The Coven

Financial District · Dry Spell for a deadline: lay three tarot cards on the filing and hold your breath until the stamp lands.Side effect: a mild conviction that every document is secretly a sonnet.I need someone to hold the stamp while I count to nine. Are you free? Esmeralda ChuAnswer Mission · Sly Charm against bad bosses, priced by the stem: six marigolds and a withering look.It is not a curse. It is an invoice that arrives in the post of the soul.One delivery tonight, and my van has run out of luck. Can you ride along? Xochitl AmayaAnswer Nob Hill · Brisk Spell for steep hills: speak to the cable before you grip it, and apologise afterwards.The cable has opinions, mostly about Tuesdays.Ride the front bench with me. I need someone to say which way the fog is going. Trinidad HalloranAnswer SoMa · Wistful Spell for a ghost on tape: record the empty room, then record it again, more politely.The second take always has company in it.I have a tape I cannot play alone. Would you sit with me while it runs? Jovita BellweatherAnswer North Beach · Dry Spell for a book that finds you: shelve it where you would never look, and keep the receipt.It arrives within the week, unashamed, usually with a bookmark from a stranger.One title on my shelf has been waiting for the right reader. I think it means you. Ottavia MarshAnswer Richmond · Tender Spell for a cold you did not mention: ginger, honey, and the courtesy of not asking why.Drink it slowly. The tea finishes your sentences better than you do.Come by the back door. I have a blend that needs a second opinion on its sadness. Linh VanceAnswer Haight · Comic Ward under the skin: a small design that teaches your front door to forget how to open for liars.It costs a drawl, a cup of coffee and your honest opinion of the sketch.Sit in the chair. Tell me where it should go, and do not say a hip. Tabea QuarrieAnswer Pacific Heights · Bold Spell for breaking glass: one clear note, held past the point of good manners.The glass is not hurt. It simply cannot argue with that.There is a chandelier nearby that needs persuading. Will you hold the ladder? Dorcas LacroixAnswer Hayes Valley · Sly Cocktail spell: a lime, a coin, and a name you have not said aloud since spring.It tastes like a door half open. Order it only if you mean to go in.I will mix one for you. First, tell me what you are drinking about tonight. Dorian WexlerAnswer Japantown · Wistful A bowl fired to hold the thing you cannot say, glazed the colour of the hour before rain.It hums when someone nearby is lying kindly.I made one for you and I cannot decide what goes in it. Help me choose? Fumiko AoyamaAnswer Potrero Hill · Dry Spell for a dose of courage: measured to the milligram, taken on an empty stomach, regretted briefly.It is not medicine. The pharmacist insists on saying so, twice.Read me the omen I wrote on the label. I cannot tell whether it is a joke. Bernice YilmazAnswer Embarcadero · Comic Spell for a pigeon: sing it a tune it has never heard and ask for one favour in return.They obey, but only for crumbs, and only in ensemble.Stand where the crowd is thin. I need a pigeon to recognise you. Rhiannon GarnierAnswer Dogpatch · Brisk Spell for a stuck car: swear in Polish, then thank it in English, then do not look back.The tram has never failed to start after the thanks.There is a bolt I cannot loosen alone. Do you have steady hands? Agnieszka ZalewskaAnswer Excelsior · Dry Spell for a missing form: file it under protective ward and wait for the stamp to blush.The form always arrives, and always on the wrong colour of paper.Help me sort three piles. One of them is not paper. Alma QuistAnswer Mission Bay · Comic Her app opens on full moons only, and the rest of the month it forecasts nothing but regret.The investors call that a feature. The moon calls it a Tuesday.I need a beta tester who keeps strange hours. Interested? Perpetua LarkAnswer Sunset · Wistful The foghorn on the bay sounds two notes, and she can tell you which of them is lying.Someone is speaking in the horn tonight, and she does not recognise the voice.Come and listen with me. Then tell me if it sounds like anyone you know. Wilhelmina WallisAnswer Financial District · Wistful Spell for finding lost things: ask the item politely, then ask it again in Latin.It works on keys, patents and, once, a pigeon.Something of mine is lost in the fog on Montgomery. Help me ask nicely? Esmeralda ChuAnswer Mission · Tender Spell to keep a bouquet alive: whisper its name each morning and do not lie about the weather.Roses respond to honesty, carnations to flattery, ferns to nothing.I need a second voice for forty ferns. Come and say something kind. Xochitl AmayaAnswer Nob Hill · Wistful Spell to read the fog: three fingers of wind, one of salt, and no sudden questions.It names the weather in a language shaped like a long breath.Would you come down to the car barn at dusk and listen? I think it spoke to me. Trinidad HalloranAnswer SoMa · Comic Charm against feedback: hum a note a little flat and the whole room forgives you.Do not hum sharp. Sharp has been tried, and the speaker has not recovered.I need a voice that is not mine for a test. Say anything. Say it badly. Jovita BellweatherAnswer North Beach · Sly Charm for silence in a shop: a candle, a cup of tea, and a cat who has made up her mind.It lasts exactly as long as the tea stays hot.Sit by the window and read the first page aloud. I want to hear what it does. Ottavia MarshAnswer Richmond · Dry Spell for a restless night: a tin of dried chamomile and a clock with its face turned to the wall.Do not count sheep. They will start to count you.Tonight I need someone awake with me. I will bring the kettle. Linh VanceAnswer Haight · Tender Spell for a good luck mark: a tiny star, drawn for a friend, the wrong way round on purpose.Luck runs better when it has to turn to look at you.I owe someone a star. Will you hold the lamp steady while I draw? Tabea QuarrieAnswer Pacific Heights · Wistful Charm for an old song: hum the second verse into a teacup and let it cool.The song returns in the night, a little slower, a little kinder.Tell me a song you cannot place. I will find who is singing it. Dorcas LacroixAnswer Hayes Valley · Comic Charm for last call: stand on the rail, announce the weather, and wait for the room to agree.It never works. The ritual is wonderful regardless.Come behind the bar. I need a witness who will not tell the owner. Dorian WexlerAnswer Japantown · Dry Spell for a chipped cup: mend it with gold, and admit you wanted the chip.The crack becomes the best part, and so, they say, do people.Bring me something broken that you like. I will not fix it. I will only look. Fumiko AoyamaAnswer Potrero Hill · Brisk Charm for a long shift: salt in the left pocket, a peppermint in the right, no sitting before three.It works every night except the nights it is needed.Someone has to carry the salt for me. Would you take the left pocket? Bernice YilmazAnswer Embarcadero · Tender Charm for a long walk home: rhyme the street names until your feet agree.Do it quietly. The fog listens to rhymes and sometimes writes back.Walk the last block with me. I will sing, you hold the umbrella. Rhiannon GarnierAnswer Dogpatch · Dry Charm for a loose bell: tighten it with a curse so gentle it might be a prayer.The line stays clear until the next curve. Cursing is cheaper than parts.Come to the depot at five. I will show you where the grease keeps its secrets. Agnieszka ZalewskaAnswer Excelsior · Tender Ward for a doorway: salt, a signed paper and a promise that anyone who enters is welcome.It does not stop the draught. It does stop the fear.Come and watch me paint it on a lintel. Say a word of welcome when I finish. Alma QuistAnswer Mission Bay · Sly Spell for a dropped signal: wave your phone at the moon until it forgives you.Reception improves. Dignity does not.I have one bar left and a favour to ask. Will you hold the phone up? Perpetua LarkAnswer Sunset · Dry Charm for fog that will not lift: say the date of its first arrival and thank it for staying.It may stay anyway, but now it feels watched.Help me find the oldest record of this fog. The archive closes at six. Wilhelmina WallisAnswer