Love Potion
"May I ask why you think my love potion will save your marriage?" the witch asked, walking behind the counter to face a wall of shelves with different color jars.
"Because I see no other way to get past what happened," Timothy said, looking down at the counter.
The witch bent down and dragged a stool across the floor. The screech of the wood lasted only a few moments, stopping it under the tallest section of the shelves. "And what happened my dear boy?"
"She...cheated on me."
The witch was unfazed by his admission and climbed up onto the stool with the grace of a cat. She scanned the shelves, touching each jar with her boney finger. Half of the jars had labels, while the unlabeled ones had different colored fluorescent liquids. Nonetheless, her finger pointed to each one down the row.
"I cannot undo what has already been done," the witch said, focusing on the jars.
"I'm not asking you to. I just need a fresh start. A new set of eyes. That way everything can go back to the way it was."
The witch grabbed a jar containing a pink liquid off the shelf and turned to him. "You think this will really do that for you? That you drink this and your wife will magically love you again?”
"At least I will love her again."
The witch climbed down the stool and placed the jar on the counter. She stared into his sullen face. The pain and desperation oozed from his entire being. The weary traveler was no foreign sight to her, but his eyes were. A dull blue, faded not from nature, but from his dying soul.
"A love potion can't make a person love someone who they still love.”
"You don't understand. I don't love her."
"You wouldn't be here if you didn't love her anymore. Your problem isn't your lack of love, it is your broken heart."
Timothy turned away, unable to make eye contact with her.
"I don't make potions for a broken heart. Nothing of magical nature can cure that," the witch admitted.
"So there is no fix?"
"I never said that."
Timothy turned to face her. "Then what, if not a potion or a spell?"
"Forgiveness.”
"I'm supposed to forgive her? For what she did to me!" he said, stressing the last word.
"Yes. Forgive her betrayal. Only then will you find peace."
"I'm not looking for peace, I'm looking to restart my marriage. To show her I love her!”
"What better love than to forgive? Like I said earlier, you can't undo what has already been done. It is time to move on. Whether that is with her or without her is your choice, but forgiveness is always the right choice."
"How do I forgive her? I have been unable to even look at her without disgust."
"It starts in the heart and it takes time. A torn muscle isn't healed in a day and neither will this," the witch said, taking the potion off the countertop.
"That isn't an answer."
"What? You want a step by step guide? It doesn't work that way. It's up to you to heal yourself. I offered you the remedy. I can't make you take it.”
Timothy pondered her words. He wanted to forget his wife ever cheated on him. That they were both happily married and their children never witnessed their argument. It was the past, but it did not have to define the future.
"Thank you, Ma'am for sharing your remedy. I will try it, but I have one last question?"
The witch sat down on the stool. "Alright?"
"If I am able to forgive her, will I forget what she did to me?"
"If you truly forgive her, the memory will be a constant reminder of your strength and love, not of your misery. I'm sure that will give you more comfort than a lost memory."
Timothy nodded and gave her a weak smile before he left the witch's store. The door squeaked and slapped shut against the frame, leaving the witch all alone.
The witch smiled to herself and spun the potion in her hand. "You did it again, Grechen. You lost another sale because you had to have a heart." The pink liquid inside the jar glowed bright and expanded to the top of the lid. "Worth it every time.”
