Something was lightly slapping me in the face when I woke up. “Hey, come on, get up,” I heard Colette’s voice
demand. “We’ve got things to do.”
“Ugh…like what?” my groggy voice responded.
“A lot,” she said. “One step at a time, though. That first step is breakfast.”
I sat up and wiped away the sleep. “You want blood now?” I asked.
She laughed. “Of course not,” she said. “I want real food. Which I have found we lack.” Before I could ask
for an explanation, she gave it to me. “I woke up before you did and I went exploring. I found the kitchen.
It’s pretty incredible. But there is absolutely no food in it. So I kinda need you to get your ass out of
bed and wish us some food.”
“Or you could always go buy some,” I said.
“Uh huh, right,” she nodded. “Go walk through the woods, go to the store, buy some stuff, and lug it all back
through the woods. Oh, while wearing a high-heeled, heavy cleavage, leather catsuit, too. Good plan?”
“OK, you have me there,” I admitted defeat.
“Also,” she continued, “This castle is not the best place to walk around naked when there’s no lighting and no
heat.”
“No heat?” I asked.
“That’s how it felt,” she answered. “So how ‘bout some clothes?”
“What would you like?” I asked.
“My own clothes would be just fine,” she said.
“Sure,” I said. “I wish that an exact copy of your complete wardrobe would be in the castle, and that they’d
be stored in a closet space over there.” I pointed at one of the walls to indicate where I wanted this closet
to go.
A small space was quickly enclosed by walls and a couple of access doors. Surprisingly the walls were not
stone. Colette ran over to it and opened the doors. “There’s no light in here either,” she said.
I was sick of having to will lights off and on. “I wish that all lights, torches, whatever in this castle
automatically turn on and off as they are needed,” I said with frustration.
“That’s better,” she said. “It looks like everything is here. Why did you say ‘an exact copy?’”
“So that it won’t look like your clothes are missing from your house,” I said.
“We might want to change the whole ‘no one notices we’re missing’ thing,” she said as she put on a red silk
robe. “For simplicity.”
“I can’t think like that yet,” I said. I wished for a copy of my clothing to appear in its own closet on the
opposite side of the room. Not surprisingly, my closet was smaller than was Colette’s. I grabbed a t-shirt
and pair of shorts, which were my normal pajamas. I also pulled on a pair of socks. Colette had a pair of
slippers that matched her robe in color. “I wish we were in the kitchen,” I said.
Colette was right about the kitchen. It was huge. It looked like something that belonged in an old English
estate. Since this was a castle, I guessed that made sense. But the kitchen was extremely modern. It had
top of line appliances, a ton of counter space and a huge island in the middle. It looked like a chef’s
dream. Thanks to my wish, the lights came on as soon as we appeared. Rather than torches, however, this room
had electric lights. At this point I didn’t really care why there were so many inconsistencies in my castle.
I chalked it up to knowing nothing about architecture.
“What do you want to eat?” I asked.
“I’d love some eggs and toast,” she said. “Just start with that.” I wished for the necessary food. When the
food appeared I just looked at her. I fully expected her to make the next move. That was a mistake. “What,
because I’m the woman I’m automatically doing the cooking?” she asked with scorn in her voice.
“I…uh…yea, bad idea,” was all I could stammer. “I’m not great cooking eggs,” I said. That was true, they
never tasted quite right to me when compared with eggs that I knew were cooked well.
“I don’t care,” she said. “This is about proving you can do it.”
Making the toast wouldn’t be a problem, I thought. Then I realized that this was a toaster I’d never used
before so I would have to guess on the settings to make sure it didn’t burn. I realized I could have wished
to be an expert cook, but for some reason I felt like that would be cheating. At least I didn’t have to wish
for the necessary utensils, as they were already present.
So I proceeded to attempt to cook eggs. The first problem I always have is cracking open the eggs. They just
never seem to crack properly and I end up getting some on my hands. “Not very graceful there,” teased
Colette. I just gave her a look. She responded by laughing.
Somehow I was able to get my way through the rest of the process and was able to time everything decently. I
finished cooking the eggs just as the toast popped. I got them on a plate and buttered the toast. As I
placed the plate in front of her, I said, “Be honest.”
She took a few bites. “These are good,” she said. “Not the best I’ve had, but they’re just fine.”
“You’re not just saying that?” I asked.
“I’m not just saying that,” she reassured me between bites. I sat down and ate some of my eggs. They did
taste better than the last time I’d made them. I guess I just got lucky. “It’s funny,” she said. “I thought
you’d just wish yourself to be a great cook.” I was in the middle of swallowing a bite of eggs when she said
this. I nearly choked on them after hearing her say that. “Are you OK?” she asked.
“Peachy,” I replied in between coughs.
“What did I say?” she asked.
“You know what you said,” I answered.
Colette said, “Oh, you mean wishing to be a good cook?”
“Yea, that,” I said. “I gathered you wanted me to make an effort, so I thought that would be cheating.”
“Oh, you’re too cute,” she said. “Doing all this for me.”
“Well, of course,” I said. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Thanks, babe,” she said.
“So since you’re calling the shots right now, what’s on your mind after this?” I asked.