Title: Calling Home
Fandom: Original
Characters: Abigail, Micah, and Zac (all original characters)
Length: 780 Words
Rating: Teen
Warnings: brief references of depression and potentially self-destructive behavior
Challenge: #73: Telephone
Summary: Abigail calls home for her brother Micah’s 30th birthday.
Notes: Abigail and Micah are siblings. This is a world where some people have magic but not everyone does.



Abigail gave the baker a little wave as she grabbed two muffins and her coffee and headed up the stairs. He was cute. Blond hair, hazel eyes, an easy smile - but definitely not for her. She could tell that fate had other plans for him. Abigail could see the strands that Fate weaved. She smiled. They were good plans as long as she got a certain someone on the correct path in time.

She settled herself at the little corner desk in her rented room. This was her third and final night at this adorable bed and breakfast. She'd already stayed a day longer than she'd originally planned but it couldn’t be helped. She waited until she finished the first muffin; cranberry orange, and so very delicious. The baker has some serious magic going on. A hearth mage, most likely. They tended to be very underappreciated in her book.

Abigail sipped her coffee, and then made the call. He answered on the third ring.

“Hey, sis.” Her brother’s voice on the other end sounded tired and strained. She didn’t like it.

“Happy birthday, Micah. Did you get the cupcakes?” She’d gotten him a dozen cupcakes from the bed and breakfast's bakery, and had them sent overnight for her big brother’s thirtieth birthday.

“I did and I’ve already eaten three of them. They’re amazing.”

Abigail smiled. “I’m glad you like them. You’ll have to come up here sometime.” Soon, she hoped.

“Where are you?”

“A little bed and breakfast in Vermont. It has the most amazing chef.” She bit her lip. If she said too much, if she gave him too much information - he might never come. “I came up here to check out the foliage. You’ll have to see the photos on my Insta.”

“I’ll check ‘em out later - I just got up.” There was a sadness in his voice that she really didn't like. Sometimes Micah did stupid and self-destructive things when he was sad. It worried her.

“You didn’t have to send the check,” he added.

Abigail sent her brother money more than occasionally. Just a little bit of winnings from scratch tickets. Nothing big. She kept the winnings small enough to be able to cash the tickets in the store. She never won enough to garner her too much attention. Abigail moved around a lot. Luck magic had the habit of making people suspicious. “I know, I got lucky on a scratcher and just wanted to share,” she told him.

“Thank you.” He sounded like he meant it.

They exchanged a few more pleasantries before wrapping up the conversation. “Send me a postcard,” Micah said, longingly. She knew he missed her but he also knew why she had to stay away. At least for now.

“It’s already in the mail,” she said.

“Where to next?”

“I don’t know. Maybe Maine. Maybe out west. I’ll have to see where the wind takes me.”

“I miss you.”

“Come to Vermont,” she said impulsively.

“You won’t even be there.”

“Come anyway,” she almost begged.

“I don’t know - “

“You need to get your life in order-“

“Please don’t.”

Shit, she was pushing him too much. “I’m sorry, I just worry about you.”

“You shouldn’t have to, I’m your big brother.”

“Yeah well, you took care of me plenty when we were kids, now it’s my turn.”

They ended the call with her promising to phone him again when she got to her next stop and him promising to think about taking a trip to Vermont.

She finished the second muffin and downed the rest of her coffee before grabbing her bags and heading downstairs.

The cute baker was still in the kitchen.

“Ready to check-out?” He asked. She nodded. He wiped his hands on his apron and led her to the cash register at the front.

“Did your brother get the cupcakes okay?”

“He did, he said he already ate three - compliments to the chef.”

He actually blushed, it was adorable. She paid in cash and handed over more than the bill was for.

“Um, this is too much -“

“No, keep it. My brother will come this way -- sooner than later, I hope.” She pushed the money back into his hands. When she touched him she got a flash. A fragment of a vision that brought tears to her eyes. She stepped back and composed herself. It would be more than six months before Micah made his way up here. Abigail hoped that it wouldn’t be too late. She forced a smile in Zac’s direction then turned to go, making sure to give the cat by the door scritchies on her way out. It was time for her to move on.