And So it Goes

The day began with darkness. Still half asleep, Emma Monfort stumbled to the kitchen, tripping over cats that seemed to have multiplied while she slept. Going by feeling, she opened the cabinet that held her spirit candles and lit one. Instantly, the smell of "Serene Lake" filled the room, revealing several grumpy cats waiting to be fed. Cooing to them softly, Emma dumped food from the bag she kept by the doorway into ten bowls. By the time she was done, Emma was wide awake, so she abandoned any hope of going back to sleep, and went back to her bedroom to get dressed.

Once clothed in her usual attire of black, Emma went back to the kitchen and made tea. Gulping it down quickly, she frowned at the leaves clumped on the bottom. "A bird, a sword, and a tree," she muttered darkly, bending down to pet a cat that brushed past her. The bird wasn't a problem, but a sword with a tree? A storm was coming. The power outage was just the beginning.

Realizing she only had an hour before she had to open Charmed, Emma quickly went through her daily rituals: putting salt on all the windows, smudging protective symbols on all the doorway, and setting out an offering before the shrine dedicated to the spirits that protected her home. Everywhere Emma went, cats dogged her steps, mewing pitifully. A rare smile lit her face up when the smallest, a tabby kitten, jumped into her arms. It was no secret that Emma was lonely. Only eighteen and already an old cat woman, that's what everyone said. But when surrounded by her beloved pets, Emma didn't mind her life so much.

As the grandfather clock chimed the hour, Emma pulled on her long black coat to protect against the perpetual chill that seemed to constantly hang over St.---. Saying her goodbyes, she left her apartment and stepped into the clunky old elevator, pressing the button for ground floor. When the doors chimed open, Emma entered the lobby, ignoring all the people she was forced to live with. With her head held high, St.---'s resident witch stepped out into the morning cold.