So Mote It Be October 31, 2025

Posted by nrhatch in Fiction, Life Balance, Magick & Mystery, Mindfulness.
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Matt pushed his six-foot frame back from the patio table. “I hate to eat and run, but I told Teri I’d stop by.”

He smiled a satisfied smile at Serena, challenging her to challenge him.

Serena saw the challenge behind his smile.  Instead of taking the bait, she stood and started clearing plates from the table.

Matt’s smile deflated. “I suppose I could stay for another beer if you have one to spare.”

“Sure.  Help yourself.”

“You?”

Serena glanced at the sky to gauge the time, “Yeah.  Sure.  Killian’s.”

Matt walked through the screen door leading from the deck into the Florida room and ran down the carpeted steps to the furnished basement.  He strode over to the stocked fridge and grabbed a Killian’s Red and a Beck.

He looked around the room.  A regulation pool table stood center stage, flanked by a ping-pong table, stocked bar, and fridge filled with assorted beers and wine.  An adjoining room housed a dartboard.

He took a long pull from his beer and caught a glimpse of Serena in one of the photo montages lining the wall.  Although a few years older than him, she didn’t look it.  If anything, she looked younger.

Matt bounded up the stairs and found Serena in the kitchen.  She reached out to take the beer.

“Thanks.  Let’s go back on the deck.  Steve should be home soon.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Friends for the past two years, Serena and Matt shared moments of true connection ~ a connection that flickered at times.  Like a neon sign blinking on and off.

She recalled seeing Matt delivering mail around the office during her first weeks there, but it wasn’t until her secretary’s Halloween party that Serena really noticed him.

He and his roommate attended in identical monk’s robes and brought a tray of multi-colored jello shots.  At the time, Serena assumed they were gay.

Back on the deck, Serena pulled out a chair, then turned to Matt, “You forgot my birthday.”

“I remembered.”

“You did?”

“Sure.  I didn’t think Steve would appreciate it if I gave his wife flowers.”

“He wouldn’t mind.  He’s happy if I’m happy.”

Matt frowned.  “Well, I don’t give birthday gifts to married women.”

Serena sat back.   “Ahh, a rule without exception.  Glad to know you’re not singling me out.” 

He leaned forward, genuine interest in his eyes, “How was your birthday?”

“Fine.  Deb and Danielle threw a Surprise Party for me.  Toni came.  We had fun.  She taught us a couple of card games.”

“Sorry I missed it.”

“Me too.”  Serena smiled.  “You better finish your beer and get going.  Teri is going to wonder what happened to you.”

“Let her wonder.”

* * *

Matt revved the engine and shot down the driveway with a quick glance back at the deck.  Even after two years, Serena intrigued him.  He had never met anyone like her ~ funny, warm, generous, intelligent . . . and married.

One day, while working on his car, he needed another set of hands.  She drove up seconds later.  After he finished working on the brakes, he had asked, “How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Show up right when you’re needed.”

“Easy.  I’m tapped into the Universe.  You release a thought.  I catch it.  It’s like playing Frisbee once you get the hang of it.”

“Gotcha.”

She grinned.  “Of course it helps that I’m a witch.”

At times, he wondered.  On more than one occasion, he’d been thinking about her, wishing she’d appear.  And she would.  Like magic.

If witch she was, she was a good witch, often reminding him of the Wiccan motto ~ “Do what you will, an harm none.”

Wanting clarification, he had once asked, “What about accidents and unintended harm?”

“What do you mean?  Can you give me an example?”

“What if I toss a pebble into a pond and it hits a turtle on the head as it surfaces?”

She grinned, “Look deep.  The answers lie within.”

“How do you know?”

“I read it in a poem, a long time ago, in the future, when I was a girl.”

* * *

After Matt left, Serena allowed her thoughts to wander, settling on the night she’d had a bit too much to drink and tried to kiss Matt in the parking lot of the Mexican Food Factory.

Matt had gently pushed her away and asked, “What are you doing?”

Serena didn’t answer.  Instead, she sat down next to him on the running board of his car, playing with a penny lodged in the doorway.  He watched her come to terms with the not-to-be kiss.

When she stood, he got out of the car and held out his arms.   She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart beating out an even rhythm.

She took a deep breath.  “I’m sorry, Matt.”

“Don’t be so hard on your self.”

* * * 

A few days later, Matt stopped by Serena’s office and gave her a dirty look, “You weren’t very talkative at bowling last night.”

Serena looked up.  “I talked plenty.  Just not to you.”

“Yeah, so I noticed.”

“What did you want me to do?  Sit on your lap while you were talking to Teri?  Pull up a ring-side seat?”

“You’re jealous!”

“Not at all.  But I wasn’t in the mood for a three-way.”

“So you’re not jealous of Teri?”

“Not in the least.  I want you to be happy.  Being with Teri makes you happy.”

“She does.  But so do you.”

“Good to know.”

After a brief pause, he added, “You know it’s just as hard for me to watch you with Steve.”

Serena nodded.

* * *

A few days later when she got home, Serena dropped her briefcase and greeted Salem, her cat companion for 13 years.  “What did you do today, my fat fuzzy fellow?”

Salem purred as she scratched around his ears and under his chin.  “Salem, why can’t people be more like cats?”

As she tossed Salem a cat treat, the phone rang and the answering machine clicked on, “Hey.  Sorry I gave you a hard time this afternoon, but . . . ”

“Hey, Matt.  I was just thinking about you.”

“What?  Thinking about what an ass I was this afternoon?”

“No.  Well, sort of.  I’m glad you called.  Steve’s working late and I’ve got no plans.  Want to come over and hang out?”

“Should I bring a chaperone?”

Serena grinned into the phone, “If you think it’s necessary.”

“It might be a suitable precaution.”

“Oh, let’s live dangerously.”

Thirty minutes later, Matt flew up the driveway and greeted Serena at the door with a bunch of daisies.

“Wow!  Thanks!  What’s the occasion?”

Matt grinned, “Happy Birthday . . . a little late!”

After putting the flowers in water, Serena said, “So, what’ll be?  Darts?  Pool?  Ping Pong?”

“How ’bout a game of pool?”

“Great.  I’ll put on some tunes.”

At the bottom of the stairs, Matt reached for the lights.  Serena stopped him. Matt raised his eyebrows, then pulled her close.

Arms entwined, they danced across the dusky room, lost in each other.  When Serena looked into Matt’s eyes, she stopped breathing.  Time stood still.  The world ceased to exist.

Until they bumped against the pool table and the room returned to view.

Matt pulled away.  “I want to stay, but I think I better go . . . before we end up swamping an inadvertent turtle  with a tidal wave of ripples.”

Serena nodded, a single tear trailing down her cheek.

Matt swiped away the tear.  “What do you want me to do, Serena?  You already feel guilty.  And we haven’t even kissed.”

“I know.  And I don’t know what to do.  This would be easy if Steve was an asshole.”

“But he’s not.  He’s a good guy.”

“He is indeed.”

Matt lifted her chin. “And . . . he’s lucky to have you.”

“Thanks.”  

With equal parts regret and relief, Serena walked Matt to his car.

* * *

Matt stopped at Teri’s on the way home.

“Where the hell have you been?  I’ve been calling you for the past hour.”

“I stopped to see Serena.”

Teri glared.  “I don’t like you going over there to see that bitch, especially when her husband is not around.”

“She’s not a bitch.  She’s a witch.  There’s a difference.”

“Whatever.  She’s in love with you, and I’m beginning to think you’re under her spell.”

“We’re just friends.”

“Bullshit!  I see the way you look at each other.  If you want to keep seeing me, don’t go over there any more.”

Matt weighed his options, anxious to avoid a repeat of this evening.  “OK.  I won’t go over there, but if she shows up at bowling, I’m not going to ignore her.”

“Fair enough.”

* * *

For the next three weeks, Matt ignored Serena’s phone calls and managed to avoid her at work, willing her to show up at his weekly bowling league.  

She didn’t.  

Reluctant to chase Matt around town or look for him in the office, Serena waited for him to return her calls or stop by her office.  

He didn’t.  

Serena called . . . one last time.  Instead of getting his machine, she got Matt.  “Whatsup?”

Startled, she stumbled over her words.  “Hey.  Que pasa? I haven’t seen you for ages.”

“I’ve been busy and figured I’d see you at bowling.  If you’re coming tonight, we could catch up.”

“I don’t know.  I’m not in the mood to hang around watching Teri glare at me.”

“C’mon.  I’ll tell her to behave.”

“I’m not sure.  We’ll see.”

After Serena hung up, she thought about what he’d said.  He wanted to see her ~ on his terms.  At the lanes, with no chance for real conversation.  On the plus side, there also would be no chance to succumb to temptation under Teri’s watchful eyes.

Salem walked into the room and Serena gathered him up.  “Hey there, you little chub bug.  I need a hug.”  

Salem nudged her with his chin.  

“Guess why Matt never returned my calls, Salem.  He was ‘too busy.’  Maybe it’s time for a break.  What say you?”  

Salem purred.  “Well said, Salem.  Sometimes less IS more.”

* * *

A few days later, Matt read the letter from Serena and flinched.  Her words felt like a punch in the gut.  Teri walked into the kitchen and saw Matt sitting still, letter in hand, pain written over his face.

“Who’s the letter from?”

Matt stuffed the letter into his back pocket.  “Serena.”

“What does SHE want?”

“Nothing.”

After Matt left for work, Teri rummaged around until she found the letter:

Matt ~ I think we need to stop tempting fate, don’t you?  Just know, I wish you all the best.  So Mote It Be!  Serena

Replacing the letter where she found it, Teri smiled.  Good riddance!

* * *

Serena sat watching smoke curl away from her cigarette.  As expected, she hadn’t heard a word from Matt since sending the letter.  Just as well.  Calling a halt was the right thing to do.

So why did conversations they’d shared continue to float through her thoughts, rolling and roiling like fog on a rocky coastline?

Steve looked her way, “Penny for your thoughts.”

“Oh, don’t mind me, Steve.  I’m just lost in fog.”

“Matt?”

“BINGO.”

“You think you’ll hear from him?”

“Perhaps.  Someday. I expect I am woven into the fabric of his thoughts, as he is in mine.”

“Absolutely.”

“And still the waves crash on the beach.”

H~A~P~P~Y

H~A~L~L~O~W~E~E~N!