Diana’s Manster by Ava Pearl

*The Engineer, The Kitchen Witch, and a Manifestation of True Love

Bryson
I’d been planning this annual camping trip for months. A remote spot in the mountains, and a simple backwoods trail up along the north gorge that I’ve taken dozens of times.
But somewhere along the way, my compass stopped working, and I lost the trail.
Stumbling through the woods, I find her, a goddess in white, dancing by the fire.
I’m mesmerised like a sailor lured in by the siren’s song.
Except this woman is terrified of me and armed with bear spray.
Somehow I know this is destiny, kizmet, love ordained by the stars.
There’s a force here that’s brought us together. A force greater than anything my engineering mind understands.

Diana,
Diana, a name given to me from a long line of east coast witches, along with powers that come from kitchen witchery and old wives’ tales of herbs and their magical correspondences.
I have full faith in manifesting destiny, and the silly love spell I did with my friends will undoubtedly work.
Weeks after that girls trip, under the full moon, and in the privacy of my family’s mountain cabin, I strip down to complete the final step.
By the light of the full moon, he shall surface…
And oh boy does he ever! A hiker with a broken compass and a heart of gold.
He’s the one. He’s everything I asked for.
But is he smitten with the real me? Or did I break the golden rule of witchcraft and influence the will of another?
I’m second guessing my integrity when I notice it, the change in skin tone on his left hand. It’s the one thing I didn’t think to not ask for. An available, unattached man.
I’m reminded of my mother’s words… be specific, and careful what you wish for.