Kiki and the Other Witch

Spring Comes Again

Spring came for the fourth time since Kiki moved to Koriko. And Kiki turned sixteen. In the morning and evening on the vernal equinox, as her mother Kokiri had taught her, she planted the medicine herbs along the street in front of her shop. This year marked the second time she’d done this.

This morning, she woke up early again to water the herbs. She had gotten completely used to the work. Jiji, her black cat, came over and stuck a paw out, playing at trying to catch the water.

“Jiji, you’re going to get wet!” Kiki said, holding up the watering can.

“But water turns such pretty colors when the sun hits it!” Jiji said.

“That’s true—­it makes a rainbow.”

Kiki squinted up at the sky. This was definitely spring sun. Just then, she heard an animated voice behind her.

“Ooh, there’s already a lovely scent coming from the soil. There aren’t even any buds yet, but I’d expect nothing less from medicine herbs.”

Kiki turned around to find Osono from Rock, Paper, Pastries smiling. Next to her, a little girl stood holding tightly to her mother’s skirt with one hand and making chookachoo noises sucking the thumb of her other hand. This was Nono, who had been born the year Kiki came to Koriko. She was already three. And hiding shyly behind Osono was the boy who’d been born second and was almost one, Ore.

“Did the herbs you harvested last year make enough sneeze medicine?” asked Osono.

“Actually, there’s quite a bit left over. My mom told me that each year I would end up with just the right amount, but ‘just the right amount’ is witch math . . .” Kiki turned around and nervously eyed the jar in her house holding the sneeze medicine.

“It’s a huge help for the town that you’ve gained another mysterious power.”

“ ‘Mysterious power’ is such an exaggeration! It’s only sneeze medicine. But I’m fired up. And the shop has expanded.”

Osono nodded in response and took another deep breath to smell the soil. Then she began to sing in a low voice:

“Might we go together, hoo h-hoo

to the end of this road, hoo h-hoo

hoo h-hoo foony-­foony hoo h-hoo”

Kiki hummed along as Osono continued singing to herself. Then she said, “Ah, I feel good now. Well, see you later.” She picked up Ore, took Nono by the hand, and went home.

Yes, at the beginning of the year, Kiki’s shop had changed quite a bit. They moved all the bags of flour that had been on the first floor to the second floor, made the shop a little larger, and built a small closet. She also moved her living space from the second floor down to the first floor. Osono recommended doing that so it would be easier to tend to the herbs along the street and also so her room would fill with their scent. Tombo and the other members of Koriko’s Aviation Club gathered to assist with the renovation. Tombo constructed a little window in the wall so she would be able to see the street. Walking through her more spacious room and looking out the window to see her medicine herb fields gave her confidence, and she thought, It’s like I’m almost a proper witch, too . . .

After watering her herbs, she began making tea. It was fragrant tea made from wild herbs that her friend Forest, who lived on the outskirts of town with her little brother, had sent. The taste was slightly sweet, slightly sour, and drinking it made your tummy rumble, ready for food. Forest also sent a grass bed she wove for Jiji. He was lying in it, sticking his pink tongue out, lapping at the air as if trying to drink something from it.

“Jiji, what are you doing? Copying Nono? Do you want me to treat you like a little baby?” As she teased him, she stuck her bottom lip out and tried slurping the air, too. “Yum . . .” she said without thinking.

Suddenly, Jiji stood and said, “I’m a cat. But could I become a special cat?” He stuck his tail straight up and turned to stare at it.

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? So composed, like an actor on a stage . . . What do you mean, a special cat? Isn’t everyone special? After all, everyone is special to someone,” said Kiki.

“Kiki, isn’t that a bit superficial? I don’t mean that kind of special. I’m talking about whether I can get a proper hold on myself—­and I don’t mean whether I can catch my tail!” Jiji wrinkled his nose and gazed into the distance as if pondering something.

“I don’t know why you’re making everything so difficult. I love you, Jiji! You’re my special cat. Isn’t that good enough?” Kiki scooped him up and gave him a light kiss on the nose.

“Stop it! You’re smothering me!” Jiji leaped out of Kiki’s arms and shook his body out.

Kiki was surprised and looked down at him. That was when it happened.

Ring-­a-­ling-­a-­ling, ring-­a-­ling-­a-­ling!

The phone rang.

“Kiki’s Delivery Service!” Kiki spoke into the receiver with her usual pep.

But what came flying at her from the other end of the line was—­“Ah, ah, ch-­ch-­chooo! Ka-­choo!”—­sneezes like an explosion. They were so loud, Kiki instinctively moved the receiver away from her ear. Then, “Ah, ah, ah . . . ch-­ch-­ch . . . achoo! Choo!” More sneezes.

Kiki blinked. They were so rhythmic, it sounded as if someone were singing in a high-­pitched voice. She could also hear a piano in the distance, like an accompaniment.

“Umm, this is . . .” Kiki was about to identify herself again when—­

“Ah, ah, ah, ah . . . M-Miss Witch—­choo! Some medicine—­ka-­choo! Hurry! Achoo!”

“Ah, ah, ah, okay. Where are you?” Kiki felt like the sneezes might be catching.

“At the radio sta-­station—­choo!”

“Got it. The radio station,” Kiki confirmed loudly just to be sure and hung up.

Then she took the lid off the jar containing the sneeze medicine, and after staring into space thinking for a moment, she stuck a hand in, squeezed a fistful of medicine, and put it into a paper bag. Then her eyes went wide.

“Wow, this much? Isn’t it kind of a lot? I thought I would have extra this year, but there’s only a little bit left. Will things really work out okay . . . ? But maybe this is witch math—­where you have just the amount you need. I guess I should have faith,” Kiki mumbled to herself as she put the paper bag and a wooden spoon in a tote. “Jiji, what are you going to do?”