#amcreating

“What are you doing over there, Lazare?” Lola asked, noticing Lazare had taken a marker and was beginning to draw along one side of the containers of their previously potted seeds and plants.

“I am infusing these containers with sigils that symbolize growth,” Lazare replied, turning the plant base around for Lola and Modesta to see his markings. He had drawn a triangle with circles at each point along with a cross which cut through its center, where two more circles were drawn at the ends of the horizontal line of the crossbeam. “The circles connecting the triangle shape represent us from the blessing, and these circles outside the triangle are Jack and Professor Glenbrook. Even though they’re not ‘here’ at the moment, they’re part of what we’re ultimately doing in breaking the curse, so I wanted to make sure they were included, too.”

“That’s so cool,” Lola said in awe, staring wonderingly at the unique shape.

“I love that idea,” complimented Modesta at the same time.

“Thanks,” he replied proudly. “I wanted to make sure that we try and cover every aspect in breaking the curse by boosting the blessing as much as possible.”

“No harm in adding extra magic,” Modesta agreed.

“Can I make one too?” asked Lola, feeling inspired.

“Of course! What do you want your sigil to represent?” Lazare questioned.

“Love,” came the easy, simple reply. “Poor Mr. Green Man has been heartbroken for so long, I want him to be able to have a whole heart again.”

“That sounds perfect. Draw whatever it is that represents ‘love’ for you in this instance, and then draw it on the plants next to mine,” Lazare said. Delightedly, Lola took out a notebook and pen from her purse to begin doodling ideas for her sigil, playing around with shapes and lines until she was satisfied with what she created while the others continued with the remainder of the seeds. After a few attempts at brainstorming something innovative, she was able to land on an image she felt gave the notion for love justice, and turning the pad of paper out for her friends to give their opinions, she revealed her sigil.

“What do you think?” she asked, her design on full display.

“Oh, Lola, that’s beautiful,” Modesta commented, looking at Lola’s drawing. “You added a heart to Lazare’s growth sigil.”

“It honestly just seemed to ‘fit’, you know?” Lola shyly laughed. “So now we have symbols that represent both growth in life, and growth in love.”

“It’s perfect,” Lazare confirmed, admiring the addition to the sigil. “See? It’s already working, growing even through its design.”

“I even added this circle down here at the bottom,” Lola added, pointing to the loop at the end of the cross symbol. “It’s for Rosamunde. She had to original love for Mr. Green Man, so her spirit needs to be involved since she’s been trying to break the curse since the beginning.”

“It’s perfect,” Lazare stated, giving Lola a charming smile. Her own grin spreading wide, Lola went to adding her unique touch to the potted plants and seeds in their containers.

“Hey, guys, food’s here,” Jack announced, knocking on the doorframe to gain everyone’s attention. Happily and hungrily, the three stood from their table of littered mounds of soil, taking turns washing off their dirt coated hands while Jack locked up for lunch, turning the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’ on the door, making sure to mark the time when business would resume. The four then gathered around the checkout counter to partake of the midday meal, seeing as the only conventional tabletop was currently occupied.

“How much more is left to be done with re-potting and planting?” Jack asked as he passed around the lot of sandwiches.

“I think we’re nearly done,” Modesta answered. “There’s roughly about twenty more containers to fill, and then we should be good to go.”

“Do you think it’ll be enough to fully break the curse?” Lola asked. “Mr. Green Man never told us the exact number of seeds to plant.”

“We won’t really know until Halloween when we can get back to the hollow tree and plant them,” Lazare shrugged, “but I have a feeling what we have will be plenty enough to break the curse," he concluded encouragingly.

Lola’s phone pinged at that moment from her back pocket, and she frowned as she read the message lighting her screen. “Oh, pooh. Hey, would you guys be opposed to me taking one of the plants home to show Raphael? This is a text from him,” she said, waving her phone. “He got pulled into a staff meeting and won’t be able to help us with what’s left, but I’d like to show him what we’ve done, if that’s okay.”

“I don’t mind,” Modesta said.

“Sounds good to me,” Lazare agreed, Jack nodding alongside him, no one seeing or anticipating a problem if Lola wanted to bring one of the plants home with her to show the absent companion to their group. Continuing on, the conversations between the friends passed easily amongst their clustered assembly while they ate, the pleasant chatter a constant flow of being light and breezy, and after lunch was finished and the checkout counter had been cleaned of wrappings and crumbs, Jack re-opened the store while the others went to finish their task in the breakroom. Once the seeds were planted and the herbs repotted, the three stood back to admire their accomplishments.

“This will work” Lola stated, her eyes roving the greenery, assessing all they had done, hope rising that Mr. Green Man’s sufferings were soon coming to an end once they could put the plants in the ground come Halloween. “I really do believe this will work.”

“I have high hopes in the situation myself,” Lazare concurred.

“Thank you for being on this adventure with me, guys. I wouldn’t have been able to do nearly half of this stuff on my own.”

“The job’s not over yet,” Modesta reminded. “We’re only half way through, for next comes planting these bad boys. Now, any particular plant you are thinking of taking home with you?”

“I’m drawn to this one,” Lola said, selecting a canister of rosemary, cradling it lovingly in her hands. “I’m glad we were able to get this done and out of the way now. It’s coming down to the wire with getting ready for my Halloween party, plus, I completely forgot about the bake sale I signed up for to donate in the Harvest Festival this weekend.”

“What are you planning on making?” Modesta asked, intrigued.

“Pizza skulls.” Lola couldn’t help but laugh at Lazare’s confused and startled expressing at hearing the name of the baked item, whereas Modesta, who was accustomed to her friend’s weird propensity for the macabre, in baked goods or otherwise, merely rolled her eyes at the near predictable answer. “They’re my specialty,” she added with a saucy wink. “They’re baked with love. Or, at least, they will be once I can get to the grocery store. Sorry to garden and run, but I need to skedaddle.”

“We’ll walk you out,” Modesta offered. Lola welcomed the company as she gathered her belongings and headed out the main door, waving a farewell to Jack as she departed from Curios and Oddities. Getting into her car, she set her earlier treasures from the store as well as the pot of rosemary on her front seat, and looking to the inconspicuous herb, a devious thought began to brew in her mind.

“It wouldn’t hurt to make a little detour,” she said to the plant, a mischievous smile lifting the corners of her mouth, and with her mind set, Lola drove her car in the opposite direction of the grocery store, setting her sights instead towards an old, half-neglected graveyard.

In the daylight hours, it was far easier for Lola to see her way clearly through the thicket of overgrown weeds, tree roots, and other debris of Nature’s floor that lay carpeted in leaves and branches, however she still managed to procure a decent amount of bodily decorations while stumbling through the uneven terrain as twigs from low hanging branches or thorns caught her limbs and face. Protectively shielding her precious herb, she trudged onward, remembering thankfully the general whereabouts of how to locate the hollow tree, and sure enough, her sense of direction guided her to the embankment of bramble weeds that hid the small clearing where the scarred tree patiently waited for her return.

“Hello, hollow tree,” she grunted gracelessly upon tripping up to the marred trunk. She wistfully gazed at the jagged bark, tracing the rim of the lightning gash with her fingers, a pang of sadness to her eyes as her thoughts briefly touched on the tragedy of years passed, but squashed the gloom to focus on why she was there to begin with at the base of the tree. “Okie dokie. Let’s get to work!” she cheerily proclaimed, patting the tree exuberantly.

“Shit, I didn’t bring a shovel,” Lola realized. She stared at the ground in thought, humming as her mind raced to critically think to problem solve the slight setback to her agenda. “I can still make this work, I just need a decent sized rock.” Lola shrugged out of her jacket, and draped the heavy fabric in a pocket amongst the roots of the innocuous tree, setting the potted herb on top before going over to the edges of the clearing to search for a rock to fill her digging needs.

Finding one roughly the same proportion in comparison to her hand, she came back to the roots of the hollow tree, knelt down, and began chipping away at the ground, creating a sizable hole for her plant. Much to her delight, the earth beneath her was malleable, and in a matter of minutes, she had a tunnel deep enough into the ground for the rosemary to sit comfortably within its new home. She wiped off her sweat coated brow with the back of her hand, then sat cross-legged fully on the ground to get comfortable, tossing the rock aside in favor of holding the small container of greenery. She inspected the sigil markings reverently, her thumb caressing the symbols in a loving gesture, perfectly content to sit peacefully in the softness of the forest at the base of the hollow tree, grounding and connecting with the earth, surrounded by nature’s encompassing embrace.

“All right, little guy,” Lola instructed towards the plant. “I don’t expect you to break the curse completely on your own, but maybe you can help to start the process by weakening it a little, at least.” She gave the leaves of the tiny plant a soft kiss before placing it in the ground, packing dirt around the small bundle securely. She then took out a water bottle from her purse and poured the clear liquid around the base of the herb, making sure to saturate the soil enough for the rosemary to get a full drink of water. “We’re supposed to get rain these next few days, so I won’t need to worry too much about making sure to water you,” she said, brushing the stems through her fingers in a caring gesture.

“Grow big and grow strong,” she said while standing, cleaning dirt from her hands against her thighs as well as dusting off her backside. “I’ll be back in a few days to check on you. Keep well.” Taking up her discarded jacket and other possessions, Lola turned from the clearing with a smile on her face as well as in her heart, pleased and confident she was one step closer to freeing the Hobblin’ Goblin, the misunderstood gnome, the Green Man, from the terrible fate that fettered him both in name and spirit. With the blessings from the prayer triangle and the sigils for growth and love fueling the plants, seeds, and soil, the adventure was nearing complete, the mystery of the Hobblin’ Goblin one for the books, case closed, and problem solved. Although there lingered a small pit of sorrow for not having Mr. Goblin, her ever-faithful childhood companion, continue to haunt the town, Lola knew that freeing his spirit outweighed the comforts of her old routines and perceptions, and thus departed into the Dead Forest with ease of mind and heart.

They were kindred spirits, after all, and she vowed to always keep a special place for him in her heart, so as to never be fully without memory of the Hobblin’ Goblin. It was with these blissful thoughts filling her mind that prompted no desire to look back over her shoulder at the humble herb, yet if she had, Lola would have witnessed the vibrant plant lose its luster, its leaves turn brown and brittle, crumbling into ash, transforming into a dead and broken sprig of rosemary.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bonus! Here are what the sigils look like, for those of you wondering: