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"I'm finished!" Cleo yelled from the kitchen.
I stood up from the couch and adjusted the pajamas she had given me to wear. I scurried to the kitchen where she was placing the cake down on the counter with the upmost focus.
"Ta-Da!" She yelled as she gestured to the cake excitedly, wiggling her fingers. My heart warmed at the fact that she spent so much time making it, and I sat down on the stool across from her. I insisted multiple times that she didn't have to, but she was adamant and claimed she would've made one even if it was my birthday...
Bullshit.
But here we were.
"It actually looks really good," I said as I tapped the marble counter. It was a small pink cake, but it was decorated like a professional had done it. She told me she was a bad cook, but looking at this, I couldn't believe it.
"I'm glad you think so, I followed the instructions to a tee. Like seriously, I paid more attention to this than I ever did in school." I laughed as she scurried to the bag of groceries we got and pulled out two candles that together would say 21. She placed the candles onto the cake and lit them one at a time. When she was done she stood up straight and cleared her throat.
I raised a brow at her as she began rubbing her throat and swinger her hair over her shoulders. "What's going-"
"Happy Birthday to you!..." She began singing, making me jump in surprise. My eyes watered as I tried to hold back a laugh and she continued on. She was amazing, but her singing voice was far from melodic. When she finished she gave me a satisfied smile and gestured at the cake. "Make a wish!"
At her instruction, I held my hair behind my head and bent down to blow them out. She clapped and when I looked up at her, she had a huge smile on her face. "What did you wish for?"
"Won't it not happen if I share it?"
"Believe it or not, that's a myth." She nodded. "The entire concept of wishes is just not real."
"Oh, really?" I gasped, my voice clipped with sarcasm making her laugh and throw a napkin at me.
"Stop." She crossed her arms. "I love the whole tradition, but I wish more recognition was given to the witches and warlocks that spend countless hours trying to grant them."
"So wishes...are real?" I looked at her in shock. "There are people really granting them?"
"Technically, yes...but it's not because of the stars or God. It's because my people have good hearts and they want people to be happy. There are rules though, we can't really give you want you want...but we can lead you there or make a small incident happen that will send you along the path of what it is that you want."
"Can you do it with me?" I questioned in aww.
"Sure." She laughed, relighting the candle once again. "Try again and say it out loud this time."
