Wicked

(my 12/5 response to the prompt to write about a song, a musical, etc.)

Once Halloween was over, Glenda's calendar opened up until the Winter Solstice came around. Most people don't think much about witches until Halloween. At that time, folks like to hang black-cloaked wizened plastic-faced old women on broomsticks on their front doors and the occasional 7 year old girl would pick "being a witch" over "being a princess" for her trick-or-treat costume.

But at least twice a month all year long, Glenda and the other twelve of the Tucson Coven would gather at the Shelter Bar on Grant Road and share details of their latest success or failures. They would mull over the details of what spells had worked and didn't, conjecture why, and how to improve their products and brands. Contract work had been pretty steady since the recession hit four years ago but there was always a need for improved marketing.

Election year 2012 had been surprisingly productive for the Coven. There was enough money flying out there this time around for a few candidates to call in magic to help tilt the elections toward a win. There had been that flurry of bad press about a 2010 candidate who was a witch but Glenda and the other pros knew she was a fake. Had she really been a professional she wouldn't have lost the election. For the most part, the election spells were quick money, easy to work and, if you knew what you were doing and added your personal witch-support to the potion, the odds were pretty good they would bring about the desired outcome. Sometimes, just for fun, Glenda monkey-wrenched the spell because she knew the candidate well enough to ensure his or her loss. But that kind of talk was strictly shared within the Coven; outsiders were kept in the dark.

Currently, Glenda knew that the Phoenix Coven had received several requests for a 2014 Jan Brewer victory and next year's annual meeting would be interesting to attend. She, and others, wanted to find out how much steam was boiling behind that Gubanatorial effort.

But, for now, Glenda was going to refocus on December 22nd. She had no doubt that the earth would still be spinning after the 21st. The Mayan Calendar was an old school prediction tool and the newer magic was better informed about how the world would end. While non-Magicians, or Muggles as they were now commonly called thanks to the Harry Potter books and movies, thought a big bang would end earthly life, Glenda and her ilk believed it would come as it was evolving now: in significant shifts of weather changes and seemingly random acts of violence in homes, schools and communities. These occurrences reflect the non-alignment of earth to the cosmos.

December 21st the longest night of 2012 would be a celebration of witches and druids and other practitioners of the world beyond the silver cloak of reality. Cauldrons would bubble, candles would flame and Glenda would dance to tambourine music and drums. On the 22nd, the Covens nation-wide would need all of their collective energy to serve the magical needs of the world that would wake up to another day