magic machine

It was a gloomy dark day, and it wouldn’t have felt right if the sun was out. Today was the anniversary of my parent’s death. It happened eighteen years ago today. My mother and father died in a plane accident when I was two. I was given to my godmother. Her name is Matilda. Matilda did everything she could to make my life successful.

Matilda owned a tailor shop, she specialized in wedding dresses. I mostly ran the shop now since Matilda got soft tissue sarcoma two years ago. The past three months have been the worst, she has pretty much been sick in bed.

            It was a pretty dead day in the shop. I was just finishing up my best friend’s wedding dress. Her wedding was in one month and she was coming in for her last fitting today. I liked the shop when it was like this. Dead silent, the only noises that surrounded me were of the scissors cutting across fabric or the sewing machine doing its work. Using the sewing machine was the most soothing thing to me. I called it my magic machine. It never broke or messed up stiches and it was the oldest machine we had in the shop. Matilda said it was passed down from many generations and I would get it when she passed away, but I didn’t like to think about that. Even though I know it was coming.

My soothing sounds of the sewing machine were interrupted by a group of loud girls stumbling into the door. They were the rich girls of our precious town of River Gold.  I made my way to the front of the store to greet them. I mustered up as much politeness in my voice that I could.

“Hello.” I gave a big fake smile

A girl with soft grey eyes and a sharped angled orangey-red bob made her way to the front of the pack.

“I’m here to find a wedding dress.”

“Well we have a lovely selection in back, I will be right there to help you.”

The pack made their way to the back of the shop and my smile dropped. I took one deep breath and straightened up my lack luster clothing. I walked back there and saw them all browsing. 

“Have you found any you would like to try on?”

The girl whipped her head around and walked towards me.

“What is your name and position?”

“I’m Thea and I pretty much run the shop.”

“Well Thea, I’m Jenny and I just got engaged and I expect to be treated like royalty since the person I’m marrying is like royalty to this town.”

I took a deep breath “Of course”.

For hours I was sitting there being a servant to Jenny and her friends.  After I led them out I saw my best friend Beverly    coming through the glass doors.

“You look exhausted.”

“Yes, well the queen and her princesses demanded my attention at every moment.”

“Yeah I heard that Jenny is getting married. At least you’ll get paid a lot.

I shrugged my shoulders, and sat on a stool.

“How’s Matilda doing?”

“She wasn’t doing too well this morning. The past three months have been really hard. This morning she couldn’t even get out of bed. I was going to go up to see her but then Jenny came in. “

“Oh well I will come with you to go check on her.”

Beverly and I walked up to the apartment above the store. The apartment was quiet. No TV, no coffee maker brewing. Just silence.

“Matilda?”

No response. I said her name again as I walked into her room.

“Maybe she is asleep.”

I walked up to Matilda and shook her shoulder and she just fell to the side. I grabbed her hand and it felt cold. I backed away, I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

“What is it Thea?”

I looked at her with tear-filled eyes. Beverly’s expression changed from concerned to mournful. She wrapped me up in a hug.  

Five months later my life consisted of barring myself in my work. Mostly Jenny’s dress, she would change her mind every two days. Beverly would visit me every day, sometimes she would bring her new husband along, but even she liked it better when it was just us. Today Jenny was supposed to come in with the fabric she wanted her veil to be made out of but she called and said it would be her fiancé instead.

I walked by the “magic” sewing machine and rubbed it for good luck. I did it every day since Matilda passed away. It reminded me of her. I would look at the shiny machine and just wish I could see her again. It reminded me of when I was little and would watch all of the fairy tale movies and call Matilda my fairly god mother. She would tell me that when it came time for me I would make my own hopes and dreams and find my prince. I didn’t need a fairy god mother to help me, but a little magic could do everyone some good.

I was moving somethings around when I heard the bell on the door ring. I peaked out from behind a mannequin and saw a handsome man my age walk in with cream colored fabric.

“Why do all the bitches get the good looking ones?” I thought to myself

“I’m Thea, how may I help you?”

“I’m Gavin. I’m Jenny’s fiancé. Well lately more of her slave.” He gave a chuckle.

“Gavin Gold?”

“Yes. How’d you know?”

“Your great, great grandfather founded this town. Everyone knows you. You are like a prince.”

“Not really.”

“Everyone thinks it.”

“I wish Jenny did, I feel like I’m here just to pay for the wedding and her dress.”

“Well isn’t Jenny’s family wealthy?”

“Yes, very wealthy one of the richest girls.”

“Well I guess you could say I’m the poorest.”

Why do you say that?”

“I have no family, not very much money. Just this machine.” 

I rested my hand on the “magic” sewing machine and rubbed it one time. Gavin looked at the machine like it was made out of diamonds. He was instantly drawn to it. I took my hand off of the machine and it’s like he came back into reality.

“I better go”

He handed me the fabric and left in a rush. Ever since that day Gavin would come with Jenny to her fittings or anything like that. He would always stare at the machine intensely. One day Jenny was in the back looking at accessories, I booted up the machine and put in gold thread for making Jenny’s veil. Gavin leaned against the wall by me.

“I’m not happy.”

“What do you mean?”

“With Jenny. She doesn’t make me happy. You make me happy. The past three months of talking to you have been amazing.”

I looked at him with wide eyes. Gavin grabbed my hands and pulled me up.

“I don’t care if she is the richest girl and you are the poorest girl, you know what life is, and you don’t take it for granted. Every day I watch you at your sewing machine and I’m just instantly drawn to you. I want you.”

I grabbed a hold of Gavin’s hands. Maybe this machine was magic after all. I rubbed my hand on it and gold sparks came out. The machine was my hope all along.