Caroline fell hard for a boy in highschool and promised him a lifetime a marriage. She made good on that highschool promise but she hadn’t known that her heart was still growing, still so many ways left to grow like a young tree in the Cindersap forest. At a schoolyard with Pierre back when they were kids, she felt like a strong hearty tree, sustained, rooted and loved. But on a warm autumn day during her secret trip picking up mushrooms, suddenly— out of nowhere— with no regards to her safety, fresh blooming flowers overturned in the deepest corners of her heart. The ones she hadn’t known that was there before.

There she was, blooming like a wild spring flower in that autumn morning. Who knew the makings of her heart had grown to such an impossible size over the years without her knowing and then one day, in an impossible moment, it just flew away into greater heights. Like powerful winds of nature hitting the wings of her heart one day, and she flew—

It wasn’t the first time her body betrayed herself. Puberty was a hellish hellscape that made it difficult to cope. If it weren’t from the support of her family, friends and the kindness from her then-boyfriend Pierre then she wouldn’t have made it as far with fewer scars. Caroline should have heeded back then the lesson of puberty. If puberty had taught her anything, it’s that her body did not care for upheaval of emotions, great sorrow or a broken heart. It only and only erred on the side of survival. In many ways, her body was a practical no-nonsense machine, caring only for her greatest chances at longevity. ‘Survival of the fittest’ as a Darwinian would say.

So was it no wonder that her body betrayed her and fell in greater love for a powerful man like Magi Rasmodius? It was a mistake. It should be a mistake. And yet her heart, her treacherous body, never thought of it that way. She had stumbled onto him one day, assisting hapless monsters in the heart of Cindersap forest, treating them with kindness and with an awe-inspiring magnitude of earthly magic that it had struck her dumb.

“A monster?” he had muttered then. He must have sensed her right away, hiding behind a tree. Massive branches of vegetation were leaning over her face, safely tucking her in the shadows with one dirt-smeared hand resting on the trunk, shaking. Of fear or excitement? She couldn’t know.

“Come out, monster.” he said gruffly. “I mean you no harm.”

Against her better judgment, her treacherous feet stepped out into the light for his knowledge. “I’m no monster.” she said, her voice breathy as if every last drop of air in her lungs were stolen.

He gave a soft grunt, and went back to his work assisting monsters that looked like pumpkins, ignoring her. “You are. A thousand times more than I can count.”

Her pulse skittered to a speeding rate.“What do you mean?”

He didn’t answer. He was on his knees wearing a violet cape over his shoulders and she had to step sideways to see what shirt he was wearing.

Caroline had a favorite book growing up called ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ and his outfit seemed like he just came straight out of the Middle Eastern folk tales she always loved to read.

When she didn’t leave or even move away after long moments, he sighed. A wave of power emanated from his fingers that it lulled the monster pumpkins to sleep. One by one, he wrapped them up in a blanket swaddle like they were babies and carefully placed them inside his basket. “Pumpkaboos. Trained them myself from the day they were born. Now I have to release them to a new trainer on a far far away land.”

She clasped her hands behind her and shifted her weight to one foot, jutting a hip. “You don’t seem too happy about that.”

His hands, filled with rings and talismans, hesitated as he tucked the monster pumpkins in their basket. “It is a known universal fact that change is scary. Evolution is pain. Even more so for these poor creatures. The transfer will cause them great pains.”

She frowned, her mind sending go signals to turn away from the strange man but her feet stayed planted to the ground across him.“You hurt them?” she finally said.

There was a deep tremor in his voice as he made an awkward chuckle, “No. Well, yes.” he licked his dry lips, a movement that Caroline followed with rapt attention. “Pumpkaboos grow to love their trainers very much. They’re made of galactic hearts, their feelings the size of a hundred oceans. When they lose a trainer, their hearts will break. And a pumpkaboo heart breaking will trigger an evolution.”

“Isn’t that good?”

His hundred-yard stare was received by the dry autumnal grass, unblinking “It isn’t good. Necessary, it’s necessary.”

“Like puberty.” she murmured.

He chuckled, a wet booming chuckle that showed off a dimple off his left cheek. “Guess you could see it that way.”

“Are you a parent, Mr.—”

“It’s Mr. Rasmodius to you” he said, pushing to his feet. Out of thin air he pulled out a pointy hat and fastened it on top of his darkest shade of violet hair, “And no. I am not.”

“Would you like one?”

Her outright blatant question seemed to have startled him. “I do. But my wife is not so keen.”

She lifted a shoulder in a shrug, surprisingly nonchalant about meeting the actual wizard of Stardew valley. “I can give you one.” said she, admiring the large brim hat with a pointy end that gave away his real identity.

“Ah.” he nodded, his purple eyes swinging to her in amazement “The human invention of surrogacy.”

Now that he was standing, he seemed bigger, taller and his frame so imposing that he could easily capture her if he ever gave chase. She blushed and looked away under his scrutiny, “It isn’t a bad idea.”

He muttered an incantation and conjured up a few thick, sturdy roots from underground that were the sizes of huge drainage pipes. The large thick roots wiggled and stacked up on top of each other until they resembled a couch, “Come sit.” he invited as he took a seat.

The man was deep in thought, leaning forward and rested both elbows on his thighs. Once she began sitting down next to him, he rattled off. “It is a matter of convenience, our marriage. I was a young wizard back then with big ambitions but dirt poor. Higher education seemed out of reach until I married into her family, you know? Now I have a towerhouse on my own, built and established in one of the most potent magical fields here in this dimension. I couldn’t have made it this far on my own.”

“I get it.” she tucked a stray strand of green hair behind an ear, “We humans are social beings. We can’t survive on our own either. We have to stay connected.”

“Yes.” his gaze sweeping around the forest surrounding them. “I just wish the terms of a healthy social life didn’t come with marriage.”

“So you’re human too, huh? Who would have thought?”

“Who says I’m human?”

“You did. When I said ‘we humans’ and you didn’t say nothing to deny it.”

He reared back, shocked “Astute.”

Smiling, she began leaning back, trying to get comfortable. Wondering if this was a start of a beautiful friendship, or even something bigger moving forward. But one thing she knew for sure that day, that moment. It was that her heart was prepared to take the leap no matter the fallout. ‘Marriage’ and ‘Friendship’ were constructs her heart didn’t understand. It only understood that he was near, and that alone made it near triumphant, filled with joy. In that moment, every fiber of her being knew that this was worth it.