"A pinch of salt to ease my mind and get me through this trying time," I chanted to myself under my breath, touching the salt packet in my pocket. I stapled the next flier up to the pole in front of me. The face of my collie, Artie, stared back at me from the flier as a second staple pierced through the paper. He was on the floor with his chin rested on his tennis ball. Artie had been missing for a week and a half now.
I sighed and put the remaining flier into my messenger bag. I'd put at least two dozen up today, and my hands were freezing. The first frost of the season had shown up a few days ago. I pulled my gloves onto my hands, put my hood up, and made my way back home.
I opened my apartment door and hung my keys up next to the Artie's leash. My boots immediately got to work creating a puddle on the ground after I took them off, but I left them by the door anyway. I let my salt spell drain down the kitchen sink, put on the kettle, then started stripping off layers on my way to the bathroom.
The water from the shower scalded my scalp as I let it wash over my head. I didn't wash my body, instead just letting the water warm me up until the kettle started to whistle. The whistle grew in volume, filling the whole apartment. At this point, Artie should be howling along to the whistle, but the kettle had a chorus of one today.
"Kettle brew, kettle brew, make me feel good as new," I said as I poured the water into my Christmas cup. Two sugar cubes plunked into the cup, barely avoiding splashing tea onto the counter. I navigated around the tennis ball sitting solemnly on the hallway floor as I took the tea to my bedroom.
The lighter was waiting on my bedside table next to my coaster. Three candles were on the altar atop my dresser, and once I set my cup in the coaster, I lit them. The blankets became a nest, which I cuddled into, and I clutched my cup to my chest. My phone buzzed. I snatched it.
"Artie," I breathed excitedly, hopefully, but instead I saw only a message from my brother asking about the family's plans for the holidays. I habitually flipped to social media. The third knock at the door finally broke me out of my reverie.
Outside stood a beautiful girl bundled up in layers to keep out the cold. She wore a black and white checkered jacket, and a red scarf that made her green eyes stand out. Her long blonde hair was tucked under her scarf, and her smile was all teeth when she saw the door open.
"Hi," she said, but I was distracted by a something bumping into my leg. I looked down.
"Artie!" I yelled, immediately dropping to my knees to pet him as he peppered my face with licks.
"Oh good, I was hoping I didn't have the wrong address. He's been at my house for a week now, and I just saw your fliers up today on my way home from class."
"Thank you so much. I hope he didn't cause too much trouble for you," I said, and stood back up.
"No problem. I found him out sniffing the plants on my back porch. He really liked my sage," she said. She handed the leash to me. I rubbed the back of my head and laughed.
"Yeah, he likes mine too. I have some in the kitchen." I shifted awkwardly. "Well, thank you for finding him. I've been worried sick."
"Of course! He was an angel. He got along really well with my pup. She normally is scared of other dogs. Um. If you're interested, maybe we could set up a playdate for them sometime?"
"Yeah!" I said, a little too quickly. I coughed, and leaned down to unclip Artie from the leash so I could hand it back to her. "Uh. What kind of dog do you have?"
"A little yorkie. Her name is Peppermint."
"Cute, like York peppermint patties!"
"Exactly!" She pulled out her phone and quickly found a photo of her yorkie sprawled on its back, tongue out to the camera.
"Adorable!" I said, looking up to meet her eyes. She blushed slightly, and quickly looked back to her phone.
"Here," she said, handing the phone to me. "I'll need your number if we want to get the pups together." I grinned and quickly typed in my contact information.
"Well, thank you again for finding him for me. I'm Jen by the way." I offered my hand.
"Celeste," she said, shaking it.
"Beautiful name; means 'celestial,' if my Latin isn't too rusty." I knew it wasn't.
"Yeah, 'heavenly.' I've been taking Latin, too, and Greek. I'm a classical studies major at the uni downtown actually. I could help you brush up on your Latin sometime if you'd like."
"Sounds like fun." We both stood there, smiling at each other. Suddenly, Artie barked, snapping us both out of it.
"Anyway, I should really be going, lots of homework to get done and whatnot. I'll text you about the dogs. Bye." She spun around, and quickly made her way down the hall. I waited until she was out of sight to close the door.
"This is not what I meant when I asked you to help with my love spell," I ranted at Artie as I made my way down the hallway to my bedroom. Artie hopped up onto the nest of blankets as I paced back and forth in front of my bed. "I've been worried sick for almost two weeks!" I turned to face Artie, crossing my arms over my chest. He looked up at me, his ears perked, and then barked. I sighed.
"Yes, she is very cute. And she has a dog you can play with. But next time bud, please don't make me so worried." Artie rolled over onto his side, panting heavily and reaching his paws up to stretch. I rolled my eyes and sat down next to him to scratch his belly. My phone vibrated on the bedside table, and I had to reach over Artie to grab it.
"Hey, it's Celeste," the text read. "What's your schedule look like next week? I was thinking we could maybe grab a coffee and take the dogs to the park." I dropped my head back onto my pillow and stared up at the ceiling.
"Artie, you get lots of treats tonight," I said, then leaned up and kissed him on top of the head. He rolled himself over my legs. "Good boy."
