“Potionmasters Pt. 12”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Additional Note: While this story can be read by itself, it is a continuation of a previous Take Ten to Write story. Therefore, it would be beneficial to read the previous parts of the Potionmasters story which can be found here.

Prompt: “What happened?!”

“Wake up!”

“Mmm…”

“WAKE UP!”

“Gah!”

I bolt upright, my forehead colliding with Hidir’s.

“Ow,” I yelp, rubbing my head. Everything’s spinning. “Ow.”

“Stupid child,” Hidir mutters, shaking his head. “What were you thinking, taking kingsbane?”

“Er, I guess I wasn’t,” I admit before sighing. “I’m sorry, master. I just wanted to get the kingsbane here on time.”

“Well,” Hidir says, looking around, “I would say that you accomplished just that and perhaps even a little bit more.”

I follow his eyes and my heart drops. “What happened?” I whisper.

Hidir stands up and offers me his hand. I take it and allow him to help me to my feet.

“I believe you tried reorganizing the shop,” Hidir says, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“I guess you could say that,” I mumble.

Not a single bottle is on a shelf. Everything’s scattered across the ground, seemingly organized carefully by… some sort of criteria. I’m sure I knew exactly what I was doing when I was doing it but now… I don’t even have the words to describe what I’m looking at.

“Master,” I begin, but Hidir cuts me off.

“No need to apologize,” he says, resting a hand on my shoulder. “Your intentions were pure, even if your methods were not the most thought-out.”

I sigh. “I’ll clean it all up right away.”

Hidir nods. “Yes, that would probably be best. Oh yes, and before I forget, the cat left earlier. Seemed to have something on her mind. Strange one, that cat.”

I can’t help it; a smirk starts creeping over my face. “You like her, don’t you?”

Immediately, Hidir scowls. “Clean this up!” he shouts over his shoulder as he stalks out of the shop. “I expect the shop to be back to normal when I get back.”

As the bell on the door jingles, my smile remains. Hidir likes my cat! Oh yeah, and I guess I survived a near-death experience, but that’s not nearly as exciting.

Final Comments: I originally wanted to talk more about the protag’s hallucination, but when I started, the story didn’t really go that way…

Overall Rating: 🤔