When my client called to say she'd be late, I went wandering. When I have to kill an hour or two, I go to antique stores and browse. A new shop had just opened a mere two blocks from my office.
ANTIQUITIES, read the sign over the door. Very original, I sneered. Why not just call it OLD JUNQUE AND ASSORTED CRAPPE?
I knew the place was new; three weeks ago, I'd bought a pizza there. When I pulled open the door, a sense of timeless age rushed over me. The smell of dusty libraries and neglected museum displays assaulted my nose. As I entered, I expected the carpet to crackle with the brittleness of ancient papyrus under my tread. The heavy layer of dust on the merchandise had to have been put there purposely; I wrote my initials in the grime atop a bookcase.
A centuries-old silver tea service sat on the glass top of a display case holding old watches and cast coins of uncertain mintage. A large marble bust of Mozart looked benignly at some scrolls of player-piano music, no doubt the top forty hits of 1895.
"Are you looking for something special?"
The speaker was an old woman. Though the room was adequately lit, she seemed cloaked in the shadow of vast age and knowledge. Darkness seemed to radiate from her like an aura. The top of her head wasn't quite as high as the bookcase I'd written my initials on, well under five feet tall. Her thin grayish hair was just long enough to sweep her shoulders clean of dust. She might have weighed as much as the bust of Mozart; her complexion was like old porcelain. Her eyes were deep and dark as death and as knowing. I feared her as I would a viper.
"No, thanks," I said, "I'm just wandering, killing some time."
She smiled with the unreal perfection of some denture maker's artistry. She smoothed her dress over her flat chest and belly. If she'd been fifty years younger, I might have taken it as an invitation. Instead, I simply noticed the coarse cloth of the dress. I started to turn to leave. She cleared her throat. I froze in place.
She looked at me expectantly, almost as if sifting through my thoughts, my memories, my feelings, approving some, frowning at others, and laughing at the remainder. I wanted to run, but my feet refused to move. I forced my tongue to function.
"What should I be looking for?" Those were NOT the words I'd intended to say, but they seemed to be the correct ones. Her smile broadened.
"You should seek that which will make you happy," she said.
"What would you suggest?" I asked.
"Come," she said, beckoning with her fingers. She strode to a curtain that partitioned off the back of the store. She held it aside as I stepped around her into the sparsely furnished back room. She motioned me to sit in a dilapidated over-stuffed armchair.
Another curtain created an insubstantial wall a few feet to my left, unknown vastnesses hiding behind it. A small mahogany coffee table was in front of my chair, a mat of black velvet centered on it. A huge pillow sat on the floor opposite the chair. A candle flame was keeping a pan of liquid warm on a shelf against a wooden wall to my right. The crone folded into herself and sat primly on the cushion.
"You are not happy," she said. "You search for happiness without success." These were not questions, but she waited for me to nod confirmation.
"You have enough money." This she stated flatly as if it was self-evident. She was right. I nodded again.
"Your health is mostly good," she said, "but, there is a blackness eating at your soul."
I was horrified that she could read my mind. I hoped she wouldn't identify my problem, my secret shame. If she didn't say it aloud, maybe it wouldn't exist. Reluctantly, I nodded.
"You are without love," she proclaimed. She waited for my nod; I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
"You lust," she continued mercilessly, "but, you cannot consummate."
"Am I carrying a sign?" I asked, bitterly. How the hell did she know I couldn't get it up anymore? What business of hers was it if I was no longer a man?
"It's true, isn't it?" she insisted.
"Yes, God damn it, it's true. How did you know?" I demanded.
"I have lived a very long time, young man. I have seen many things and many people. Sometimes, I just know things," she said. "I see in your eyes that you don't believe me. Would you like it better if I said a little bird had told me?"
"Yes," I said, "I'd like that much better. I'd find that damned little bird and shoot it!" The hopeless rage of humiliation gripped me.
She sat back on her cushion, silently watching me. As minutes passed, I regained some of my composure.
"Sometimes...." she began and trailed off. I looked up.
"Sometimes, what?" I prompted.
"Sometimes, these things aren't physical. Sometimes the problem is boredom, tension, or lack of a suitable partner. Sometimes, the cause is fear. Fear of another failure; fear that grows and causes failure itself. Do you understand?" she asked.
I nodded. These were the same things my doctor had told me, along with the fact that little blue, tan, or beige pills couldn't help me.
"And sometimes, there are other causes," she said.
After vainly waiting for her to continue, I had to ask.
"What other causes?" I feared the answer.
"Evil," she whispered. "Curses and spells."
I shuddered with a sudden chill. I felt as if I'd been suddenly transported to the Middle Ages. Now, I knew why I'd feared her: she was a witch. Not an innocent nudist weekend Wiccan, but a foul-breathed, devil-kissing, soulless weaver of sorcery.