Coming Back from the Birthday Dinner: Memories of a Lovely Evening
Emily returned home with her husband from the restaurant where theyd celebrated his birthday. Theyd had a wonderful timeso many people, family, and colleagues from work. Most of them Emily had never met before, but if Oliver had invited them, she figured there must be a good reason.
Emily wasnt the type to argue with her husbands decisions. She hated drama and confrontationit was easier just to go along with whatever Oliver wanted.
“Em, can you find your keys? Are they in your bag?”
Emily opened her handbag, fumbling for the keys. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her hand, making her jerk back so hard that the bag tumbled to the floor.
“What was that?”
“I just pricked myself on something.”
“Your bags a messno wonder you got hurt.”
Emily didnt argue. She picked up her bag, carefully pulled out the keys, and stepped inside. By then, shed already forgotten about the sting. Her feet ached from the long evening, and all she wanted was a shower before collapsing into bed.
The next morning, she woke up to an intense throbbing in her hand. Her finger was red and swollen. Then she remembered last nights incident and reached for her bag to see what was inside. Digging through carefully, she found a large, rusted needle at the bottom.
“What on earth?”
She had no idea how it had gotten there. Shaking her head, she tossed the strange object into the bin. Then she went to the medicine cabinet to clean the wound.
After tending to her finger, she left for work. But by lunchtime, she felt feverish. She called Oliver.
“Ollie, I dont know whats wrong. Ive got a fever, my heads pounding, and my whole body aches. Listen, I found this rusty needle in my bagI mustve pricked myself on it last night.”
“Maybe you should see a doctor. You dont want it turning into an infection.”
“Dont worry, I cleaned it. Ill be fine.”
But she wasnt fine. Hour by hour, she felt worse. Somehow, she made it through the workday, then called a taxi homeshe knew shed never manage the bus. The moment she got in, she collapsed onto the sofa and fell into a deep sleep.
In her dream, she saw her grandmother, Margaret, who had died when Emily was just a little girl. She didnt know how she recognised her, but she just *knew* it was her. Gran was an old woman, bent with age. Her appearance mightve frightened some, but Emily felt she was there to help.
Gran led her through a field, showing her which plants to gather. She told her to make a tea from themit would cleanse her body of the darkness eating away at her. Someone wished her harm, she said. But to fight back, Emily had to stay alive. Time was running out.
Emily woke up drenched in cold sweat. It felt like shed slept for hours, but the clock showed only minutes had passed. Just then, she heard the front door clickOliver was home. She stumbled into the hallway, and he froze when he saw her.
“What happened to you? Look at yourself.”
She turned to the mirror. Yesterday, shed been a glowing, happy woman. Now, her reflection was unrecognisableher hair tangled, her lips pale, her face grey, her eyes hollow.
“What is this?”
Then she remembered the dream.
“I saw Gran. She told me what to do”
“Emily, get dressed. Were going to the hospital.”
“Im not going. She said the doctors cant help me.”
What followed was their worst fight yet. Oliver called her delusional, even tried dragging her out by force, but she yanked her arm free, lost her balance, and crashed into the corner.
Furious, Oliver grabbed his coat and slammed the door behind him. All Emily could do was text her boss, saying shed caught a nasty bug and wouldnt be in for a few days.
Oliver returned near midnight, full of apologies, but she only said one thing:
“Take me to the village tomorrowwhere Gran used to live.”
By morning, Emily looked more like a walking corpse than a living woman. Oliver begged her to go to the hospital, but they drove to the village instead. The only thing she remembered was the name of the placeshe hadnt been back since her parents sold Grans house after she died.
The whole ride, Emily slept. She didnt even know which field they needed, but as they neared the village, she woke and pointed.
“There.”
She barely had the strength to step out of the car before collapsing into the grass. But she knewthis was the place from her dream. She found the plants Gran had shown her, and they drove back.
Oliver brewed the tea just as she instructed. She sipped it slowly, and with each swallow, she felt a little stronger.
Later, when she went to the bathroom, she saw her urine had turned black. But instead of fear, she felt relief. Grans words echoed in her mind: *The darkness is leaving.*
That night, Gran appeared in her dream again, smiling.
“Someone cursed you through that rusted needle. My tea will give you strength, but not for long. You must find who did this and return their own evil to them. I dont know who it wasbut your husband is involved somehow. If you hadnt thrown the needle away, I couldve told you more. But heres what well do”
She told Emily to buy a pack of needles, recite a spell over the largest one, and hide it in Olivers bag. The one whod cursed her would prick themselves with itthen theyd know their enemy.
As Gran faded, Emily woke, still weak but determined. She knew shed survive.
Oliver stayed home the next day to look after her. His shock was clear when she insisted on going out alone.
“Em, you can barely stand. Let me come with you.”
“Ollie, make me some soup. Im starving after this bug.”
She did exactly as Gran had said. That evening, the enchanted needle sat in Olivers bag.
Before bed, he asked:
“Are you sure youll be alright alone?”
“Ill manage.”
She felt better, but the darkness still lurked inside, poisoning her. The tea was like an antidote, and whatever was in her *hated* it.
When Oliver came home from work, she met him at the door.
“How was your day?”
“Fine. Why?”
She thought nothing had happeneduntil he turned and added:
“Oh, youll never believe this. Eve from the next department tried to help me todaywent digging in my briefcase for my keys. She managed to stab herself on a needle. Where the hell did that come from? She looked at me like she wanted to kill me.”
“Whos Eve?”
“Em, stop. Youre the only one I love. Not Eve, not Melissa, not anyone else.”
“Was she at your birthday dinner?”
“Yeah, shes a colleague. Nothing more.”
Suddenly, everything made sense. Now she knew how the needle had ended up in her bag.
Later that night, Gran appeared again. She told Emily how to return Eves cursehow this woman had used magic to remove a rival, intending to take her place. If that failed, shed try again.
Emily followed the instructions. Soon after, Oliver mentioned that Eve had been hospitaliseddoctors couldnt figure out what was wrong.
That weekend, Emily asked Oliver to take her back to the village, to the graveyard where Gran was buried. She hadnt been there since the funeral.
She bought flowers, put on gloves to clear the weeds from the grave, and finally found Margarets resting place. The photo on the headstone matched the woman from her dreamsthe one whod saved her.
As she sat on the bench, arranging the flowers, she whispered:
“Gran, Im sorry I never came before. I thought Mum and Dad visited enough for all of us. But I was wrong. Ill come back. If it werent for you, Id be gone.”
Just then, she felt hands on her shouldersbut when she turned, there was only a soft breeze.
