Walking through the dense rows of plants filling the house Tara finally managed to stumble into a completely open space. In the middle of a circular area lined by the shelves of plants two tables sat. One filled with an elaborate display of glass equipment and the other was mostly bare besides an array of tools and a neatly arranged assortment of herbs. A man stood hunched over, grinding a few of them under a stone wheel. The lab coat he wore hid most of his frame but the deeply etched wrinkles on his face spoke much about his age.
Realizing she was just staring, Tara walked forward to the other side of the table filled with a variety of tools, the purpose of which Tara could only assume was to prepare the herbs. Some small knives and scissors, a magnifying glass, a stone bowl along with other small metal tools.
Without looking up the hunched man spoke curtly, "We are not to waste time with any formalities. I am Vern and you are to follow my directions to the letter. Do what I say when I say it and do not waste my time with idiotic questions like, 'Huh?' or 'What?' or 'Can you explain that again'?"
Not wanting to waste this opportunity she stayed quiet and listened intently not wanting to miss even the smallest detail of his instructions. He directed her over to the stone bowl on the table. "This is a mortar and pestle. I'm going to give you these plants", pausing, he showed her the plants so she can identify them. "And you are going to grind them until they look like this." He gestured to a mound of flakes that were sitting on the table nearby. Briefly, he demonstrated the motion of how to grind it before he quickly moved to the other table and deftly started using the strange equipment. Leaving Tara to her own devices.
Left with her pile of plants she tried to grind them until they matched what she was shown. After a few mistakes with the bit of the partially ground remains falling out the bowl Tara finally managed to get into a rhythm while grinding and after a few minutes of slightly uncoordinated grinding, she finished the first one and moved on to the next. Slowly after her fifth she was getting acclimated to the motion and was finishing within a minute or two for each one.
Just as she was pouring her 10th and last one onto the now large mound of flakes Vern came over and brought the pile from the table and poured them into a large weirdly shaped glass on the other. Coming back, he showed her how he wanted to cut up the bulbs of the flowers with minimal damage to the petals. After a bit, he left her with the tools once more to briefly open a hatch in the floor. Coming back, he was carrying a large number of empty potion bottles and after carefully setting them down he rushed into the forest of plants.
Not wanting to be too slow and kicked out, Tara started to carefully cut the plants as he showed her. Completely focused on the task she didn't even notice him come back with a handful of various herbs carefully held within his hand and setting to work at the other end of the table. As she worked with each one, he systematically ran around the room doing the work as many with practiced ease.
The hours ticked on as they both worked hard. Soon the light within the room started to darken as the sun dipped lower in the sky, taking the light with it. Before they fully went out Vern ignited the candles, making sure that their flames were carefully blocked so as to not accidentally set everything on fire.
With the time slowly dipping past sunset Tara was the first to start slowing down as she was working longer and harder than she usually did. While the job at the bakery was not devoid of physical labor, alternating with doing precise things like dissecting plants and then having to grind nuts or run around the darkening room searching for a plant that Vern gave a pressing as a reference. All those unfamiliar tasks added up, tiring her out.
When the half-moon was shining in the sky Vern finally said, "Well that is mostly it for the day. We just have to test a few of the potions to confirm they have the proper effects." Pointing to the side, Vern continued, "Go and grab a few of the beetles from under the hatch and we'll each take 10. Just pour the potion over the beetle and catalog the reactions of each at the 1-, 5-, and 10-minute mark. That'll be all for today." He set 10 different potions, each having a different hue, along with 3 sand timers.
Tara's body briefly slumped at the prospect of being able to relax before quickly stiffening back up. I'm not done yet. She thought sternly and organized the beetle tanks in a small circle. Quickly removing the netted top and pouring the fluid onto the beetle before closing them back up.
After the last one, she stood over the tanks with the journal in hand and immediately flipped all three at once. Waiting for the timers to finish or any reaction to start she started to have some negative thoughts. What if nothing happens? What if something happens but I can't see it? Even more horrifyingly she thought, What happens if something happens but I can't describe it correctly?! I'm not a real alchemy person. Mom and Dad only taught me simple words. I don't know any of the fancy words.
The first of the sand timers finished and she saw a few of the beetles reacting. One flared with a shining blue aura. Well, that is pretty obvious. Her heart relaxed as she made a note of what she saw and continued about her task. Some others showed signs of the potion's effects in between the 1- and 5-minute timer. The beetle zipped around the tank rapidly, crashing into the walls. Making a note about the beetle it was soon time to flip the 5-minute timer. As she waited for the 10-minute timer there were 2 beetles left that didn't show any reactions. Once more, her body started to relax at the prospect of finally finishing her work for the day. I guess these last two were duds. She thought as the time ticked on. Letting her head roll to the side she watched the beetles as she kept an eye on the sand fall. Wow. The sand seems to be moving so slow now. With a small yawn, she continued to stare. I wonder… Her thoughts trailed off as her mind became muddled.
Her vision swam and her body began to sway. Dropping the notebook, the loud sound of the notebook slapping against the ground brought a moment of stark clarity and she saw a young version of Vern smiling before her. "Don't worry little one. I'll make good use of you."
Horrified she wanted to run away but her body gave way and Vern caught her as everything faded to black.