Snowflake Challenge #5 - Photo Inspirations

1. Something your favorite character would like and 5. Something you find comforting combined:

My character Althea, from the original hurt/comfort sci-fi series RePrint, has a comfort object that is heavily inspired by this real life Galaxy Blanket and Pillow set:



Bonus picture! If you move blankets in my house, you will attract cats. Here are Alf (buff tabby) and Anika (silver gray tabby) checking out my shenanigans this morning:

 

Also also - Snow! Happy to see it, as winter has been too warm for Mid-Michigan so far this year.

Story: Take a Time Out

This was inspired by a lot of little prompts all around the internet, but mainly by the Argument Challenge at fffc and a square of my January Public Domain Day Bingo Card. This 786 word story is the 3rd installment of my new series The Witch's Kitchen, following "A Cup of Tea to Start the Day" and "All the Way Home We'll be Warm."

CW: a character is panicking a bit.

Take a Time Out

The Soft Opening had been a hit, friends and family raving over The Witch’s Kitchen’s quaint décor, cozy vibe, and excellent fare. So, Lucia was dismayed when the next day dawned, and she was nervous to the point of feeling ill. She knew they could do this, but somehow opening to strangers, feeding the wide world her cooking, seemed reckless and like flaying herself bare. She left her apartment without eating, worried her sour stomach would revolt, and headed to their café.
 

Maybe they shouldn’t do this. Maybe this was too big a risk. She needed to talk to Jeanette.
 

When she arrived, the back door was already unlocked, and she could hear her friend puttering in the front of house. The hiss and clank of Old Copper Joe melded with the scent of roasted coffee and hazelnuts, normally an enticing smell, but wretched to her unsettled stomach. Lucia crept through the kitchen and made her way to the passage door between there and the front counter of the restaurant, feeling her nerves mounting, overwhelmed by what today could be, success or disaster.
 

She swung open the door and called out, “Jeannette?”
 

“Hey Luci Goosi, you’re here early! Did ya need a cuppa joe?” came Jeanette’s cheery greeting. She saw her friend working with the coffee maker as she expected, her short plump frame draped dramatically in an iridescent purple and blue color-change dress, with her coppery curls flowing loose down her back.
 

“No, can’t eat this morning. Too twisted up. I thought. Well, I think we should close the restaurant,” Lucia declared, swallowing harshly afterwards, her throat coated with fear.
 

“Close!? We haven’t even opened yet, Lucia, we can’t close. What’s going on?” Jeannette turned her entirely towards her, abandoning her task to focus on Lucia.
 

“We can’t do this! With strangers, and who knows how many people will come. What if its too many, or none, or they see us working magic and freak the freak out!” Lucia gulped in an urgent panicked breath. “I don’t think I should do this, with Stanley, with the cauldron, what if Nonnetto thinks I’m desecrating the gift?”
 

“Sit. Right now, sit down. Yeah. Breathe. Yup, we gotta breathe. More, keeeeeep breathing sweetie.” Jeannette came around and grasped Lucia’s slim shoulders, steering her to the nearest oak table and plunking her down into a seat, where Lucia proceeded to just breathe. Just. Take in air and keep her stomach from flipping over any more than it already was, doing cartwheels inside her abdomen.
 

“I’m grabbing you a Time Out Tincture. Wait here, and I’ll be right back,” Jeanette said as she hustled into the back to where she kept her magical tea and tisanes. Lucia sat quietly, focused on regulating her breathing, and blinking back a few stubborn tears that wanted to slip free. She hated panic spirals.
 

Jeanette returned shortly with an enormous sky-blue mug carved all over with blushing roses, her hands clasped around the ceramic were sparkling with bright prisms of energy as she activated her magical connection to the herbal tea. Her Time Out Tincture was an intense blend of chamomile, lavender, valerian, and kava kava. She only broke it out for serious situations, and if she added a kick with her magic, you were going to calm down.
 

“Small sips. Good. Lucia, I’m willing to discuss your concerns about the opening, and perhaps postpone our plans, but you gotta be in a more rational place first. Capisce?”
 

“Yeah, I agree. I just woke up so, so panicked. What if Nonnetto is upset? Did he seem upset last night?”
 

“No! Your grandpa seemed to be bursting with pride over this place. And your mom and dad. The whole family loved what we served, and you know Nonnetto is aware that you’re sharing the cauldron’s gift. You received his blessing before we bought the café,” Jeannette soothed, her hand clasping Lucia’s in her lap.
 

“He said it was ok, that my gift with the cauldron was meant to be shared. But, maybe...” Lucia’s voice rose in a thready pitch.
 

“Nope! Drink that tea, yep, and stop winding yourself up. You know the kava is going to make you nappy, so why don’t I get you settled on the couch in the break room, and when you re-wakeup for today we’ll hash this out, and see if we’re opening today, tomorrow, or never. But you’ve got to set it aside for right now. Time Out.”
 

“Time out, ok. Let’s just reboot this whole day.” Lucia slumped against her friend, sipped her tea, and was grateful that she had someone in her life she could lose her shit with, who’d still stand by and hold her hand.