"I'm telling you Fey, that place gave me the creeps. Some... person... showed up when I thought no one was there and offered me cookies!" I explain, pacing back and forth across the carpeted floor of her rental house.

"I know, and I believe you. But I went down there yesterday after I saw you pedaling ferociously back up the road and I saw nothing," she insists.

"Then what's going on?" I screech. "Sorry. I'm so confused, that tea shop has to be there for a reason, but why can only I see it?"

"Well, can you explain how it feels in there?" Fey asks, research mode coming on. If anyone can help me solve this mystery, it's my girlfriend.

"It felt... almost magical. But it's impossible, because magic doesn't exist!" Everything about that place feels impossible.

"You believe in the foundation of facts surrounding science, right?" Fey asks, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"... yes?"

"Well. I believe, that science is just magic explained," Fey says, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes that's gone so fast, I don't even realize it's there.

"Ok..." I respond. I don't believe her, but I don't want to hurt her feelings either. "I'm gonna go on a walk. Clear my head a bit," I say. I quickly stand up and gather my things. Fey slumps slightly as I wave goodbye, but she still smiles and waves back.

Did I make her upset by brushing her off like that? I wonder as I close the door behind me and breathe in the brisk autumn air before setting out for the hiking trail.

A small tabby cat runs in front of me and stops at the mouth of the trail, head cocked.

"Hi kitty. Are you lost?" I ask, staying a good distance back. I don't want to get clawed, and I have no idea if the cat is friendly.

"Mreow," it purrs, standing up and trotting down the path.

"Wait!" I follow it as it walks deeper into the field, then takes a left into the forest-y part. The part I haven't explored. The part where the tea shop is.

Then, as suddenly as it came into my life, it disappeared.

"Kitty? Where'd you go?" I whisper-shout. I hope it's ok, but I don't want to shout in this part of the woods.

"I guess I'll head home then," I mutter to myself, turning around, only to find something shining on the path ahead back home.

"What the..." I step closer. It's a shining, swirled tube narrowing into a point. Like a unicorn horn.

"But unicorns aren't real," I say out loud, as if it'll help me believe it. Truth is, I'm not sure what to believe anymore. First the mysterious teashop, then the strange cat, and now a unicorn horn?

What is going on?

"That's it. I need Fey. Maybe I just need to accept her crazy proposals, because something way crazier is clearly going on!" I yell up the trees. They don't talk back. They never do.

As I walk home, I keep repeating the words in my head. Tea shop. Stray cat. Unicorn horn. Tea shop. Stray cat. Unicorn horn.

"Fey! I need you!" I call as I stride into her home.

"You've come back, huh? Something new and strange happen?" she says, a knowing grin on her face.

"Yes. Yes, you were right. I think it actually is magic," I say, resigned to her logic.

She squeals and claps her hands. "This should be fun! I've never dealt with magic before!" The same twinkle as yesterday is in her eye. Maybe I'm imagining it. Or maybe it's one more thing to add to the list of the strange.

"Let's go to the drawing board," she says as she grabs my wrist and drags me to her room.

"You're strong," I say. Her hand is digging into my wrist as we run upstairs.

"Ok, so what do we know," she asks, dragging out a rolling whiteboard and dry-erase markers.

"Well, there's a tea shop hidden off Main Street," I say.

"That's one."

"A weird cat appeared and then disappeared in the forest."

"Two."

"And a unicorn horn while coming home," I finish. In my head, I add your eyes sparkling weirdly.

"Three— wait. Unicorn horn? Like, actual magic, and not just weird coincidences?" Her eyes go wide as saucers.

"Yep."

And suddenly, it doesn't feel like a game anymore. This is magic.