“Sprinkling rose petals love spell” provided better results. As Jim found out, there were countless love spells on the Internet that used rose petals. Many of them involved strange activities such as plucking out your hair and burning various colored candles while writing the desired person's name on paper and sprinkling it with roses. There was even a spell that involved burying the rose petals in a jar of honey and tasting the honey every day while repeating the desired person's name. They were such silly spells in Jim's opinion. The best spell, as he believed, was to sprinkle rose petals along Ms. Lutrova's front lawn every morning. There was nothing held secret from the person of his desire. And the true magick would come from Ms. Lutrova's reaction.
Feeling that rose petals were associated with love when it came to magick, Jim felt safe following through with his plan. Again, Ms. Lutrova was a witch, and she would certainly recognize the rose petal invasion as merely an act of love.
Chapter 24
Recall the morning of All Saints Day when Jim passed Ms. Lutrova on the highway. The house she stood in front of and apparently hers has approximately two hundred feet of front yard that extends to the highway. Her actual home and property is really quite interesting. As you already know, the north section of Mapleview contains historic homes that are buried within the surrounding woods along the highway such as the historic Trivelli house.
But Ms. Lutrova or previous owners of that section of property must have had whatever home torn down. In its place is a beautiful, two-story log cabin with balcony running along the second level of both the front and back. The two hundred foot asphalt driveway slightly curves north while approaching the home and is outlined in a combination of pine and white oak trees. Needless to say, the property is absolutely beautiful in the winter with snow!
Had Ms. Lutrova lived on one of the neighboring streets in Maple Sap like Amber did, Jim's rose petal assault would have been easy to do. Just casually walk down the sidewalk in the predawn hours and inconspicuously drop the rose petals in the driveway or front lawn. But a property off the highway with two hundred feet of driveway posed a bit of challenge when considering inconspicuousness. He certainly couldn't leave the petals at the edge of the highway. They needed to be somewhere near the house to be discovered.
None of Ms. Lutrova's driveway was illuminated. At night or in the predawn hours, the two hundred feet before her house was pretty much pitch black. Of course Ms. Lutrova did have security lights perimeter her home.
With the presence of darkness, Jim found it convenient to park his Mapleview Cable bucket truck on the shoulder of the highway a short distance from Ms. Lutrova's house. Then he would walk towards her property and ascend the area of grass that outlines the driveway and is furthest from the house.
Although surrounded in darkness, Jim felt as though his very presence was under a spotlight. Just like Kimberly and Amber, surely Ms. Lutrova slept in the predawn hours. But on this morning, the orchestra teacher was probably aware of Jim's plan. They shared a telepathic connection. She probably even broadcasted the idea for him to follow through with the daring act.
Finally very near Ms. Lutrova's house, Jim opened the plastic bag and allowed the petals to drift and scatter along the driveway near her garage. He couldn't run away from her house fast enough! Jim could see in his mind Ms. Lutrova standing some distance from a darkened window and noticing what was left behind; noticing that it was Jim who did this. So touched by his simple act she softly smiled. Jim did just as Ms. Lutrova wished.
But he wouldn't let this telepathic control of the orchestra teacher get the best of him. Walking towards her house on that first morning nearly resulted in cardiac arrest. The following morning, and every morning of the rose petal assault thereafter, Jim used a new technique. But you must first know about an unusual acquisition that Jim and his family received a couple years prior.
* * *
Two years ago while answering a customer's complaint for loss of Internet service at one of the stores in a strip mall of downtown Mapleview, Jim took notice of some intriguing merchandise from a shop being discarded into the dumpster. It was from the failed business, Mapleview Costumes. Offering a large collection of full body costumes of animals, Disney creatures and cartoon characters for rent; the shop mysteriously closed its doors and the owners disappeared. The phenomenon offered some interesting gossip throughout town for a couple of weeks. It appeared to be a shady business that was really used as a front for drug dealing, illegal gambling or any other Mafia related activities. Some say that drugs were smuggled in the area through shipments of the costumes. Whatever the case, there was something quite odd about the shop from the beginning. Who would have placed so much investment into the costume rental business?
The owner of the strip mall did the only right thing after seeing the storefront had been abandoned. All the lifelike costumes were discarded into the trash; giant gorilla suits, rabbits, Winnie the Pooh, horses, dragons—you name it, it was there for anyone to pick. And the lucky winner of that bizarre lottery was Jim, lineman technician of Mapleview Cable.
Kimberly was dumbfounded that her husband brought home all those costumes in his utility cable truck. What wife wants to find room for such useless items in her home that already was short of storage space?
But Jim insisted, “Oh come-on, Honey! It'll be fun! Just think; the kids will have the best Halloween costumes in the neighborhood each year. We can go to parties dressed up in this two-man polar bear suit, just me and you. Wouldn't you like that?”
Kimberly sighed, “It's up to you to find room for this stuff. It's not coming in the house! Put it in your garage.”
And that's what Jim did. He made special shelving for his collection of lifelike, full body costumes; and stored three, each, in large bins.
* * *
On Wednesday morning, the morning after the first rose petal assault of Ms. Lutrova's home, Jim dressed up in full body gorilla suit. Hopefully no one took notice of the beast exiting the Mapleview Cable bucket truck and prowling the highway in the predawn hours. But Ms. Lutrova surely took notice, Jim assumed. Tracking him through telepathic means and directing him to follow through with a daring activity; she probably stood some distance from a darkened window, waiting for another rose petal visit from Jim. But what was this? It was a gorilla that appeared in front of her house! The animal stepped onto her front lawn and threw the rose petals in the air so that they scattered along the light blanket of December snow. The gorilla beat its chest while facing Ms. Lutrova's house and then turned to walk away. But before getting too far, the gorilla turned towards the house, again, waved and then blew a kiss towards the window of Ms. Lutrova's imagined presence.
He did this activity every Tuesday through Friday morning from the 8th to the 18th of December. Dressed in a different costume each morning, his performances increased on Ms. Lutrova's front lawn; sometimes running along the center with streaks of rose petals flying from both hands, maybe dancing a jig or perhaps doing the Macarena (it was the only dance Jim remembered from earlier years). In disguise and unrecognizable, Jim had all the courage he needed to perform this way. After all, it wasn't Jim delivering the roses and the silly dances on Ms. Lutrova's front lawn. Maybe it was the 6-foot rabbit, the green lizard, the orange tabby cat, Winnie the Pooh or the adorable grizzly bear with bow around its neck. Any number of these individuals could have left rose petals in the front lawn.
And this is the sort of man who gives the woman he loves a rose every day. He does so out of maddening obsession, out of a painful yearning in wishing that he could have her. The feelings manifest themselves and lead to these desperate acts. You really have to love a woman so terribly to give her a rose each day, and to deliver it in such an unusual way.
Chapter 25
Throughout those two weeks there was a cute, little story forming between Jim and Mary—Daren's Mary. Jim would enter the Mapleview Flower Shop at around the same time every Tuesday through Friday. With each encounter Mary adored
him more and more. Sometimes Mary was in the backroom, perhaps working on some floral arrangement. The shop's owner, Shelly (also Mary's best friend), would peak her head in the backroom and whisper, “Mary, your boyfriend is here.”
Mary would answer back, “Oh, shut up!”
Both women softly giggled.
Mary would come out to the front desk alone while softly blushing. “Hey there! Another red rose for you?”
“Yeah, just make sure it's not wilted.”
Believing the flower to be for a special lady, Mary took extra care in selecting the perfect rose for Jim, as she wished Daren would have gotten that very rose for her. Daren had yet to surprise his wife with any “just because” gifts or flowers.
And Jim was developing a slight attraction to his new friend, Mary. She was so beautiful and definitely the sort of woman he could fall in love with. (Anyone could fall in love with Mary!) Being an expert in flowers and appearing to be a well-grounded, down-to-Earth woman with an infinite wisdom of true love, Jim often wished he could talk to Mary about his recent experiences. He loved his wife, dearly; but had fallen so terribly in love with Ms. Lutrova. That's what happens when an ordinary person who knows nothing of magick attempts to cast a love spell on another person. As he or she may or may not realize, the spell comes back threefold! But as far as Jim knew, it was true love—he just knew it. There was no other explanation for his behavior in recent months. What would Mary say of this? Would she be enchanted by Jim's story of being hopelessly in love with a strange woman? Or would she be outraged to hear of Jim's betrayal to his wife?
Although a beautiful woman and someone Jim would have liked to confess his secrets to, Mary just didn't have the same effect as Ms. Lutrova did. In fact, no woman in recent times (including poor Amber!) appeared all that alluring and attractive to Jim. For so many years he viewed women as little pieces of candy that walked the streets, each one causing a rise in adrenaline and circulation. But that pleasure had vanished in recent weeks. The only woman who created such a stir in Jim's heart was Ms. Lutrova. Yes, Jim was actually that much in love with the old woman!
Although a good looking man and quite fond of him, Mary wouldn't even think of having something to do with Jim beyond the Mapleview Flower Shop. Mary loved Daren and pledged to be forever faithful on the day of her wedding.
But the same couldn't be said of Daren! Originally planning to get his wife a new LCD screen TV for Christmas, or a notebook computer with wireless router so she could browse the web comfortably; Daren considered Mary's recent indication of needing little, emotional gifts that symbolized his love for her. With Daren's salary, he could surprise his wife with both the pricey toys and something small and symbolic. What Mary needed was one of those beautiful love pendants that were advertised on TV during the holidays. The commercial featured a young, desperate, terribly-jealous and overly-possessive man who carefully observed the woman he loved from the other room. She appeared to be talking quietly on the phone, almost whispering as-if not to allow her jealous boyfriend to hear of the conversation details. Maybe this disturbed him. And seeing his girlfriend hang up the phone upon noticing being watched, he quickly approached and presented her the love pendant that was a series of joined hearts that were adorned with diamonds.
She looked so terrified with tears in her eyes. “Oh, it's beautiful! You really shouldn't have!”
But the young man reassured his girlfriend, “I'll always love you and will never let you go. And when you feel alone, I'm actually watching you; following some distance behind, making sure that you continue to wear my love pendant so that strange men know that you belong to me.”
The commercial would end with a romantic jingle and a reminder to reward that special lady with a symbol of undying love.
Mary would love to receive such a beautiful pendant from Daren. And on the last Friday of Jim's rose petal assault (December 18th), Daren visited the Mapleview Department Store to shop for one of those pendants. And who do you suppose was the manager of the jewelry department? Amber worked the floor that morning while her two employees went on break. And what do you suppose Daren did as he approached the jewelry case where Amber worked? That's right, you guessed it; Daren counted an enormous wad of cash that was pulled from his front pocket. Amber was just as beautiful as ever, and Daren needed to put on his charm.
Amber was no stranger to money. For several years she had more money than she knew what to do with. And although certainly a nice thing to have in abundance, her marriage of those days-long-past lacked some important ingredients; mainly a husband who was present throughout the week.
“Hi, can I help you?” Amber greeted the customer.
Daren smiled while placing his money back in the pocket. “I'm looking for love pendants. Do you have any of those?”
“Yes, we do. Are you looking for something for your wife or girlfriend; maybe a mother pendant?”
“It's for my girlfriend.”
Amber led Daren over to the area of love pendants and pulled out the very piece of jewelry that had been advertised on TV for the holidays. “This is a popular item.” She handed it to Daren.
Daren examined the pendant and returned a peculiar look to Amber. “Can I ask you a favor?”
“Sure.”
“I hope this doesn't sound weird or anything; but you look exactly like my girlfriend, and I want to see what this looks like on you. Can you put it on?”
“Sir I can't do…”
Daren interrupted her, “Come-on, just put it on. At least hold it up so I can see.”
Amber reluctantly did as the customer asked. Policy prevented her from putting jewelry on, but simply holding it against herself didn't seem like such a violation.
Daren was impressed. “Oh, that's beautiful. You would look so good wearing that.”
Amber immediately lowered the pendant. What was the customer doing?
Daren sighed, “I'm sorry, it's just… Well, I'm going through a difficult time with my girlfriend. You know how you can totally feel that you're about to break up and you want to make one, last effort to hopefully change things?”
Amber remained silent.
“Well, we're going through that now. I'm just wondering if this would work.”
From what Amber could determine, the customer was either a poor liar or stupid. With a wedding band on, he should have been shopping for his wife. Obviously hitting on Amber, his offer for her to be the next “other woman” wasn't all that appealing or flattering. Amber maintained her professionalism and was apologetic. “I'm really sorry to hear that, sir. We have a 30 day, full money return policy. As long as the jewelry isn't damaged, we'll take it back. Did you want to make a purchase?”
“Yeah, why don't we go ahead and ring me up. I'll let you know how things work out between me and my girlfriend.”
This wouldn't be Daren's last visit to the jewelry department of the Mapleview Department Store. He was definitely interested in Amber. And if you've taken the time to get better acquainted with Daren in The Tree Goddess, you certainly know that his obsession with a woman is never a good thing. In fact, it can be quite dangerous.
* * *
The morning of Friday, December 18th was to be the last morning of Jim's rose petal assault. Up until that day, there was only a thin, nearly-melted blanket of snow that covered the grounds throughout Mapleview. And on that morning of December 18th, Ms. Lutrova's front yard was clearly littered by red rose petals. They lay scattered in patches of dormant grass and frozen in the remaining snow of her front lawn. But Friday night brought with it a terrible snow storm that heavily blanketed the town of Mapleview. This, of course, covered any evidence of Jim's rose petal assaults. Jim took it as a sign to cease his predawn performances at Ms. Lutrova's house. Although rose petals would look beautiful in the midst of a blanket of snow; Jim imagined a deeper picture, one in which the arrival of snow had announced some mystical change in the world of magick.
Oh, it should be mentioned that there was an
other perceived factor that contributed to his decision to cease the rose petal assault. It was a sensation of overwhelming paranoia that was felt on the night of Monday, December 21st–the first night of winter in Mapleview of that year. On this night, there was an event at the Mapleview Community High School, the holiday orchestra concert. April was to perform, of course. But the very thought of being in the presence of Ms. Lutrova had Jim on edge. Was she aware of the mastermind and operative of the rose petal assault?
Just like the solo and duet performances, Jim bottled his anxiety while entering the main door of the school. But it was to get even worse! Paranoia, as Jim would soon find out, greeted him as he walked down the main corridor.
“Good evening, Sir!” There was such emphasis in the concierge's voice who was probably a volunteer parent of an orchestra student or maybe a teacher or some other staff member of the school. No explanation was needed. The intent look on his face and his voice told Jim everything. Somehow, the man greeting families and offering program handouts knew all about Jim and his obsession with Ms. Lutrova. She was probably friends with the concierge and told him everything; told him all about the rose petals. “Thanks for joining us tonight, Sir. Enjoy the show.” He smiled in such a way to hint of his awareness.
Why such betrayal from Ms. Lutrova? Couldn't she have kept her predawn surprises a secret? And if one person was knowledgeable of what Jim had done, how many others would soon find out through gossip?
Fortunately, Kimberly hadn't noticed the unusual behavior of the concierge. But while approaching the gymnasium, Jim suddenly considered that perhaps the man wasn't aware of anything at all. What really happened, Jim speculated, was a greeting made by Ms. Lutrova. She was capable of these things; certainly capable of telepathically hijacking a stranger's mind and speaking her intentions through his words and expressions.
Sex Magick Page 14