It all started with the declaration of my death.
“You’re going to die, Meg.”
My teacher said this to me suddenly.
My name is Meg Raspberry. I’m a witch in training.
“It’ll happen in one year.”
And apparently, I only have one year left to live.
It was one o’clock in the afternoon, and things were quiet in the study of our manor. The sun was shining, and the clouds were floating gently through the sky. It was a nice early-autumn day that also happened to be my seventeenth birthday. I was so caught off guard by the sudden remark that I could only chuckle.
“What’s that, Teacher? You don’t usually make jokes.”
“It isn’t a joke. You’re fated to die.”
She said that without even batting an eye as she continued flipping through the document she was reading. The silence in the room accentuated the ticking of the wall clock and the chirping of the birds outside.
“You must be joking.”
“You know I’m not one to make jokes.”
“Uh, then were you leading up to some kind of surprise?”
“Have I ever surprised you with anything before?”
“Oh, I know! It’s one of those prank shows! All right, where are the cameras—?”
“Do you honestly think I would ever participate in such a program?”
“No…”
My teacher spoke to me in her usual tone and gave me a stern look.
“As unfortunate as it may be, I only speak the truth. You are going to die, Meg Raspberry. And it will happen exactly one year from now.”
I gulped. It really wasn’t a you’re-gonna-die-Meg kind of day.
So let me get this straight. I’m gonna die? In a year? Like, die die? But why? Why? Pourquoi?
The same question kept running on repeat in my mind.
“Just so you know, Teacher… Today iiis kinda my birthday.”
“I know.” My teacher nodded to me. “A birthday isn’t enough to change the truth. You will die. And your death appears to be unavoidable.”
“There’s that word again… So why, exactly?”
“You’re cursed.”
“I’m cursed?”
My teacher’s expression became serious as she gave me a solemn nod.
“You’ve always been cursed. It’s a curse that becomes evident when the accursed has only a year left to live, and for you, this curse kicked in on your seventeenth birthday. It’s called Death’s Decree.”
“Death’s Decree…?”
It was the first time I’d ever heard of the curse.
“It’s an ancient curse, one that modern witches know nothing of. Think of it as an illness you’re born with. As soon as you turn eighteen, your internal clock will go haywire, and you will age at a rate one thousand times faster than a normal person. That’s ten years in three days and a hundred years in one month. That’s the longest anyone ever lasts after the curse takes its effect: a month.”
“That’s horrifying.”
I said this out loud, but the meaning of my teacher’s words hadn’t really sunk in yet. She must’ve picked up on this, because she then said, “Meg, come here,” and beckoned me over to her.
“What is it?”
“Be still for me.”
My teacher extended her pointer finger and placed it lightly on my forehead.
“Let this person bear witness.”
She chanted an incantation, and a video-like image flashed into my mind—it was a vision. What I saw was an old woman sitting alone on a bench. She was wobbly and weak, almost like she was barely alive at all. Like if she took a single step, her leg would pop off. But at the same time, there was a strange familiarity to her. The old woman suddenly grasped at her chest and began moaning in agony before keeling over where she sat. Froth bubbled out of her mouth as she lay motionless on the bench. I was shown a vision of some random old woman’s final moments.
“What the heck was that all about…?”
I didn’t really know what to say after being shown something so miserable, but I guess my teacher was expecting such a reaction from me, because she simply nodded.
“That was you, one year from now.”
“You just showed me me?!”
“Correct, my child. That is what awaits you when your curse fulfills itself. You will grow old and decrepit to the point that you can barely move. And then perish. This is your future.”
“Man…”
My teacher’s tone was so serious. There really wasn’t any way it could be a joke.
The elderly woman she showed me did look like me after all, and the vision felt less like being shown a video than it did like something real I experienced. While I didn’t want to admit it, it was clear the woman in the vision was in fact me.
“What can I do to break this curse…?”
“There is no way to break it. Not now, at least.”
“Where is the person who cast this curse on me? Surely you know where they are? Let’s catch them and make them tell us how to break this curse…”
“Like I said, you were born with it. Think of it as a chronic illness. You’re sick.”
“That’s not something you’re supposed to say to a girl who just turned seventeen, Teach.”
“I will take care of you for the remaining year so that you can rest in peace.”
Can you believe how cold this woman is? You’d think she’d show a little bit more love for her precious pupil after the ten-plus years we’ve been living together. Love… What even is love? What is peace? A good meal around a nice dinner table? Dinner… What were we gonna have for dinner today anyway? Come to think of it, I think that sale at the market was supposed to be today?
All sorts of thoughts ran through my mind as I stood in a bit of a stupor, but my teacher had the kindness to snap me out of it by saying, “Well now, that was a joke,” before continuing. “It’s not as if there’s no way to save you.”
“So you do make jokes. Just the unfunny kind… Well, please hurry up and tell me what to do…”
“It won’t be easy. Both time-wise and task-wise.”
My teacher took out a bottle as she said this. It was a small bottle with thick glass in the shape of a hexagon that fit snugly in the palm of her hand, like a perfume bottle. It must’ve been old, though, because the glass itself was foggy.