Allergy season was a real drag because 1) red puffy eyes were NOT a cute look and 2) it brought me closer to the dark never-ending abyss of darkness. Or really, it brought me closer to blindness.

As someone who was perpetually prone to horrible seasonal allergies and hay fever, it seemed a lot safer to just stay indoors than to leave my nest and risk blindness. You see, as a rather unfortunate distribution of justice, I had been cursed as a child for my parent’s wrongdoings. They never really got into the details of what they had done to piss off the old man who lived in the basement suite of our old apartment building, but apparently it had been bad enough to make him retaliate. Who could’ve known that the old man downstairs was in fact, not an old croon in a permanent bad mood, but a retired wizard well versed in dark magic?

Because my parents were absolute idiot’s incapable of simply apologizing for their mistakes, I had been the one to shoulder the punishment. Now, for as long as I lived, I would be cursed to lose a fraction of my eyesight every time I sneezed. Out of all the possible curses out there, the one he had chosen had been both an absolute nuisance and a slow and painful descent towards blindness. To make matters worse, he skipped town and has been off the grid for the past 19 years, so my parents couldn’t even go back and demand a refund or an exchange for a different curse.

“Mabel sweetheart don’t do this. It’s going to be fine. We have a meeting with a witch who will be coming all the way from Sweden next week. She’s sure she can help you with your issue”, my mother pleaded, her small bony hands grabbing onto my arm harder than necessary. I shook her hand away and stepped back, slipping my jacket on, and zipping it up.

“Mom we’ve gone to hundreds of witches, herbalists, mages, and healers who have claimed the same thing. No one can help me”, I said, a little harsher than necessary. I pushed my thick framed glasses higher up on my nose and squared my shoulders.

“I’m going to at least try to speak to him”, I added.

My mother, a petite woman with blond ringlets and clothes that always seemed to be smeared in paint, looked up at me. I was tall and willowy, more my father than anything else with hair so dark that I looked like a stretched-out shadow beside my mother. My mother’s eyes filled with tears, but I knew better than to give in, she could be unintentionally manipulative sometimes.

“I’m just worried about you honey. At least let me come with yo-”

“No”, I said interrupting her “I want to do this alone”. What I really wanted to say though was, ‘no, I’m not taking you with me because the last time you spoke to the old wizard, he cursed me with impending blindness. There’s no way I’m letting you tag along’.

Mother sighed and held up the little pouch in her hands. It was a clear bag filled with pill bottles and other things.

“Fine. Here, take this with you at least. I’ve packed you some allergy medication, nasal spray, eye drops…”

But I drowned out the rest of her words and snatched the bag from her. I’d heard the same speech a thousand times before and I already knew every label on every product in the bag. I never left the house without it anyway. In fact, I never left the house, period. My parents were paranoid about my curse and with my horrible allergies, I had been forced to stay at home for my entire life. All I did was homeschooling , reading, and sleeping. It was a pitiful life really.

“Thanks mom”

A shiver of excitement ran through me at the thought of finally being allowed outside. The old wizard had finally remerged two days ago in town to attend some magical market convention. When I had heard of his return, I immediately tracked him down and gathered as much research on him as I could. My mother, of course, told me not to look into it and forget meeting him altogether. She was still terribly afraid of what else he could do. But I was desperate for an end to this curse. I wanted nothing more than to finally leave this house in two months and attend college. Life indoors with just my mom and dad for company has grown stifling.

“Bye mom”, I said pulling the door open and taking a step out. She immediately grabbed me for a last-minute hug and mumbled.

“If your allergies get worse or your eyesight changes, please, please call me Mabel”

I nodded my head in agreement and patted her head lovingly before prying myself out of her grasp. I waved a final goodbye and stepped outside, closing the door behind me.