The Magic Cure

Last fall I had to put my truck in the shop. It needed a new transmission and as luck would have it, I did not have anywhere near enough money to get it fixed, so I told the shop mechanic to just hold off until I could get the money, it might be a couple of months. I’m disabled and on a fixed income, so the amount of money I needed: five hundred dollars, seemed like a million.

The first thing I did after the truck went in the shop was go down to the city bus station and buy a bus pass which was good for one month and only cost me $15.00. It normally costs a dollar to ride one bus one way, but with the bus pass it would enable me to ride any bus every day for a month and as many rides as I wanted.

My main disability is I can’t walk very well, so riding city buses has disadvantages, too. Sometimes to make a transfer a person might have to walk a few blocks. But all in all, riding the city bus seemed like the logical thing to do.

One afternoon when I was headed out to the hospital on the edge of town I had to catch a bus that only went out there four times a day. The result was I took one bus out to where I would catch the next bus, but there was a forty-five minute wait for the next bus. It must have been about thirty-five degrees outside and by the time the bus got there I had just about froze my ass off.

After I got on I found a seat about half way back. It was late afternoon and most of the riders were people coming home from work. We made a stop and this young man got on, he looked like he might be nineteen or somewhere close to that and he dropped ninety cents in the bus box, but he was a dime short. After searching his pockets and coming up empty and the bus driver was not going anywhere until he got his dime, the young man turned to the people on the bus and asked if anybody could spare a dime. I did not notice anybody around me diving for their purses or pockets so I reached in my pocket and gave the man a dime. He gave it to the bus driver and then thanked me and sat down.

I was amazed that no one else was willing to cough up a dime.

The rest of that day was pretty uneventful.

About a week later the temperature dropped another notch to the point that in the middle of the day it would be about twenty five degrees outside. So when I figured out everywhere I had to go, I tried to work my bus schedule where I would not be waiting on a bus for more than fifteen minutes. But as it turned out one bus ran twenty minutes late so the result I was sitting on an ice cold bus bench for thirty-five minutes. When the bus finally pulled up I felt like the ice man.

The bus was mostly full, so I grabbed the first seat I saw which was next to a woman that looked like she was about twenty two. She immediately started talking, “You look like you are about to freeze to death.”

I was still shaking, even though I was wrapped up pretty good. “Yeah, the bus was late.”

“That’s because at the last stop before yours, the handicap lift broke and the driver had to get out and fix it before the guy in the wheelchair could load up.”

Hearing this did not make me feel thankful that I wasn’t in a wheelchair. But the bus was real warm and I was starting to thaw out. “Shit happens,” I replied.

The woman kind of giggled at that. We rode in silence for a few minutes and then she said,
“Where are you headed?”

“Job interview. Then I’m going to have to wait for another hour to catch this bus back to town. It’ll be dark by then and colder. If the bus runs late I may build a fire at the stop. I’ll just burn the bus bench.”

“So where is your interview?” she asked.

I thought she was a little nosey but what the hell. “It’s about four blocks from the bus stop. The shape I’m in I’ll be dead by the time I walk eight blocks and then wait on this bus for an hour. But that’s the way the ball bounces.”

“Oh.” is all she said.

After riding for another fifteen minutes we finally got to the bus stop I was looking for and both the young woman and I got off. I watched her as she crossed the street and then I headed for my job interview which was at a Subway. I talked to the manager for about ten minutes and then she interrupted me and said I was hired and could start tomorrow at five p.m.

That was great. I told the manager I had to catch a bus so I waited at the Subway for about twenty minutes hoping I would cut the amount of time I had to wait out in the cold. I did not want to wait too long, because sometimes the bus would run early and I did not want to miss my ride.

I finally left and by the time I had walked the four blocks to the bus stop I was really cold. I was surprised to find the young woman I had met on the bus sitting on the bus bench. When I walked up I said, “Are you going back to town?”

“No. I’m waiting for you.” she replied.

Well that threw me for a loop. Kind of had me searching for words for a minute when she said, “I live in those apartments right across the street and I thought you could wait for your bus inside where it is warm.”

Well, I couldn’t turn that kind of a deal down. “Okay, I really appreciate that.” I replied.

I followed her across the street, her apartment was right on the street, downstairs. When we got inside she said, “My name is Kathy Stewart.”
“Glad to meet you. My name is Bill Anderson.”

“Did you get your job, Bill.” she asked as she took off her coat and scarf. She was wearing jeans and a sweater and I couldn’t help but notice that she was almost flat chested.

“As a matter of fact I did.” I replied as I took off my own coat. I looked around the living room. It was neat but sparsely furnished. One chair, a small coffee table and a thirteen inch television sitting on an apple crate. Then on the longest wall there were concrete blocks with two by twelve boards forming a floor to ceiling bookcase that was loaded with books. Since I’m an avid reader I walked over to the bookcase and looked at a few titles. I immediately noticed that all of the books felt with witchcraft and herbolgy. I turned to where Kathy was standing and said, “You must be a witch.”

She did not hesitate, “Yes. But do not be alarmed. I’m a good witch.”

At the far end of the bookcase I noticed a small table covered with a velvet red cloth and in the center was a stone bowl that looked like it might have been hand carved. I walked over and picked it up and looked at it more closely.

From behind me, Kathy said, “That’s what I grind things in when I cast a spell or when I grind my herbs down.”

I kind of laughed and said, “Promise me you won’t turn me into a frog.”

That made her laugh out loud and she said, “Okay, I promise I won’t turn you into a frog.”

“So how long have you been a practicing witch,” I asked.

“I’m new at this. I’ve only been doing it seriously for about ten years.”

Since I thought she was in her early twenties I was doing the math in my head when she said, “I’m thirty-two.”

“You read minds, too.”

“Not really. But I could see the bewilderment on your face and took a wild guess that you thought I was younger.”

“You’re good. And you’re right.” I said.

I went over to the door and looked out. No bus in sight. I looked at my watch. I still had about fifteen minutes before the bus ran. When I turned around, Kathy had disappeared into another room. Then I heard her call out, “Just make yourself at home. I’m changing clothes. I’ll make some hot chocolate, it’ll warm you up.”

I sat down in the only chair. “Don’t bother. My bus will be here in a few minutes.”

Kathy came into the living room, she was wearing lounge pajamas with an almost transparent blue robe that was decorated with fire-breathing dragons. The pajamas were multi-colored, blue, green and yellow and had wizards all over them. They were very loose and therefore completely hid the shape of her body.

Now she was attractive. The outfit did it. “I like that,” I said.

“You might as well take it easy. The bus broke down and it will be a while before they can get another bus out here.” she stated matter-of-factly.

“How do you know that? “ I asked.

“Actually, I heard it on the news right before I walked over to meet you. I knew if you had to sit out there for a few hours then you really would be cold and probably sick, too.”

“That’s just great. Oh, I’m sorry. I really do appreciate you inviting me into your house. You sure are trusting.” I was speaking without thinking because of hearing the bus was broke down that would put me back downtown way late to catch my other bus home.

“I’m in a real fix. I’ll miss my other bus. And there’s no way I can walk ten miles home.

“Well,” she started, paused and then finished, “If you are not afraid of me turning you into a frog.” ..... short pause, “You could spend the night.”

“Oh, that would be too much. Maybe I can get hold of somebody to come pick me up.”

“Now you are making me mad.” she said but I couldn’t tell it because she had a smile on her face. “You really are afraid of me, aren’t you?”

“No, I just don’t want to take too much advantage of your already way to generous offer.”

“Hey, it’s my call. I enjoy having company. I’ll start supper. How’s frog stew sound?” she laughed.

I noticed she laughed a lot. “That sounds great to me as long as I’m not the frog.”

She laughed again and went into the kitchen. I heard her open the refrigerator and rattle some pots and then she entered the living room carrying two bottles of Corona. Instead of hot chocolate, how about a beer?”

I took the beer and said, “Thanks.”

As she was walking back into the kitchen I asked, Is it okay for me to smoke?”
She called back, “Sure go ahead. But the only think I smoke is pot.”

I lit a cigarette. It was the first one I had had today, but it went well with the cold beer. I turned on the television and the news was on. I watched and when the weather came on they said it was going to snow in the wee hours of the morning. ‘Great’ I thought ‘If we get much snow the buses probably won’t run.. ‘

I turned off the televison and went to the bookcase found a great big book called: Complete Guide to Potions. I sat down in the chair and started turning pages. The recipes reminded me of my mother’s cookbooks. I was beginning to smell good smells coming from the kitchen. Kathy stuck her head out of the kitchen and said, “Supper will be ready in just a minute. Find anything interesting?”

“Good. .....Not yet. I was looking for the potion that turns me into a frog.”

“You won’t find it in that book.” she said. She then entered the living room carrying a small table and set in down in the middle of the room. It was just high enough that you could sit on the floor. “Sorry, but we’ll have to eat Chinese style.”

“That’s okay.”I replied.

“Supper should be ready in about fifteen minutes. I made this herb tea for you,” she said as she handed me a hot steaming cup of tea.

I took the cup and sipped the brew. It had a unique taste that I didn’t really care for but it wasn’t that bad so I was determined to drink it so as I not to offend my host.

“So , how is it?” Kathy asked.

“Not bad,” I answered.

“Is that the truth?” she asked.

“No, not really. But it is different.”

“So tell me all about your disability.” she ventured.

“Not that big of a deal. I’m fifty-two years old and I’ve been a diabetic since I was twenty-six. I didn’t really watch my sugar levels the first ten years and now I have neuropathy in my legs and feet, which keeps me from walking much. That four blocks to the job interview about did me in.” I said as I sipped my herb tea.

“You don’t sound down about it.”

“No, I figure there are a lot of other people worse off than me. This is the hand I got dealt. Now I just have to play it out.” I said.

Kathy got up and went around the room lighting candles which were on the coffee table and the bookcase and then she took two off of the bookcase and put them on our little table. When she turned off the lights, shadows danced on all of the walls. Then she returned to the kitchen.

My tea cup was empty and I took a swig of my beer, mainly to get the taste of the tea out of my mouth. Kathy walked in carrying two plates and some silverware and she placed them on the table and told me I could set them up while she got the food. She returned carrying a Dutch oven. She then returned to the kitchen and returned once more carrying a plate of steaming cornbread. I lifted the top off of the pot. It looked like beef stew to me with a lot of vegetables

“Smells good,” I said as I watched her sit down Indian fashion. I noticed her ankles for the first time and both were slim and graceful and both had some kind of tattoos on them and I said, “Oh, you have tattoos.”

“Yes and no. I have one tattoo. With many different scenes within. I’ll show you after supper.” she replied.

Now my curiosity was aroused. I laid the lid to the Dutch oven to one side and ladled out some stew on my plate. Took a slice of cornbread, put too much butter on it - because that’s the way I like it - and then crumbed it up in my stew. Then I took my first bite and I just don’t know how to describe in properly. It was like nothing I had ever eaten before. It was definitely beef stew, but it had so many different flavors I did not recognize and it was fantastic. “This is delicious” I said. And then, “What’s in it?”

“Thank You. In addition to what you’d traditionally find in beef stew there are about twenty-five different herbs and spices. You might call it my own special witches recipe.”

“Well...whatever. It is truly the best stew I’ve ever eaten.”

Then I concentrated on eating and watching Kathy eat. She crumbled her cornbread into the stew just like I did. But where I took great big bites, she ate rather daintedly. .

I finished first and lit a cigarette and just watched her eat.

“I’m a slow eater,” she commented.

She did not say anything while she finished eating. Then she pushed her plate to the side and fumbled in her pocket and produced a short joint. She held it up and said, “Do you want a hit?”

“NO. But you go ahead. I never really got into pot and it has been twenty or more years since I took a hit.”

“Okay,” she said as she lit her joint.
She inhaled deeply and then exhaled and distinguished the rest of the joint. “Ah-h, now that’s much better. Do you want another beer?”

“Sure.” I replied.

She got up and went to the kitchen and returned with two beers. She handed me one, set hers down and then stood up straight and removed her robe. Then she started unbuttoning her pajama top. “Close your eyes and don’t open them until I say,” she said.

“Okay, they’re closed.”

I heard her clothes rustling and then she said, “Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

And what I saw when I opened my eyes blew me away. The tattoo covered her whole body, arms, legs, back, everything. It was one large multi-colored, fire-breathing dragon with two heads. A huge wizard stood before the dragon. The wizard covered most of her stomach and chest area and he wore a pointy hat. The background which seemed to cover every inch of her body except for her feet, hands, and neck consisted of bright, green vegetation and
red, yellow, and black snakes. Although Kathy was completely nude, I could not tell it. She wore the tattoo like an outfit.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“It’s beautiful. But, did it hurt? How long did it take?”

“Yes, at times it was uncomfortable. And I’ve been working on it for eight years. It is not finished.” she said and sat down.

I sipped my beer which was making me a little light-headed and just studied the many facets of her art work. I tried to make out her nipples and when I finally realized I was looking at them- they were blended into the dragon, I kind of blushed and looked away.

Kathy reached up and tried to cup her almost completely flat breasts and said, “Not much here. Most men prefer big breasts. But I like these just fine.”

I was getting uncomfortable. I did not know what this young woman, twenty years my junior, expected of me. I knew I could not perform. The combination of my diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, and four kinds of blood pressure medicine had left me impotent for over five years. Of you’re my libido was not affected and I was having all kinds of thoughts right now that I could not control. I wanted to jump up and smother her with kisses and put my tongue in places.....well, you get the drift.

“They’re okay. Uh, I, uh, “ I stammered.

Then I felt myself getting an erection. This really surprised me because it had been awhile since I had had one. Of course I’m a normal male. I occasionally masturbate and do it until I ejaculate but when I do I never get an erection. So when I became impotent, it pretty much ended my sex life with partners. I made eye contact with Kathy and she was smiling. “Why don’t you get out of those clothes. I want to see what you look like,” she said.

I’ve never thought that I am shy. However, it had been some time since I had disrobed in front of a woman. So I was a little slow and awkward at getting started. “Stand up,” she commanded.

I did and when I was standing before her she began to unbutton my shirt. I really didn’t know what to do, so I reached up and cupped her little mounds of breasts in my hands and began to finger her flat nipples, which now that I was up close I noticed that the actual areolas were as big as silver dollars. As I caressed her nipples they began to harden and grow. Kathy had the shirt unbuttoned and was working on my belt. When she undid it she slid my pants and boxer shorts down to my ankles and I stepped out of them and removed my shirt. Then she reached down and took my erect penis in her hand. “This is some big boy,” she said.

But I knew that was a lie. It had never been longer than five inches, even when it was hard and even when I was twenty. I just never had had a big penis.

I felt like I was in a trance. Here I was about to make love to a beautiful, young, tattooed woman. And she seemed to be the one that wanted it. I embraced her and started to kiss her on the lips, but she pulled back. “Bill, I don’t kiss. Too many germs.”

Now that was a little strange. But I pulled back and then placed my mouth over her left nipple.
“Is this okay,” I mumbled around her breast.

“Oh-h-h, yes,” she replied.

Then we eased down to the floor and made love for what seemed like hours. Then we drifted off to sleep in each others arms.

The next morning I woke up alone on the floor, naked and cold. I sat up and looked around. The living room was completely empty except for my clothes which were piled up next to me with my long overcoat on top. I stood up and walked to the kitchen. It was spotless and it was also empty. I looked in the cabinets and they also were empty. Then I walked to the bedroom. Not a thing was in it. Just four bare walls and a doorway leading into the bathroom. I went into the bathroom to relieve myself. I must have peed for a full three minutes. It felt so good to empty my bladder.

I looked at my watch and it said: four fifteen. But it was light out, so that must mean it was afternoon. I could dress for work and just make it. So I went back into the living room and put my clothes on, then my overcoat and hurried out the door to my new job. I didn’t understand what was happening but I knew I would figure it out later.

My bosses name at Subway was Melissa. She greeted me as I came through the door. “Just work the cash register tonight. I want to watch and see how you handle money. Let me show you how it works. It is pretty simple.” Melissa said.

I took off my overcoat and went to work. The cash register was simple and soon after I got there the store got busy. By nine o’clock we had done over six hundred dollars in sandwiches. Melissa told me that we closed at midnight and that it usually took about half an hour to clean the store. I took a break, smoked a cigarette and called a friend who I knew was working a security post and got off at midnight and asked if he would give me a ride home. He said he would and I finished my cigarette and went back to work. I stayed too busy to think much about the night before.

We had the store swept, mopped and cleaned by twelve-twenty and I went out to wait for my friend. It was cold. My friend, Bob showed up about twelve-forty-five. “Sorry, about the wait. My relief ran late.”
Bob said.

“No problem. I’m just glad I could catch a ride.” I said as I reached into my pocket to get some money to offer Bob for the ride. When I pulled my hand out of my pocket I was holding a wad of cash. I quickly counted it. It was two thousand dollars. ‘Whoa, what’s going on here?’ I thought. When I had left home the day before I only had ten dollars in cash. I pulled a five dollar bill out of the wad and quickly stuck the rest of the cash in my pocket. I offered the five to Bob. He took it. “Thanks, this will help out.” he said. “What have you been up too, old timer?” he asked.

I wanted to try and tell Bob what had happened to me last night, but to tell the truth, I wasn’t sure what had happened. Bob was about my age and he would never believe that a thirty-two year old woman had seduced me. So I said, “Not much. Truck is in the shop. That’s the reason I’m working.” Need some money to get it fixed.”

“Yeah, same o same o.” Bob said.

We got to my house pretty quick, I thanked him for the ride and went inside.

It was chilly. I had turned the thermostat down before I left. I put it on eighty just to warm things up in a hurry. Went to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee and then took my overcoat off. That’s when I noticed a big lump in the pocket. I reached in and pulled out a large zip-lock bag that looked like it was full of dead grass. A sealed envelope was inside the bag and I took it out and opened it.

Inside was a letter and I took it out and began to read:

Dearest Bill,
Thank You for a wonderful evening. I know so much more about you than you
Will ever know. I know you have a truck in the shop and that‘s why you went to
Work and that’s why I slipped two grand in your pocket. The zip-lock bag contains my special herbs for your impotency problem. Use two pinches of dry matter and boil for ten minutes then let steep for about twenty minutes. You can’t buy this special mix in a store
so from time to time you’ll get a new supply in the mail. Not everything that happened last night was what you thought. For one thing, I’m not thirty-two, but one hundred and seven. Well, I am a witch and I cast an illusion that I thought you’d like. And, last but not least, I did not turn you into a frog.

Love,

Kathy

I re-read the letter several times. Then I went to bed and the next morning I hurried down to the city bus depot to renew my monthly pass. And wandered who I would meet on the bus today.

The End