**New! Update at the end!**
Fourteen Years Ago
“Here’s one.” Mala circled an ad in the folded-up local newspaper pressed against her knee and wondered how much longer they’d be able to hold on before having to close. She felt a pang of guilt. Even the magical world wasn’t immune from the progress of time and technology. Perhaps she’d have been able to help keep her father’s paper open, if she’d made different decisions, if she hadn’t moved away —
But Pops was doing fine, with his new paranormal investigations gig, and when she looked at Lars, she had no regrets for the life she’d chosen.
The man in question came into the room with a jangle of car keys, carrying her jacket. “I don’t care where it is, we’re going to see it. It’s the first one you’ve sounded excited about in a week.”
She laughed, and opened her arms, pulling him down onto the sun-warmed loveseat with her. “Silly man, we have plenty of time to find a place. This one does sound perfect, though.”
Lars smoothed a strand of hair behind her ear and settled in close, one arm protectively wrapped around her. “Tell me about it.”
“It’s a full acre of land. Four bedrooms, two and a half baths. Room for a garden, and ends on a lake. And reasonably priced to boot. I’ve no idea why it hasn’t sold before, so could be a lot of work.”
“Enough space the neighbors won’t see us using magic to fix the place up.” His beard tickled her jaw. “Hey, what’s this?”
Writing formed underneath the neatly printed typeface. Handwritten, in ink, as if one of her father’s ghosts were writing it as she and Lars watched.
Magic portal access in backyard included.
“Now we know why it hasn’t sold,” Mala breathed.
“Old-school,” Lars observed. “I haven’t seen the mundane eye-skip spell since I was a kid.”
She grimaced, turning her head against his. “A portal, though.”
“Quite grand, having one in the backyard rather than using a public transport. Convenient to get to the Department every morning.”
She held his hand over her stomach. “We have more than ourselves to think about now. What if he stumbles into the portal?”
“Oh, we’ll solve that problem by pretending it doesn’t exist.” He rubbed her belly and kissed her temple. “Or the more reasonable solution, darling.”
Mala looked at him questioningly.
“A fence, darling. We’ll put up a fence.”
***
**Keep scrolling for an update to this post**
This week, I remembered it was Tuesday, huzzah! I’ve got something in the works this dovetails with nicely, so I combined my missed prompt from AC Young last week – the problem that doesn’t exist – with this week’s, from Becky Jones, about the advertisement with a magical portal in the backyard. Cheers! Find these and more at MOTE.
Update! Just received this in the mail. My name isn’t on the cover, but my story is. 😉 Coming 24 March!
