Page 76 of Spotlight on Poppy

Opening the door, the familiar sound of the bell tinkled over her head.

"Hello dear," Bridget said with a broad smile. "I was wondering if I might be getting a visit from ye soon."

"Expecting me?" Poppy asked.

"I wouldn't say 'expecting' but yes, I thought ye might come. A happy update I hope," said Bridget.

"The happiest!" Poppy said with a grin on her face. "I must say, at first I was so confused when I thought it was Damien, then I was so frustrated when you kept telling me to follow my heart, but I must say, your spell really did help me find my true love and I just wanted to say thank you. So, thank you for your part in mine and Josh's love story. I can see a long happy life before us, and I have you to thank."

"Ye don't have me to thank for anything," Bridget said plainly.

"I really do. Your spell gave me the visions that made me realize that I am happy with Josh, and I can find true contentment here in Mystic Falls. I can't believe I could have missed out on all of this."

"Can I tell ye a little secret?" Bridget whispered leaned over the counter closer to Poppy.

"Of course," Poppy leaned in too, hungry for any little bit of magical wisdom this woman might share.

"That potion I gave ye the night of the wedding wasn't magic. I didn't play a role in yer charming love story," she said with a grin like the Cheshire Cat.

"What do you mean?" A confused look furrowed across Poppy's brow.

"There are some couples who require strong magic to find their true matches, but I have found more often than not the universe does a fairly good job of helping matches find each other."

"But the dream I had that night and all the visions, how do you explain that?" Poppy asked, trying to figure out what she meant.

"If ye think back, ye might be able to figure it out. I have found most people who have always been interested in magic have a wee bit of magic themselves, and in some cases a bit more than that. And I think ye just may be one of those cases, my dear."

"I'm not following you," she said, shaking her head.

"Yes, ye are, just trust yer intuition and ask yer questions," Bridget said with a patient smile on her face.

"Are you saying I'm magic?" Poppy asked with a sense of disbelief.

"I am," Bridget said plainly.

Poppy's mouth fell open. How could that be?

"Let me ask ye something, Poppy. When you were a small child did ye believe in magic and practice spells and make potions with the things around ye?"

Poppy shrugged. "Of course, I did. I mean what little kid didn't?"

"Have ye ever had what is referred to as Deja vu? When you have that feeling that ye’ve been here before?"

"Yes," Poppy said, eyes still tight with disbelief.

"Have ye ever had a gut feeling that turned out correct? Dreams that come true? A sense of danger or anticipation ye couldn't explain?"

Poppy just nodded. She was taking it all in.

"The modern world has done away with the belief in magic for the most part, but magic has not done away with the modern world. There are magical people all around us if we know what we are looking for. And you, Poppy, are a seer. Ye have the gift of sight and intuition.”

Could this really be true? She wanted so badly to believe it. This was something she had always thought about herself, but you can’t just go around saying stuff like this without people thinking you're delusional. But when she was little, she would have sworn she was magic, but as she grew up and the real world chipped away at her little by little, she had thought it was just a childhood imagination. Could this really be true?

“When ye were looking for signs of magic everywhere ye saw them. Ye opened yourself up to the power of yer own magic. If ye work at honing that gift I think ye could tell a couple fortunes yerself," Bridget continued.

Closing her eyes, Poppy thought back. She was someone who was always interested in magic, always drawn to stories of magic and the hard to explain coincidences in real life. She was someone people always came to for advice, and she had to admit it herself she did give great advice. And she did have a sense of intuition. She was always someone who led from the heart. Sometimes it was hard to listen to her heart when the heart wasn't always logical because society today tends to place logic above gut feelings. It was easy to lose the ability to listen to her heart. Listen to your heart... That is what she had done, Bridget had helped her to claim her own magic.

"Is that why you told me to follow my heart? So, I would be able to tap into my own magic?"

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