The End

Read other Sunday Scribblings here.

Born into a family of darkness, Juniper was not an ordinary child. While her other two older sisters practice magic, she would stare out the window and watch the clouds go by. On sunny days she would run through the fields and chase the clouds above. Instead of turning people into frogs and pigs, Juniper turns them into sunflowers and daisies. Instead of greedily taking, she would ask for nothing.

Her parents, a witch and a warlock, couldn't understand her. They tried to steered her to their ways but it was no use. Juniper was not like them. There was no way of changing that. Each time they to tried to teach her dark magic, she would end up doing the opposite. It was not on purpose. Juniper never knew why she was that way or why she was so different from her family.

It was said she was like her aunt Agnes. No one knew what became of her. It was rumor that she had ran off with some mortal or that a spell had gone wrong ending up killing her. It's true Juniper was like her. She was reluctant to do harm to people.

As she grew older, her conscience became clearer. She understood her family was evil but still loved them. In secret, Juniper created spells to erased the bad deeds her family had concocted but since her powers was not as strong as theirs, she sometimes has to leave it be.

On her eighteenth birthday, it was decided she were be marry to another warlock's son. Snail was his name. A good looking guy but with such an big ego and arrogance, Juniper took to hating him every time she saw him. He tried to kiss her hand as they said hello and she'd make excuses to leave the room. He find her charming and thought she was his perfect mate. She rather throw herself into a well of knives than to be his mate which she told him. He just smiled arrogantly.

During times when she had to spent it with Snail, she tried to bring up subjects that he couldn't possibly know but he surprised her with his wit. Many times he had tried to kiss her but the thought was so revolting to her that she choose to eat garlic whenever she had to be alone with him. He didn't even seem to notice. One time he kissed her by surprise. The instants she felt his mouth on her, she turned his mouth full of daises. Of cause that didn't stop him from trying it again. In front of both of their parents, he pinch her behind. She was so humiliated, she slapped him on the cheeks and then put a spell on him which made him talk like a sheep. She was glad he doesn't have much power. Her parents dismissed Snail's behavior as normal. She was reprimanded for using her powers against him.

One time she was left with just Snail at home alone, with only one servant. At first he seem quiet and a total gentleman. But when the servant had leave to fetch water, he came around again. His slimly hand held hers tightly. He would not let go until she kiss him. She said, "as you wish." But make him promised to close his eyes. While his eyes were closed, she pull out a frog from her dress pocket and press it against his lips. He seem to enjoyed it somehow. She placed the frog back into her pocket just as the servant came back. He didn't seem to notice. She asked how was it and he said, it was great. He was beaming. Juniper smiled at him innocently.

Her father would not budge on the issue. Each time she asked him, he would gave her a stern look and said, "Enough! It's already been arranged. You will marry Snail in a fortnight. I will not speak of this anymore." Then he would storm out to a meeting - a gathering of warlocks of some kind.

Juniper wandered around in her room at night when the others had gone to bed. She will get out of this even if means she had to do bad magic, she thought. When it was all quiet, she sneaked into her father's laboratory and go through his books and potions. Many nights she went there but always came back with tears in her eyes.

Four nights before her wedding, she found a book of her aunt's hidden away in the bookshelf. It was a book of spells, good spells that get people out of trouble. She was ecstatic. She flip through the book but find no real solution. The one that really attracted her was the one turning Snail into a snail. On the last page, was a spell written by her aunt. A strange spell. There was no explanation on what it does. Only these words:

Dark as night
Turn this sprite into light

Juniper copied it down and went to bed. In the morning she tried again to talk to her father but it was no use. She told him Snail's been very ungentleman-like to her. But her father said it was expected, after all she was to be his wife. Juniper was so desperate she even went to her sisters for advice which she never did before. Her sisters who are already married, tried to convince her it was for the best. Their advice was the same as their father's. Juniper show them the spell and asked them if they knew what it does. Both of them acted surprise and said they have no idea. But Juniper knew they were lying. She had to find out. It will be three days before the wedding. What was she to do?

The wedding day came and Juniper was panicking. She hid in her room until she was called upon. As her hand was held by that slimy Snail, her whole body went cold. Her vision became cloudy. She shivered. The cold ran through her body bit by bit. She can feel her whole body becoming lighter and lighter. A feeling of weightlessness came over her. Soon she was looking down at everyone. She did not know what was happening. She felt her troubles lifted off her as if she was flying.

She screamed with joy but no sound came out. She felt odd and yet very happy. As she was ascending, she went straight through the ceiling and into the sky. In the clear blue sky, she felt free. She did not know what she had become until she tried looking at her hands but they would gone, in fact she has no body. Juniper had said the spell that very morning. Chills had ran through her body but she had forgotten about the spell when faced with Snail.

She saw clouds surrounding her, felt their presence, heard their voices. Hello, she said. Their respond was the same. She knew then what she was. A cloud. How wonderful she thought. She giggled with joy. It was the end of Juniper but the beginning of a new life.