! I’m not worthy that you should allow me entry to your world, but I ask that you might ignore my impurity of spirit and mind to teach me to harness the invisible power all around me.”
I started spinning and levitating in the air. Light shined from my pores, from my eyes, from my mouth. The light was blindingly bright but didn’t hurt my eyes as it encapsulated my body. Then suddenly I was knocked onto the ground and a man with bulging muscles was pinning me to the ground and stuffing me in a bag as I struggled. I heard a grunt and, even from inside my canvas prison, I could tell that it was Jem’s grunt and smack and punch and kick, and then his nothing. They had knocked him out. I heard the sounds of a man grunting and stuffing another bag. Jem and I were both hoisted onto this hulking man’s shoulders, like two bags of potatoes. Trapped. Did I mention I’m claustrophobic? And now, I’m hulking, stuffing man phobic.