Tuesday Tales: From a Picture

Welcome to Tuesday Tales’ December picture prompt post. I’m continuing with my paranormal romance, slowing things down to whet your appetites for more. Since this is picture prompt, here’s my picture.

Aunt Selma smiled. “Everyone controls some kind of energy, Anca, but they don’t realize it or understand how to use it.”

“What was your father’s talent?”

“His ability lay in his unswerving knack of getting the best deals he could and making money, a modern-day King Midas, if you like. The Great Depression destroyed a lot of companies, but Cole Enterprises never faltered.”

“He must’ve been able to tell when someone was lying or trying to swindle him,” she mused aloud.

Aunt Selma smiled. “Yes. I’m sure he could read people as well as you can.”

“What about your mother? If everyone has power, what was hers?”

“Sadly, my mother was a tortured soul. She hated it here in what she called a barren wilderness, but she had a way with plants, an incredible green thumb like no other, managing to grow the most beautiful gardens in the area, herbs and flowers that should never have survived let alone thrived here. I inherited some of that magic, but for many years, her gardens flourished as if she were still tending them.”

“Did she make elixirs, too?”

“No, but she did use some of her herbs for teas and cooking. Mom disliked New England’s weather,” Aunt Selma continued, “and we usually spent the winters at Black Swan, the family’s plantation outside of New Orleans, converted into a hotel a few years after my birth. While she seemed to blossom there, I disliked the place. It was filled with dark energy. Had I been older and more attuned to the Goddess, I’m sure I would’ve seen hundreds of displaced souls struggling there.” Her forehead creased. “I don’t like to believe that something as good and pure as magic can be manipulated for evil purposes, but something bad happened there. Everything burned to the ground shortly after mother died, almost as if she were the chain holding who knows what in place.”

That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.