Being a small town, there weren’t many that Jack did not know. Most everyone were friends or at least acquaintances. Among Jack’s acquaintances or friends whom we shall meet is Finn. Finn was the son of the local grocery store owners, Lara and Paul.

A long time ago (but not really), when both boys were younger, Lara and Paul and Millicent were quite close, having been neighbors. Jack’s father already had left by then, some rumors having said he was just a traveler passing through when love sparked with Millicent, and the remnant of the love brought form to Jack. Thereby, Millicent raised Jack like a single mother, cultivating the strength and perseverance of a survivor and a mother. Millicent and Lara already being close took turns looking after the boys and supporting each other. It was here, Jack and Finn listened to the magnificent tales told and read by Millicent, including some stories she heard passed down from her lover.

Her stories affected both boys differently. Finn loved the stories Jack’s mother told, and while Jack enjoyed them too, Jack was more level headed and cautious. As said in the previous chapter, Jack wanted to stay away from magic. It was like a double-edged sword-- dangerous. Finn, on the other hand, with his inquisitive mind wanted to learn more. Finn was, perhaps, one of the rare few who might have entertained the thought of leaving the small town, but out of love towards his dear parents, he quieted this desire. Of course, the desires did win over him eventually, as he would later become the first to leave town in a long time. However, we have not reached that part yet, for we still have not been introduced to the visiting sisters, Snow and Rose!

Continuing on with more background, Jack and Finn were quite close back then-- peas in a pod some might say. When you look for one, you would find the other. But, as the young boys grew up, and as Lara and Paul moved further away in town to focus on their grocery store, the two boys gradually drifted apart-- from the best of friends to mere friendly acquaintances.

Now, Jack and Finn still had their interactions. After all, everyone still needed to get groceries, and Millicent and her restaurant was no exception. However, I suspect, Jack did distance himself from (a.k.a. avoided) Finn and Finn’s active imagination, in favor of wanting to keep a more mundane, normal life. And so that was how Jack lived a relatively normal life. If there were any surprises to his ordinary life, he would mentally distance himself (a habit!). Yes, Jack had no desire to leave his hometown, and he especially did not want to get involved in magic or adventure.

Of course, fate had other plans.

It first came in the form of two intriguing women: the sisters Snow and Rose.

The day of Snow and Rose’s arrival began much like any other day. Helping opening up the restaurant, serving the local customers, wiping tables, taking inventory, running errands, running errands. Oh? Did “Running errands” make its way twice onto the list? How odd, right? But on that day, Jack indeed had to run errands twice, the second one being an odd request given by his mother.

“Jack, honey!” she said after Jack returned from the first set of errands, “Could you go out and look for a flower for me? I couldn’t find it at the shops, but I need it to try out a recipe! Perhaps there might be some around the hills.” There was a twinkle in Millicent’s eyes as she shooed her son away. “Thank you dearie! See you later, Jack!”

“Yes, Mother. I’ll be back soon!” Jack managed to fit in before he was enthusiastically pushed out the door.

Her request was a bit random, but being her son, Jack knew how much she enjoyed concocting and experimenting with new recipes-- food or aphrodisiacs or etc. At this point, he got used to some of Millicent’s eccentricities, and while he did desire a normal life, he still loved her despite her idiosyncrises. After all, she raised him all by herself (with some help from friends), and Jack could appreciate all the hard work that went through that. And so Jack obediently went out to the hills to look for the flowers.

It did not take Jack long to find the hills. The flowers, on the other hand, were a bit more difficult. A white one, eh? He could see a bunch of pink and purple bell-shaped flowers, but not the white kind his mother wanted. He searched, walking around looking for any white color to pop out. How about behind those trees there? At this point, I think Jack was probably wondering if color was an important factor. If he could not find a white one, would a light pink one suffice? Yet, he did not want to give up. So immersed in his search, he was caught off guard by a female’s voice. In his surprise, he let out a yell. AH!

“So Sorry!” The woman said. “Um, excuse me, sir. Have you seen a red haired girl in a red hood?”

Jack paused for a bit to process the question. He had only been half-listening to her. He couldn’t recognize her so she must be a visitor. With her light blond hair, which he noticed had a bit of black near the ends, and fair skin (as white as snow) she was very pretty. To be fair, the lady was quite a beauty. If there so existed a ranking of the top beautiful women in this fairy tale world, she would be in the top 5 percent, and many would have been awestruck too. Luckily, our Jack was a quick thinker, so he was able to recover soon. A red haired visitor would have been noticeable considering there weren’t many redheads here.

“No, I can’t say I have. Um, do you have any ideas where she might be?”

“Thank you. Uh, I suppose the pavilion, maybe?” The fair lady replied and then quietly laughed to herself, “Yes, that would be a place Rose would go.”

“Then that would be on the other side of town. If--”

Before Jack could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the woman who had the habit of thinking out loud when emotional. In this case, she was a bit shocked. “--W-What.? I GOT LOST AGAIN?!”

Once again, Jack was surprised. In appearance and first impressions, the fair lady looked like the epitome of grace, but right now, she seemed quite, uh, not graceful. Especially with his hand now being grasped by her and she earnestly looking at him...although her eyes seemed to be changing...it looked a bit wild?

“Sir, PLEASE HELP ME! I beseech you!”

“O-Ok.” I was going to offer to help you anyway. “I could take you there.”

“Ah, thank you kind sir! May I get the pleasure of your name? I am Snow White.”

“I am Jack. It’s nice to meet you, Snow. Welcome to the town of Blank. Come, I’ll lead the way.”

Now, Snow was a sweet woman, and she had noticed Jack was in the middle of doing something. She didn’t want to trouble him, although she really did need help. After all, she was hopelessly lost, and a sense of direction was not her forte. Magic was her forte, but it would be unreasonable to use it all the time. “Thank you very much, Jack. I appreciate it. May I ask, what were you searching for? Would it be fine for us to go now?”

“Of course. I was just looking for a particular kind of flower. They’re bell-shaped like those too, but a different color. White. Don’t worry about it. There might not even be any here. Let’s go to the pavilion.”

Ah, sorry mother. Looks like I won’t be able to get you any of those flowers.

Together, Jack and Snow went on their way to the Pavilion. Jack pointed out all the interesting spots to Snow on their route. He was quite proud of the progress the town had made for the sake of tourism, and it was an overall positive impact it seemed. Snow would nod along and perhaps ask a couple questions in response, but in her head, she was pondering about something else.

“Ah, the Heather flower,” she said suddenly.

“Hm?”

“Jack, the flower you were looking for is the white Heather flower. A symbol of luck and protection. If you’re looking for some, I could help you there. Uh, after I find Rose, of course.”

“Thank you, Snow. That’s nice of you. My mother would actually really appreciate that.”

“The white ones are hard to find, but I might have a few. I’ll have to check. They are really powerful protection tools. Huh, Jack? Jack.”

At that moment, Jack was distracted. He did not even hear what Snow just said. You see, the white heather flower was difficult to find, but right in front of him was someone selling it! “Sorry! Could you hang on a moment, Snow?” Just his luck! A traveling merchant, who overheard some of the conversation had called Jack over. Without thinking, Jack took out his money and bought a bundle.

He then quickly caught up with Snow, who was waiting for him up ahead. “Sorry! A traveling merchant called me over. Look!”

“May I?” Snow held her hand out, gesturing to take a look. Jack handed the bouquet to her as the two of them continued walking towards the pavilion. The flowers were wrapped with a matching white ribbon with decorative designs and images on it. Jack thought it looked nice. He watched as Snow examined the ribbon and she then handed the bouquet back to him. “Jack, it is unfortunate but I do not believe these are truly the white Heather flowers you want. If you take off the ribbon, you will see for yourself.”

“What do you mean?” Jack asked as he struggled to take off the ribbon (it was tied quite tight with many knots), but then was surprised to find the colors of the flower gradually changing in his hand. Hints of pink and violet began bleeding through. What the-- what happened? Why is it purple?

“The ribbon is a magic charm. See, the symbols? That’s a spell. The white flowers that you saw was an illusion, because the color is actually purple.” Snow then took the ribbon from Jack and tied it back on, “And if this is on again, the flowers will turn white again.” Sure enough, the colors began to fade.

Imagine the shock in Jack’s mind after seeing the sight of the flowers changing. There was a bit of anger, of being ripped off. That damn seller! Jack looked back, but the guy was gone. Disappeared as if no sign of him there. And then there was disbelief. He did not want to believe that there was magic. It was hard to take in and he really wanted to leave and take a nap and forget about anything related to magic. Magic and him did not mix, it would bring about so much trouble! He knew. He should’ve also known not to trust a traveling merchant either. Dammit! The last time he did, things did not go smoothly. And magic was also involved in that one too. I need a break. I don’t need a repeat of that. But, being the polite man he was, he could not just leave Snow until he sent her to the Pavilion.

“Are you okay, Jack? I’m sorry.”

“Nah, i-it’s ok. Let’s walk faster, we’re almost to the pavilion.”