Samantha cut into yet another pumpkin as Bette Midler started singing "I've Put A Spell On You".
At 28 she was probably too old for either Halloween or children's movies but that didn't stop her joyfully shaking her shoulders as the witches from "Hocus Pocus" sang full pelt. She shimmied around her kitchen as she deftly carved the Jack O' Lantern, scooping out the seeds to be used later and created yet another crooked grin.
So far she had made four and she planned on another three, seven was her lucky number, all destined to cast a ghostly glow from her store front. Seven glowing lanterns, each one unique, each one burning brightly to guide visitors towards her shop. Seven visitors to be precise, each one as unique as the pumpkins on her counter.
Sam grinned as she stepped back to survey her handiwork, three Jack O' Lanterns adorned each window sill and the seventh held pride of place next to her cash register. She'd stuck decals of bats and cats on the glass and hung white glass baubles from the ceiling as a precursor of the full moon predicted for that night.
Hain's Bakery might not be the largest store in town but in the 7 years since she'd opened, she had made sure that Halloween was treated with the reverence it deserved. It had become a tradition that she stayed open until midnight and so far had had a steady stream of people through her doors, cooing and awing over the cases filled with treats.
More than one customer had asked how on earth she managed to bake so many different delights and as always she just shrugged and said she didn't need much sleep. They always smiled and thanked her before leaving, arms loaded with boxes of cakes and cookies.
It wasn't a lie, Sam didn't sleep much. She preferred the quiet and tranquility of night time and felt more at peace in the midnight hour than at any other time of day. If the locals wanted to believe this was the result of too much caffeine Sam wasn't about to tell them otherwise.
Samantha was a witch, a black cat owning, broomstick possessing spell casting witch. Okay, so the black cat was just a tattoo on her hip and the broomstick was used purely for sweeping but the spell casting was a daily occurrence. People always wondered how she could keep her bakery fully stocked alone but it wasn't something she could freely explain.
Her kitchen was as normal as the next but her methods.... She baked with eggs, flour and sugar and not eye of newt and decorated everything by hand. But a few spells meant she could mix up gallons of cake batter in seconds and her ovens were enchanted to never, ever let anything burn.
At seven years old, her parents had divorced and she and her sister moved with her mother to a small town in Connecticut to live with her Grandmother and Aunt. The similarities to the movie "Practical Magic" may have been lost on her then, not so much now.
At 14, Sam's life tilted on its axis when she saw Callum Hall on her first day in 8th Grade and fell head over heels in love. His dark hair fell over his forehead in a way that made her tummy feel funny and her head as dizzy as when she had too much sugar.
A month later she told her family, convinced she had the symptoms of true love. Her Mother had looked stricken and her Aunt whisked her younger sister from the room.
"It is time Martha, the girl needs to know who she really is."
So at 14 Samantha learned she was a witch. Her tummy flutters were indeed a symptom of her infatuation with the beautiful Callum, but it was also a sign that she was becoming a woman and therefore the Seventh Generation of witches in her lineage.
As her Mother sobbed over the kitchen table, her Grandmother told her about the power and privilege of Witchcraft, how Sam would have to learn not only the spells and incantations passed down through each generation but also the history of witches in general.
She learnt that there was still prejudice and scepticism, that to stay safe she must never reveal her true identity outside of the family. She memorised recipes and enchantments until she woke herself up in the night reciting them. She watched fascinated as her Aunt Glory made items levitate and change their appearance with nothing more than a glance. Her Grandmother had the ability to heal and was well respected in town for her "holistic" remedies.
After much begging, her Mother admitted that she could see the future but only for others, never herself. Sadly she told Sam that her gift was a curse and had driven her Father away.
"Never give your heart away Samantha, because no spell on earth will ever bring it back to you."
At 21, Samantha decided to open a Bakery. Her magic was sporadic but she had learnt enough to make everything she created taste like perfection.
She enjoyed the methods of baking and wanted to be like her Grandmother, able to meld her job and her true self into one. Sam knew that she would never possess a gift like the other women in her family, her magic wasn't strong enough.
Her younger sister Hailey was able to reverse time, if only for a moment or two, a trait Sam had utilised frequently before she learnt to enchant her ovens. Sam also heeded her Mother's warning and refused to give her heart away. Mostly because Callum already had it.
For the Grand Opening of Hain's Bakery, they held a huge party and the five women pooled their magic to entice the whole town. It wasn't necessary as the aroma of baked goods would have sufficed but Sam was grateful nonetheless. When the door chimes signalled yet another new arrival, Sam looked up and her melt stopped.
Callum Hall, finer and more attractive than ever. He was with his parents and as they perused the cases, Callum had made his way over to here to congratulate her.
"Way to go Sammie! Nice little set up you have here."
Sam had blushed, only Callum called her Sammie. She'd mumbled her thanks and asked him if he'd like a tour and as he followed her into her kitchen area she could have sworn her skin was burning. They'd made polite chit chat about ovens and school and all the while Sam kept thinking how much she wanted to kiss him.
The noon sun burned brightly through the window and seemed to blind her. She stumbled and found herself in his arms. She stammered and apology but Cal had just grinned at her, his chocolate brown eyes flecked with caramel grew wider as he pulled her closer. For a second they just stood there, the next they were kissing each other with wild abandon.
Cal's hands burned through her clothing as he pulled her hips flush to his own and Sam's hands messed up his already wavy hair as she changed the angle of the kiss. Each flick of his tongue made her clit pulse and she ground herself desperately against his growing erection. Time seemed to stop and all Sam knew was his hands on her body and his taste on her lips. As quickly as it began, Cal pulled back, dazed and undeniably aroused.
With precision timing Hailey appeared and told Sam she was needed out front and Sam attempted to compose herself. Remembering her manners she offered Cal free reign over the contents of her display cases and he just grinned, a slow sexy crooked smile and dropped the merest whisper of a kiss on her lips,
"Thanks Sammie, but I've just tasted the sweetest treat imaginable."
She almost swooned as he left, and as she followed to greet her new arrivals she watched as the love of her life walked out of the bakery, the bright summer sun dimming slightly as he went.
She never saw him again after that day. He'd left soon after to study abroad and according to the town grapevine had decided to settle in London. She still heard snippets from time to time but after a few years his parents moved away and people stopped talking about the Halls. Sam thought about him frequently, and begged her Mother to use her gift to see if they ever met up again but her Mother always refused.
"You may find out something you don't want to hear Samantha. That man is only going to break your heart."
In desperation Sam turned to her spell books, seeking anything that would bring him back to her. Turns out, witchcraft can only do so much. She found spells to make people fall in love, spells to sate arousal, hell she even found a spell to give a man a permanent erection although she thought that was more punishment than pleasure. But nothing in all of her reading showed her a way to call back her one true love.
Desolate Sam threw herself into work and soon Halloween was upon her. Heartbroken she baked an array of Halloween goodies and slid each tray into the display cases with the wish that the people who ate them had better luck in love than she did.
The following nine months saw the town's population boom as engagements were announced and weddings planned. Sam seemed to be making wedding cakes on a weekly basis.
As summer rolled on, at least 15 babies were born, their conception dates all on or near to Halloween. Even the local paper commented on it, making a big feature story about the fact that the townsfolk had very clearly been "treating" each other very nicely last Halloween.
Six years later and the town was still growing. Like clockwork, just after Halloween people were hooking up all over the place and they recently had to open a new pre-school to accommodate all of the Halloween babies. Sam liked to jokingly think she was responsible, that her Halloween tradition of wishing love to her clientele was the reason for this baby boom but she knew she wasn't strong enough.
It didn't stop her though and as she filled the last case with pumpkin éclairs and mini caramel apple cupcakes she said her incantation again. If seven really was her lucky number, it would criminal to stop now. Every seven years something monumental seemed to happen, so this year was extra special. She gazed out of the windows at the people already beginning to fill the town and lit each of the Jack O' Lanterns in the window.
As she lit the final larger pumpkin on the counter, Sam closed her eyes and thought back on Cal's kiss all those years ago, how no man since had even come close to making her feel so vital.
"Cal, wherever you are, I hope you have your heart's truest desire."
