The One With the Summoning

Bri was at a loss.
This wasn’t supposed to happen! Furiously she flipped through the pages of her Grandmother’s old cookbook.

“No, no, no, what do I dooo~~ “

The purple smoke around her was getting thicker and thicker. Soon she couldn’t see the other side of her dingy little kitchen.
Tarabas, her ginger cat was sitting on the table looking at her accusingly.
She heard a ripping sound. It came out of her little, smoking pot. Strangely the mist smelled of..cinnamon?

“Ahem.”

What was that? Bri tried to make out anything in the smog but failed miserably. The fire extinguisher! How could she have not thought of that? She had always prided herself on keeping a cool head. Well nobody is perfect.

She scrambled for the small, red cylindrical container under the sink, praying it wasn’t expired. Fumbling in the dense haze, she found the little handy extinguisher and aimed it in the direction of her stove.

“Wait what are y–“

PFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTT.

Silence. There was a rat in the pot. A foam-soaked rat. Yes, that was Bri’s conclusion the moment she saw the drenched, furry thing in the middle of the charred bottom.

“I hate humans.”

Did it just talk?

“Yes, I did.”
“No, you’re not crazy.”
“Yes, I can read your mind.”
“STOP SHRIEKING WILL YOU??”

Bri sounded like her cat when someone accidentally stepped on his tail. The moment, the rat shouted at her to stop, she did, only opening and closing her mouth silently, like a fish out of water. Tarabas was having none of it, he hissed at the creature and bristled his tail, posing threateningly, ready to protect his owner. Or himself, let’s be honest. The creature hissed back.

“Now. Back to business. Let me just…”

The thing in the pot made a flicking motion with his arm and the foam disappeared. It looked like a tiny human covered in golden fur. Like a fancy, tiny Chewbacca, Bri thought. She knew she was scared but couldn’t stop the manic little giggle that escaped her. The oppressing smell of cinnamon, still lingering in the air, made her dizzy.

“So, why did you summon me? With Darla’s little spell, no less? Where is that feisty Lady? I haven’t seen her in ages!”

The creature turned in a circle and came back to look at Bri expectantly.

“What spell? What? Darla? Do you mean nana? She’s been gone for a few months now. Wait. WHO ARE YOU?”

Bri took a step towards the stove, eyeing the lid, thinking she could just slam it on and get rid of the thing.

“Don’t even think about it.”

The creature eyed her frostily.

“What a pity. I liked that woman. Glorious red hair. You seem to have inherited some of it. Anyway, I am… let’s just call me Bob. Why did you summon me?”

“I- I didn’t.”

“I am here, am I not? Yes, you did. Put all the things in, said the words. I even see some extra vegetables in there, some lamb chops. Granted I would have preferred a freshly butchered sacrifice, but that’ll do…”, he shrugged, nonchalantly.

Bri looked open-mouthed at the book still clutched in her hand. All she wanted was to make dinner like her grandma. She started flipping to the page of the recipe. She turned the book towards Bob and poked with a trembling finger at the page.

“See?? It says right there! Lambchops! All I wanted was dinner- “

The last word she said in a broken whisper, with a little whine in her voice. Something she would make fun of in others, but now she felt it was appropriate. Bob crossed his arms and gave her a dirty look.

“What’s the next page say?”

She flipped the page. It felt a bit thicker than the others. There were now some words and more ingredients, she had read the words but thought her nana was just not all there at that point and had continued on with the recipe. Granted some of the things had been weird, but her grandma had kept everything neatly labeled on her kitchen shelf, so Bri could easily follow along..OH.

“I feel like Rachel…”, Bri said slowly.*

She took a butter knife from the counter and slid it between the stuck-together pages. One of them was the recipe, the other one…something else.
Oh, this was not good. Bri felt like the time grandma had caught her 7-year-old ass with a pendulum and a candle, trying to communicate with the dead (and succeeding, but that’s another story)

“Aha!”, Bob exclaimed.
“I knew it! Now, what do you want?”

He rubbed his furry little hands together and his eyes started gleaming red. Bri heard a low rumble from behind her. It was Tarabas, and he sounded not happy at all.

“Oh. Well, I mean-“, while she was babbling nonsense she flipped the page once more and saw the words written at the bottom. Probably to end the spell but she had to be fast, or Bob would read her unprotected mind.

Suddenly, the kitchen window flew open, and Tarabas started meowing loudly. Bob was distracted! Bri whispered the few lines at the end of the page, and the creature just vanished mid-turn. No puff of smoke, no flash of light, just… gone. She smelled a whiff of her grandma’s lemony perfume.

“Oh thank you. Oh, that could have been bad.”

Bri sighed with relief and looked at her charred pot. She still had some lamb chops. Her stomach rumbled. Reaching for her grandma’s book, she felt a sharp pain on the back of her hand. Tarabas had hit her with his claws. Angry golden eyes stared at her.

“Oh ok, ok! But I’m still hungry!”

*(if you do not get the reference, go watch the episode of ‘Friends’ called “The One Where Ross Got High” season 06 episode 09, you’re welcome)