-----Emerald Yaga-----

"Newts eyes" I mutter, mainly to myself. Of course, I was talking to myself, there was only myself and Corvus in here, who else would I be talking to? I spun from my cauldron and wafted through the maze of shelves. I had everything I would ever need on these shelves, owl eyes, raven beak, hel*fire, etc. I came across the newts' eyes in a green bottle slightly larger than my thumb, tucked between Fishes Breath and Elephant Tears. Nothing in here made sense nor did it have a rhythm. I just knew where everything was, instinctively. Probably from Gran teaching me how to find things by asking the essence where it was. I remembered the fond memories with Gran as I walked back to my Calderon. Corvus made a curious noise and hopped onto the edge of the hot pot. He screeched and hopped off. I laughed good-naturedly,

"Stupid bird" He looked extremely offended and turned his back from me. Corvus was my crow and a very large one at that. He had a wingspan longer than my arms and was the vainest creature I'd ever known.

"Oh come on," I said and counted out 5 eyes into my palm. He ignored me when I dumped them in. The pitch-black liquid turned neon pink with green swirls. I made a note in the leatherbound book next to me.

"I'm sorry!" still nothing. I tried flattery next, that always worked.

"Oh Corvus, most beautiful of all creatures," I conjured flowers with a snap of my fingers and sank to one knee. He turned his head to look at me disdainfully. "Accept my humble apology for I see now that you are the most brilliant of things." He lifted his head proudly and accepted the praise. He hopped onto my shoulder and nuzzled my ear. I stood to finish the poison. Stir till blue and add the essence of the soul... I read out of my book. I did as it said and it slowly turned clear. I held up a mason jar and filed it with the poison. I grabbed a sharpie and wrote on the lid, Nit Poison; DO NOT TOUCH. I plopped it in the box on my desk and tied it with twine. Clear liquid dripped from my hands and burned whatever it touched, but I was unaffected. A perk of being a Yaga, poisons don't do much. I wiped the stuff off of my hands and dropped the melting towel into my pot. It hit the remaining poison and dissolved instantaneously. I started writing a letter for the person who requested the poison, warning them of the dangers. I don't usually mess with people in the government but this was an exception. This lady -whose grandmother had done business with my grandmother- had sent a letter by pidgin. She explained that she had married an awful man and he threatened her children if she told anyone. She wanted him out of the picture and her grandmother had told her to contact Baba Yaga if anything went wrong. I was more than happy to help her, anyone who threatened children will suffer my wrath. So I concocted the Nit Poison, a poison that will corrupt and kill anything that touches it. It also has the pleasant side effect of sending the victim to heck. I don't hand out these things willy nilly though, I was only sending enough to kill one person, and I explained that in the letter. I signed and sealed it and handed both the box and letter to Corvus. He put the letter in his mouth and grabbed the box with his feet, then flew out the window. I watched him go. This would be the last time I saw him for a while, he liked to see what happened and report to me. I always recorded the entire thing in a notebook. My notebooks almost filled an entire bookshelf. My Gran had died when I was 11, leaving me to run the family business all by myself. I would have tried to contact mom and dad but Gran raised me and never told me if they were dead or just jerks and left me. I watched as Corvus flew into the setting sun. He disappeared from view and I walked over to my bed. That poison had required me to stay up for three days, stirring and adding ingredients. I was tired, for once in my insomniac life. My head hit the pillow and I fell asleep.

Corvus, being the world's most sadistic bird, woke me up by cawing as loud as he can, directly next to me. I shot up and screamed. Then I noticed him sitting on my nightstand, with a smug little crap eating grin on his face. I decided to get him back later and just focus on the poison.

" wha…. Why are you back so soon?" He pointed his wing at the clock. I had this brass clock that measured the time, day, month, etc. It's quite awesome and very steampunk. It read

[SEPTEMBER 7 10:03 2020]

"I slept for two days?!" What?! How strange. The spell wasn't particularly taxing, apart for the time. Corvus shrugged and hopped onto the desk. I got up and walked over. There was a letter on the desk.

"Did you pick up the mail?" He nodded. Mr. Callohad, the head postman, knew Corvus and used to know my grandmother. He just gave the mail to Corvus whenever he flew by but all my important mail, like the orders, came by birds. It's kinda hard to deliver mail to a house that walks around on 30-foot chicken legs. My house is somewhat sentient and walks the forests of America. Sometimes we go to Europe but not a lot, it takes a lot of magic to transport a person anywhere, let alone a house! Gran was able to but I still can't. I opened up a nice white letter. It read,

Dear Parent or Guardian of Emerald Yaga,

### delighted ############## join us for #### school #######################

########## september first ##########################################

################################################################

##### list of supplies enclosed ############

Sincerely,

Mrs. Delane

Vice principal

It said a lot more but all I saw was the word school. My heart dropped. Gran was so adamant for me to go to high school and experience it. "One of the greatest things of my life!" she always told me proudly. Of course when Gran was in "High School" it was called that because the kids were getting too big for the desks and it was time to kick them out. High school. I had promised Gran I would go, regardless of how every book I read told of it being horrible and evil, with bullies and homework and everything bad. I scanned the letter again. When did it say it started? My eyes fell upon the date.

"September first?!" oh cRaP. I dropped the letter and grabbed a pen and paper. I quickly scribbled out a note telling the vice principal that I had gotten the letter late and I will be there tomorrow. I shoved it at Corvus and he took it. I threw him out the window and he let out a squawk. I started packing things up.

"House, head for Wellcrest, and set down in Gran's lot." We stopped moving, turned, and went northeast. It would take all night to get there but Gran said that I had to go there. I crammed a couple of notebooks in a bag and hunted around for some pens and pencils. Nothing. Not even in my emergency writing utensil hiding spot. I groaned. This meant I had to go to the store.

"House set us down near a store. Preferably Target or something," the walls cracked. "Thanks"

The house slowly lowered to the ground. I was wearing overalls and a bandanna to hold back my mass of poofy gray hair. As soon as we set down, I grabbed my coat, a huge thing made mostly of pockets and went out the door. We were right behind a Target. Thankfully , no one was out to see a house that had just appeared there.

"Go wait in the forest and I'll have Corvus lead me to you,'' I told the House, it rose and ran to who knows where. I turned on my heel and walked around the front and into the store. Several people stared as I blew through the doors but I ignored them. I didn't care what people thought, but the little voice in my head said differently. I ignored the voice as well and walked to the school supplies. The few things that we're still here were on sale. I grabbed a few things, such as pencils, pens, calculators, and a bunch of other stuff. I paid and left. Corvus was waiting outside. People were taking pictures and talking about him. He was circling 10 feet up, melting in all the praise. But he swooped down to land on my shoulder when I entered the parking lot. I didn't even look at the shocked people and left the parking lot. As I walked down the sidewalk I whispered out of the corner of my mouth,

"I hope you brought my broom, you narcissistic bird" He nodded to a graveyard across the street that I hadn't noticed before. Oh, come on. Who puts a graveyard in front of a store? I sighed and walked over to it. The gates were open and I walked in. Corvus hopped up and led me to a shed. I opened it and found a bunch of old dusty gardening supplies and my broom. I grabbed my broom and hopped on.

"Let's get out of here, Corvus." my feet stopped touching the ground and I whisked into the clouds, not noticing the girl in purple glasses and a baggy hoodie who had filmed the whole thing.