“I don’t know why you always get into fights.”
“It’s ’cause the other kids call me the ‘evil witch’s’ underling!”
I was biting my lip.
“Even though you’re the bestest witch ever…”
“I see, so you are angry on my behalf.”
I nodded, and my teacher looked happy as she reached down and grabbed my hand.
“Let us buy some bread, my child.”
She said this, then slowed her walking pace to match my own.
“Hey, Teacher? Do you think it’d be better if I wasn’t here?”
“Why would you think that?”
“Well, everyone always says bad things about you because I’m here…”
I was looking down when I said this, but I felt my teacher’s hands cradle both sides of my cheeks and pull my head up. I could see myself in her big eyes.
“Listen to me, Meg. If you think what you did was right, then there is no reason for you to look down. You should be proud of yourself.”
“I should?”
“Yes. If you have pride, you can make it through anything. Even if it feels like the entire world is against you, you should always do what you feel is right. You have the courage and strength to fight for those important to you when you feel they’ve been harmed. All you need is pride, and you will be invincible.”
My teacher looked straight into my eyes, and her usual bold grin made its way across her face.
“Be proud, Meg. Your pride in yourself makes me proud as well.”
After that, my teacher bought us some freshly baked bread. It had felt warm in my hands, and its fresh smell had filled the evening air around us. I could still remember forgetting all about the fight, and my younger self just wished the moment could last forever.
“Look up at the sky, Meg. It’s the first star of the night. Isn’t it brilliant?”
“Yeah…”
My teacher’s words had made it feel like I’d received permission to be there—to live. That’s what it felt like to me when I was younger, at least.
I’m sure she and I looked a lot like Dr. Hendy and his daughter did that day.
My teacher had told me about my impending death. But somehow, I knew she wasn’t declaring my death. There was always meaning to whatever my teacher did. At the very least, she wouldn’t give me a problem I truly couldn’t solve. That much I was sure of.
“She wanted me to become a great mage someday, eh…?”
I looked up, and the sky was slowly shifting to night, and just like that day I remembered, I could see the first star of the night. It was the same exact big bright star as the day I felt like I earned my place.
“I can’t let myself die after making a promise like that, now, can I?”
I muttered this to myself, and Carbuncle let out a “Squeak.”
“You seem oddly happy.”
“Squeak?”
“You little rascal.”
I gently petted Carbuncle on his cute little head.
It was already nighttime by the time I made it back home.
As soon as my teacher saw my face, she said, “Oh? What’s this?” with a somewhat happy tone to her voice. “I was expecting you to return with the countenance of a dead fish, but it seems the light has returned to your eyes.”
“I’d like to imagine I never look like a fish.”
I pouted as I said this and held out my no-longer-empty bottle. The tears of the doctor and his daughter had crystallized into two small shards that rattled at the bottom of the container. The two shards looked as if I had cut them from a diamond myself.
“Are these the tears of joy you were talking about?”
“Let’s see here…,” my teacher said, and held the bottle up to more closely examine its contents. “They are not, it seems,” she said without hesitation. “These tears contain a mixture of joy and sadness. They are not tears of pure joy.”
“So I can’t use them to make a seed of life?”
“No. Not under normal conditions anyway.”
She continued to closely examine the bottle after she said this. It was rare for my teacher, who could see through pretty much anything, to have this much interest in something.
“They are not tears of joy, but they are clear nonetheless. I sense incredible power beyond the norm.”
“Clear as in see-through?”
“Yes. These tears are of pristine, good feelings. As clear as day.”
“Is that why the bottle accidentally collected them, you think?”
“Perhaps.”
My teacher looked happy when she said this.
“Um… You in a good mood?”
“You are a witch who can open the hearts of others.”
“Opening people’s hearts… Maybe that’d be useful if I was a surgeon.”
“There is no need for sarcasm. I am trying to compliment you, my child.”
“Why did you wait until I had a year left to tell me? You could’ve given me five or six years, or maybe…”
I couldn’t find any more words to say after this escaped my mouth.
“Could you accomplish what you must if you had five or six years?”
“No…”
My teacher knew me well. She knew the more time I had, the more likely I was to spend it doing nothing. In fact, I wouldn’t put it past myself to procrastinate until the very day I’d keel over as an old lady on that bench.
“Death’s Decree doesn’t show itself until a year before it is set to take effect. It isn’t apparent that you are sick, nor that you will die when you turn eighteen, until then.”
“Even for a powerful mage such as yourself?”
“Correct. There are no exceptions. It is a powerful curse that rewrites causality the moment it takes hold over its host. But even more importantly…”
My teacher smiled gently as she continued.
“I knew it was worth telling you, for the woman you’ve grown to be has the power to push back against your fate.”
“Push back against fate…”
“So, Meg. What are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Will you curl up in a ball and let death’s grip take hold over you, or will you pour what time you have left into the possibility of life? It’s your decision to make.”
I’d learned something that day: That I had aspirations I’d yet to fulfill and promises I needed to keep. That there were people who wanted me to live. That I needed to live for those important to me.
And that I was allowed to fight against my destiny.
“You know, this really is the worst birthday present ever.” I raised my head. “I’ll do it,” I answered before I even knew it. “I’ll accumulate the one thousand tears of joy you asked for.”
When she heard me say this, my teacher gave me a big bold grin—even bolder than usual—as she looked at me. That’s the answer I was waiting for, her eyes seemed to say.
“You should give it your all, Meg Raspberry. Your life depends on how you spend this next year.”
I took a slow, deep breath.
“I know.”
And that’s all I said.
This is the story of a miracle performed by a young witch who was told she only had a year left to live.