For as long as anyone in the small town of Halosburg could remember, a woman named Evangeline Flores had lived at 407 Willow Street. She was, as anyone who had lived there for a time could tell you, a witch. Now, this may have been perplexing and perhaps even frightening for anyone outside the town of Halosburg, but for generations, Evangeline had lived there and she was as much a part of the town as the two-hundred-year-old structure of the community hall was. Nobody was quite sure how long she had been there or when she had arrived, all they knew was that if you were having a problem, be it big or small, you went to Evangeline to get it fixed. 

Evangeline had been helping the citizens of Halosburg for generations, she had aided relationships, drawn in pools of luck, and wiped away traces of ill-wishers for those who asked. In return, she only asked that they complete three tasks. The tasks were never quite the same for one as they were for another, but upon their completion, Evangeline would always smile and hand over whichever potion or spell she had conjured up to aid with the particular problem at hand. Not once in the hundreds of years she’d been helping others had her magical aids been ineffective, and so the townspeople continued to go to her and she continued to help them. There had never once been a problem, that is until the town welcomed its newest member to 209 Birch Avenue.

The man was seemingly normal, a bit on the skinny side and reeking of uncertainty, but normal nonetheless. It took him only a matter of two hours to completely move into his new home and just one hour after that to start causing problems.

At first, it was small things, as his neighbors would later say. Placing his yard furniture too close to the property line, playing loud music in the early hours of the morning, and causing general annoyance amongst the community members. To put it plainly, he was a typical twenty-three-year-old with total disregard for those around him. It was only natural that the members of the community began to come to Evangeline with complaints of the new nuisance that had graced the town.

“He woke my baby with his loud music.” A mother scowled.

“He let the door to the store slam in my face.” A man frowned. 

Day after day more and more people came to Evangeline begging for the same thing; that she conjures a spell or brews a potion to make the newcomer leave their town and never return. 

Each time they complained she smiled, offered them some warm cookies that always seemed to be fresh out of the oven, and did the one thing she had never done before; she sent them away without a solution.

The townspeople were naturally perplexed, some even angry.

“Why does she refuse to help us now?” They cried. “She’s never done this before!”

This same cycle continued for weeks until one day there was a new knock at the witch's door. She smiled to herself before rising from the velvety chair she’d been perched upon and went to answer the door. There, on the front porch, was none other than the newcomer with his hand still poised to knock again and a crease in his brow giving away his poorly hidden nerves. 

His eyes widened in surprise before he quickly choked out “Ah, I must have the wrong house.” and began to make his way back down the porch steps, practically tripping over his own feet in his hurry to escape. 

Being unable to help herself Evangeline dissolved into a fit of giggles, and wiping the tears collecting at the corners of her eyes she called to the young man,

“No, no, you have the right house. Please, come in.” She opened the door a bit wider and beckoned him inside the warmly lit room beyond. 

Flashing her a rather confused expression he made his way back up the steps, and after mumbling his thanks, entered the home. 

It was not at all what he had expected. In place of the dark interior filled with cobwebs and a gurgling cauldron sat atop an old table as he’d imagined, there was a warmly lit room with bits of honeyed sunlight filtering through the windows. Crystals decorated the slight overhangs of the windows and glistened in the patchy sunlight. Various hanging pots filled with exotic flowers dangled from the ceiling and a fluffy sofa scattered with pillows sat beside a white velvety chair. Books were strewn across a coffee table littered with rings from leaky cups that shimmered like bubbles, and more were placed on a large bookshelf along the wall to the left of the windows. There was a certain peacefulness to the air and the light scent of fresh-baked cookies filled the room.

“You can go ahead and have a seat on the sofa if you’d like.” She flashed a friendly smile and disappeared into the kitchen only to return moments later with a plate of warm cookies.

After offering some to her guest, she perched herself back atop the soft chair she’d been occupying before, fluffing the skirts of the knee-length sage dress she wore.

Hesitantly taking a seat, the young man sank into the couch with a soft sigh. It was as though the moment he touched the soft cushions all of his uncertainties were plucked from his mind and put to rest. 

“So what brings you here today?” Evangeline prompted with a smile.

“Uhm,” The young man scratched at the back of his neck “I was hoping to speak to Evangeline. I’m assuming you’re her granddaughter, is she here by any chance?” 

A snicker escaped the woman and the young man once again looked at her with pure confusion.

“I’m Evangeline, silly.” Came to her joyous response. It had been many years since she’d met anyone unaware of her misleadingly young appearance. For someone nearly 708 years old, her long auburn hair should have gone white by now and her ivory skin should have at least had a wrinkle or two, but when one is magically inclined it should be expected that they wouldn’t physically age a day past twenty-two or so. 

As expected the young man’s jaw dropped nearly to the floor and Evangeline chortled with laughter once more. 

“I-I, Uhm.” The words were lost in a series of mumbles and stumbles.

  “What’s your name?” Evangeline inquired, laughter still sparkling in her bright eyes.

Attempting to compose himself and control the color of embarrassment rippling across his cheeks, the young man answered “My name is Nolan.” 

“Well, it’s wonderful to meet you, Nolan! I’m Evangeline, but you can call me Evie. I tell everyone else to, but they never do.” She shrugged. “Anyway, what can I help you with? Love spell, good luck charm, what's your poison?” She gave a slight smirk.

Nolan gulped and let lose a nervous chuckle “Actually, I was hoping you could help me with making some friends around here.” pink rose to his cheeks once again “Everyone around here seems to hate me and I was hoping you could make it so they don’t.” 

“Ah, I see,” She gave a knowing smile “Well, I believe I can whip something up for you, but you’ll have to do some things for me first.” Evangeline rose from her seat, already cooking up a plan in her mind “You up to the task?” 

Standing up himself, Nolan nodded “I’ll sure try.”

“Great!” she gave a hop of excitement, clapping her hands together “Okay, for your first task you’re going to come grocery shopping with me!” She made her way to a coat hanger by the door, grabbing a light brown jacket from one of the hooks.

“Wait, what? Grocery shopping? Aren’t I supposed to go on some quest to gather rare ingredients or something?” 

Playfully rolling her eyes Evangeline slipped her jacket on “Maybe a couple of hundred years ago, but now I can get almost everything I need at the store in town.” Opening the door she glanced back at him with a grin “Come on, let's go!”

The pair walked to the store in town attracting all sorts of stares and whispers along their way. While Evangeline chose to greet them with a smile, Nolan opted for feigned ignorance and focused instead on a pebble he continuously kicked farther down their path. 

Evangeline was nothing like he’d imagined. He’d been expecting some old wrinkled woman with a large nose and warts, but instead, he found a girl he thought seemed more closely related to a spirited pixie than a witch as she twirled and skipped down the road beside him and rambled about this and that. She had a sort of energetic peace around her, radiating warmth and light that was foreign to him, especially since moving to Halosburg.

By the time they reached the store Nolan was beginning to feel lighter and more at ease than he had before. 

“Nolan, aren’t you going to open the door for Mrs. Kimberly?” Evangeline questioned with an expectant look towards the door.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” He pulled open the door and held it as the woman entered the store with a grateful smile and three small children trailed like ducklings behind her. 

“That’s little Natalie, she got very sick last spring and her mother brought her to me to help her.” She gestured to the smallest girl with golden ringlets like a halo around her face.

Evangeline offered a gentle smile and wave to the girl before embarking down one of the many store aisles. 

Before Nolan knew what was happening, Evangeline darted from his side and padded down the next aisle.

“Ah! Mr. Gary! How’s it going with Ms. Hanna?” 

“Oh! It is going splendidly, my dear! We are having dinner tonight. Thank you again for that love spell you gave me.” The older man shot her a wink and continued on his way.

With another giggle, Evangeline turned to Nolan who had once again found his way to her side. 

“Mr. Gary and Ms. Hanna live in the same apartment building, they were just meant for each other! It’s absolutely adorable when they’re together.” Her eyes lit up as she spoke

“Oh really?” Nolan probed. 

“Mhm! Now come on! We have to hurry up and get everything so we can get to your next task.” She waved him on as she made her way through the aisles, grabbing various items before heading to the check-out.

“Ah! Evangeline, it’s so good to see you, honey! How are you?” The woman behind the register perked up.

“Oh just fine! I’m showing my new friend Nolan around!” She grabbed his bicep pulling him further up so the woman could see him. “Nolan, this is Mina!”

“It’s nice to meet you, Nolan! Any friend of Evangeline’s is a friend of mine!” Mina greeted with a grin.

“It’s nice to meet you as well Mina.” Nolan offered her an uncertain smile, unused to the kindness she projected onto him.

After going through the check out the pair made their way to the door one again, but this time Nolan held the door for Evangeline. Smiling to herself, she shot him a quick thanks and made her way through the doors, followed by four other customers who each thanked Nolan as he continued to hold the door.

Evangeline took note of the helpless looks Nolan kept shooting her but continued to smile and greet each person that exited the doors after her. Once the train of customers finally stopped flowing, Nolan exited the store with a sigh of relief and joined back up with Evangeline.

“That was kind of you.” She quipped with a sly smile

“I was just holding the door.” He protested 

Smiling to herself once again, Evangeline flicked a strand of hair over her shoulder and continued. “So, for your next task, we’re going to the park.”

“The park? What’s at the park?” He questioned

“Swings of course! Come on let’s go!” She cried before breaking into a light run, her grocery bags swinging at her side.

“Hey, wait up!” Nolan ran after her and did not catch up until they were both gulping down air at the park entrance.

“See? Park. Fun.” Evangeline gasped out between deep breaths.

“You’re crazy,” Nolan shook his head, still trying to catch his breath “How old are you anyway?”

Mischief shone in Evangeline's eyes “How old do you think I am?” she pried. Narrowing his eyes as if to say I don’t want you to curse me if I’m wrong he remained silent.

“I’ll be 708 in three months.” she grinned

“How old?” he whispered in amazement

With a quick roll of her eyes, she continued, “Come on I want to go swing!” and darted off with a swish of her skirts. Shaking his head in amusement Nolan followed after her.

Children sped around the park in a game of freeze tag and Evangeline sat perched on one of the various squeaky swings, kicking her legs back and forth but barely moving. 

“Come swing, Nolan!” She insisted. 

Taking a seat beside her, the two began to swing until a familiar child waddled up to them. 

“Hey, Natalie! You wanna swing?” Evangeline asked. The little girl nodded, golden ringlets bobbing around her small face.

  “Alrighty! You can have-” Evangeline’s words were stopped short by Nolan standing and helping the small girl into the swing he had previously been occupying. 

“Want me to push you?” He asked the girl, who nodded excitedly. Then he began to push her on the swing, making her soar higher and higher until she squealed with glee, her hair flying wildly in the wind. 

Realizing everything was going according to plan, Evangeline allowed herself yet another smile and continued to swing. Eventually, the pair ended up roped into playing freeze tag with Natalie’s older siblings and the other children at the park as their parents watched from the sidelines with expressions of disbelief and joy. As the day came to a close, Evangeline pulled Nolan aside.

“Right, your last task is to walk the children home with me, and then I’ll get your spell started.” 

“Sounds good to me!” Nolan exclaimed, his face still alight with laughter from playing with the children. 

The pair rounded up the kids that needed an escort home and walked them to their respective houses. Nolan even gave them each a short piggy-back ride, causing them to dissolve into shrieks of laughter and a broad smile to appear on Nolan’s face as well. With each child that was brought home safely, Evangeline introduced Nolan as her friend and the parents thanked them both for keeping an eye out for their respective children. Once the last child was brought home, the two began the trek back to Evangeline’s home. 

Somehow space still smelled of warm cookies and Nolan inhaled deeply as they entered. 

“I’ll just be a moment, I’m going to go get your spell.” Evangeline disappeared once again, this time into a small room down the hall. 

After a few minutes, she returned with a wax-sealed envelope in her hand. “Now, for this spell to work, you can’t open the envelope for three days, alright? If you don’t wait it won't work. Got it?” She asked, extending the yellowed envelope to him.

“Got it,” he replied, gently taking it from her. “Thanks for your help Evie” He offered her a smile

“You’re welcome, Nolan. Now go home and get some rest. Come see me again if you have any questions.” She said returning his smile with a broad one of her own. 

“I will.” and with that, he headed home.

The next three days passed slowly, like waiting for honey to drip from a bottle. Nolan began to notice the young children from the park showing up asking him to play, parents waving at him from the sidewalks, and his neighbors beginning to offer him smiles in the placement of scowls.

After the third day had passed, Nolan sat down on his sofa that was significantly less comfortable than Evie’s. I should go see her soon he thought as he peeled away the wax seal from the envelope. A single scrap of paper was inside and on it in flowing handwriting were the words: 

You never needed my magic or a spell to help you make friends, you just needed help realizing your own! Everyone has their own magic, sometimes you just need help finding it =)

Smiling to himself, and realizing what she had really been up to that day he had gone to her for potions and spells, Nolan grabbed a jacket and began to make his way to Evie’s house. 

In 407 Willow Street, an auburn-haired witch sat perched in a white velvet chair sipping tea from a chipped teacup and smiling to herself knowing she had helped someone, this time without using any supernatural gifts, and instead of using the most wonderful magic of all; kindness.