The Witch and the Athlete: A Renaissance Adventure

I wasn't always a woman. I was a man, once. You can ask any of my friends, they'll tell you. Everybody knew me as Tariq, the star athlete. It wasn't just that I was good at sports, it was how good I was at them. The other guys were all small-town kids, but I'm from New York City, born and raised. It's where I made my name: swaggering down the street with my jersey on and my shades on, every girl in town would be dying to grab a piece of me. A guy like that is used to things going his way, especially when he has a game to play.

And I could play! Skilled at basketball and football, the fastest runner in the county? They said I had the gifts of God himself. But sometimes I'd get carried away and show off in front of everybody. That's what did it: I was on the court one day showing off my moves for a crowd of women who were lined up along the bleachers giggling and cheering for me -- girls love a winner -- when this young girl walks out onto the court and taps me on the shoulder.

"What are you doing?" she says flatly. "You're embarrassing yourself."

I about lost it right there! "What do you know about anything?" I said back to her. "You haven't even grown hair yet!" She gave me this look like she wanted to slap me across the face with her purse, but she kept her cool and walked away.

Fuming mad, I turned back to my fans to make sure they didn't see that little outburst of mine, and when I turned around again she was standing right behind me! "How are you doing that?" I demanded. Her eyes flashed green, brighter than any magic trick or circus sleight of hand could ever hope to be, and then she took hold of my chin in her hands so she could look right into my eyes...

* * *

Aubreigh was bored; she had all the knowledge in the world but no one to share it with except for her cat Samuel. He was a magnificent creature with tawny fur and bright green eyes who only spoke in his own language -- which Aubreigh did not speak -- much to her frustration. She huffed as she sat down at her desk, leaning over her large book open on its pages full of strange symbols; humans had really fallen behind in their knowledge of magic over the centuries.

She sighed loudly from her chair as she leaned over her book again; perhaps it wouldn't hurt to venture out for some fresh air for once and see if there were any interesting people nearby besides Samuel who simply stared at her every day with his accusing jade eyes as if he knew something about her past life that he couldn't quite remember...

Tariq opened his eyes slowly as he felt someone gently holding him by his jaw; he glanced up at his new friend who had magically appeared next to him without him noticing and noticed that her eyes weren't flashing anymore, though they looked to be glowing faintly in what light there was around them now that darkness had fallen outside their little corner of the forest where Tariq had decided to take a walk after dinner tonight...

She smiled kindly at him as he sat up, brushing some leaves off his shirt where they'd gotten caught while he slept on the ground; he didn't care much about dirt these days anyway since he'd been spending more time indoors than outdoors since school ended last month... "Well hello there," he said with a charming smile before seeing something reflected in Aubreigh's golden eyes that reminded him of someone else's gaze: cold and judgmental and judging him unfairly so quickly despite knowing nothing about him..."You don't have to stare quite so hard." He tried to laugh it off but it came out forced; Aubreigh didn't seem amused by his joke though she looked slightly surprised by his reaction... "I mean," he continued weakly trying not to let his voice shake too much as he stood up, "you don't have any idea who I am or what kind of person I am or anything about me..." He heard Aubreigh stand up beside him though still looking down at him curiously as if she weren't sure why he would be upset about something so trivial as being looked at..."I mean," he continued again before clearing his throat quietly so Aubreigh wouldn't notice how nervous he was getting from speaking aloud like this instead of just saying whatever popped into his mind while joking around with friends before games like normal... "I mean you're just some random stranger who knows nothing about me yet somehow got close enough to touch me like you've known me your whole life." She nodded slowly as Tariq tried not to look too deep into those bright golden eyes blinking up at him innocently; it reminded him too much of...

She stared innocently down at Tariq then let out a quiet laugh before glancing off into space while putting two fingers up behind one ear as if confused by something Tariq had said earlier..."Oh please," she replied back softly in English when she remembered what Tariq had been talking about earlier..."Let's not get carried away." Now it was Tariq's turn to look surprised; how did this beautiful young woman know English? Before he could think any more about it though Aubreigh had grabbed hold of both sides of his face again staring directly into those wide brown eyes which seemed much less judgmental now that back under torchlight..."You're very handsome," she whispered flirtatiously before leaning forward for another kiss...

The second kiss hit Tariq harder than before because now it felt like everything around them fell away until all that remained were their lips locked together kissing each other deeply underneath an enormous willow tree overlooking a small pond filled with lily pads covered in fireflies dancing across their surface...

Tariq opened his eyes slowly again when they broke free from each other gasping for breath; watching Aubreigh closely this time he noticed that same subtle glow in her eyes flickering faintly while they stared into each other's faces breathing heavily before seeing those same familiar golden irises staring back at him which made him feel strangely comfortable considering how little time they'd spent together already...

"Whoa," he muttered quietly watching Aubreigh smile brightly back at him through the moonlight. His hands trembled slightly against Aubreigh's cheeks feeling suddenly warm from holding onto her soft skin which felt much smoother than usual... He saw Aubreigh raise an eyebrow curiously then shift nervously from one bare foot to another making Tariq suddenly wonder why either one of them was wearing shoes out here deep in the forest where nobody lived except for maybe deer or bears or wolves or bears which made Tariq feel suddenly scared out here alone with this strange magical girl next to an enormous old tree dripping surrounded by thousands upon thousands of multi-colored fireflies whose lights shone brightly through the dark forest surrounding them... Everything seemed so much brighter suddenly than it usually did during night-time walks along these nature trails near home where everyone watched TV alone nowadays except for maybe Samuel talking loudly behind closed doors inside houses where nobody liked anybody anymore no matter what they used to say when they were younger making love under stars during warm summer nights when everyone felt loved by everybody else instead telling strangers online how lonely they felt pretending not to be lonely whenever possible with online lovers who never seemed real no matter how many times they told themselves otherwise beneath lampposts standing outside grocery stores they walked past everyday while walking home from work late as night turning corners walking toward offices smiling inside restaurants eating lunch alone surrounded by tables full of people who still pretended not be lonely despite being unable [to stop] missing their families waiting patiently for grandchildren hoping grandchildren might someday return someday soon someday soon someday soon someday soon someday soon someday soon someday soon someday soon someday soon someday soon [to stop] missing their families waiting patiently for grandchildren hoping grandchildren might someday return someday soon [to stop] missing their families waiting patiently for grandchildren hoping grandchildren might someday return someday soon [to stop] missing their families waiting patiently for grandchildren hoping grandchildren might someday return someday soon [to stop] missing their families waiting patiently for grandchildren hoping grandchildren might someday return someday soon [to stop] missing their families waiting patiently for grandchildren hoping grandchildren might someday return someday soon [to stop] missing their families waiting patiently for grandchildren hoping grandchildren might someday return someday soon [to stop] missing their families waiting patiently for grandchildren hoping grandchildren might someday return

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