When Wren shifted her car into park, the lot was empty. In a half an hour or so, it would start filling up. First with Wren’s colleagues. Then with people who needed to fill out forms, wait in lines, wait in chairs, and smile or not smile for a photograph. The DMV was always full when it was open. Now, Wren had a meeting before she regularly arrived for work.

 

The car’s clock said not yet seven. She suspected she was the last one to arrive, even with no one else seemingly around. They didn’t need cars to get there. As she walked to the employee entrance, she braced herself for her meeting.

           

She was right, as usual, about these things. Three other women sat at the table where Wren and her coworkers ate lunch and took much-needed breaks from dealing with the public. These women had never been employed by the state or served lines of customers that never seemed to end.

           

Wren nodded to them, put her lunch in the fridge, and hung up her black coat. She wore a black dress underneath, just like the other women. Her monochromatic wardrobe had become a running joke around the office.

           

“Nice of you to join us. Finally,” Stella said.

           

Wren pointed at the clock on the wall as she took a seat across from her.

           

“Your early arrival doesn’t make me late. Some of us, like me, had to drive here. And good morning to you,” she said.

           

Esme returned the greeting. Bryony nodded, but said nothing.

           

“May I offer you some coffee or tea? It’s only office coffee, and I have to make it the slow way, with my hands,” Wren offered.

           

“Let’s not waste time. We know you have to get ready for your work soon and we don’t want to be here when anyone else arrives. We’re here to review your performance over the past three months as per the conditions of your community service,” Stella said.

           

She waved her hands over the table and a set of papers appeared in front of everyone. Wren didn’t like the staple indicating multiple pages. Stella also conjured reading glasses for herself and a pen and paper for recording the meeting. The pen hovered above the paper, ready to copy down what it heard.

           

“Three months and two days ago, you inappropriately used your magic,” Stella said. “You were found guilty by our council and sentenced to six months of community service with review and possible early release after three months. We four are gathered here today to review your actions over these three months at the Department of Motor Vehicles renewal center.”

           

Wren clamped her lips tight to keep from saying anything. Embarrassment burned through her.

           

“Wren has no complaints from the people who work here. Her superiors report she arrives on time, processes paperwork efficiently, and has learned the job quickly,” Esme read.

           

“So it would seem,” Stella said.

           

“One coworker says she wears too much black,” Bryony said.

           

“Who ever heard of a witch who wears pastels? Not that the people here know who she really is,” Esme said.

           

Stella made a show of reading the report Wren knew she had read before they’d all arrived. She frowned when she got to the bottom of the page and almost looked a bit disappointed.

           

“Also, Wren has good reviews from the customers. One woman said she normally hates her driver’s license photo, but she likes the one Wren took,” Bryony said.

           

“And one man was sorry he couldn’t laugh at how bad his photo was,” Esme said. “Does that count as a complaint or a compliment?”

           

“Hmm. Nothing but praise for your photography skills. We didn’t know you could operate a camera so well,” Stella said.

           

She turned the page and read more of the report and reviews. She stopped before the end of the page. She took off her glasses to give Wren a hard stare. The younger witch focused on breathing while she stared back.

           

“The terms of your community service were clear. You signed an agreement and said you understood them. But then you spend your three months here doing this.”

           

Wren tried to look innocent.

           

“Doing what?” she asked.

           

“Taking photographs.”

           

“It’s part of the work here.”

           

“That’s not what I mean.”

           

Wren could’ve denied it or claimed she had no idea how her magic worked with camera technology.

           

“I’ve been helping people. And it hasn’t been my whole three months here.”

           

Stella blinked.

           

“You manipulated technology with your abilities. Abilities, that I apparently need to remind you, people outside our circle don’t know about. That would be most people and certainly the people who come here.”

           

“I didn’t mean to at first. I swear on my witch honor. It just happened one day,” Wren said.

           

Stella looked through the papers.

           

“That would be a whole six days into your service, guessing by your first review.”

           

The other witches searched through their papers.

           

“I was taking a woman’s photo for her new license when she started complaining how they never looked good. I didn’t realize what happened until she thanked me for her best photo ever.”

           

“That’s no excuse.”

           

“I never said it was. I’m explaining what happened. For the record.”

           

The pen scratched Wren’s words.

           

“The first time may have been an accident. We might overlook two or even three times. I don’t want to estimate how many times you worked that particular charm. But if the reviews are anything to estimate from, I’d guess thousands,” Stella said.

           

Bryony let out a long whistle.

           

“I’m rather impressed you didn’t get caught by anyone in the DMV, customer or coworker,” Stella said.

           

“We all know those normal people notice nothing interesting going on around them. And if anyone did, who would complain about a good photo on their I.D.?” Wren said.

           

Stella folded her hands on the papers. Wren swallowed. Her throat felt dry.

           

“That’s not the point, Wren. You signed an agreement to not use your magic, especially in public, for the duration of your community service.”

           

Wren started to say something, but Stella continued.

           

“This goes beyond taking a few photographs and making some people who you’ll never see again happy. We have to think about protecting ourselves from people who want to use it for their own greedy reasons. Don’t say that wouldn’t happen. I’ve been around this magical community longer than you.”

           

“I still don’t see the harm in it,” Wren said.

           

Bryony stiffened in her chair.

           

“Wren—” Esme said.

           

“I didn’t do it to harm us or call attention to us or anything else you’re thinking. I’ve always used my magic for the benefit of others and not myself. Always. You all know that,” Wren said.

           

Stella narrowed her eyes. Wren fought the urge to look anywhere other than across the table. Now she needed to keep Stella’s attention.

           

“In fact, we all know what we’re supposed to do with our special talents. We swore an oath to only use it for good. Specifically, the good of others when we can help them. You haven’t forgotten that oath, have you?”

           

She let the question stretch into silence. Stella tightened her lips. The pen stopped and waited.

           

“As you can obviously understand, the magic that I accidentally discovered I only used to help people. I’m helping boost their self-esteem. Honestly, who feels good about themselves when they look awful in a photo?” Wren continued.

           

“Surely those photos can’t be that terrible,” Bryony said. “Nearly every adult carries one in their wallet all the time.”

           

“Except us,” Wren said.

           

“Except us,” Esme agreed.

           

“Just a moment. Let me show you what you’re talking about,” Wren said.

           

She stepped into the front room for a moment. She brought a laptop back to the break room and opened a few files.

           

“These photos are the ones I’ve shot recently. As you can see, flattering examples of smiling people all with their eyes open.”

           

The other witches stared at the screen.

           

“These are the ones I took when I first started here. This man has his eyes closed. This woman sneezed in the middle of the photo. And this woman here was kind, but in her photo she looks like a grump. It’s not just me and my inexperience with a camera. These photos here are taken by my coworkers with at least two years of experience.”

           

Stella tried to keep her face neutral, but she winced.

           

“Would you want your own identification to look like this? Was I supposed to let people walk out of here with photos that made them feel bad when I realized I could help them?”

           

“While your efforts are admirable and the quality magic brings to your work is noticeable, there’s one simple fact. People have noticed your public use of magic.”

           

“People who are clueless. They have no idea what really went on here. They’ll never guess what I’m doing,” Wren said.

           

Stella tapped the papers. “You have over twenty reviews specifically mentioning your skills with a camera.”

           

“Twenty-two,” Bryony said.

           

“That’s more than twenty. And I’m assuming others who have noticed, but didn’t want to write a review,” Stella said.

           

“Not to be rude, Stella, but how many people have you helped with your magic in the past three months? More than twenty-two?” Wren said.

           

Stella said nothing.

           

“Bryony, Esme, how about you? Any guesses on your number?”

           

“I made a casserole for my grieving neighbor. I’m sure it helped her whole family,” Esme said.

           

“That’s kind, but not relevant to our meeting,” Stella said with a sideways glance at Esme.

           

“It’s kind, and kind of my point. I’ve done more good here at the DMV of all places than other witches with a lot more free time. I know what you all expected when you assigned me this duty for my community service. That I’d be bored, busy, and on the border of going crazy from not doing magic for months.”

           

Wren paused and expected someone to deny it. No one said a word. Esme had the decency to look mildly guilty.

           

“You’re looking down on my use of magic, but I’m doing something useful every day I’m here,” Wren said. “Please stop me anytime to jump in and tell me how you’ve done something useful with your magic. Useful for others, of course.”

           

Stella sighed.

           

“Our behavior isn’t in question here. You admitted, rather boldly I might add, to the improper use of magic. We have nothing left to go over. That only leaves voting.”

           

She passed a hand over the table and the reviews of Wren’s work vanished like they didn’t matter any more.

           

“Has Wren violated the terms of her sentence and community service?”

           

Esme, Stella, and Bryony held out their hands. Wren lifted her hand up, but Esme shook her head and said Wren couldn’t vote in her own meeting. Wren could only watch from the other side of the table as a puff of smoke appeared above each hand and turned black. She stared at Stella, who controlled a smirk.

           

“Let the record show that the witch Wren has been found unanimously guilty of violating the orders of the witches’ council,” Stella said.

           

The pen scratched her words onto the paper.

           

“And the improper use of magic while serving her community service at the DMV.”

           

The smoke above Esme’s hand lightened to gray.

           

“Therefore, her magic shall be bound and unavailable to her for the next year.”

           

Esme’s smoke turned light gray. Stella frowned.

           

“Let the record be amended to show one witch has changed her vote to undecided,” Stella said.

           

“Leaning to not guilty,” Esme added.

           

Wren sat up straighter.

           

“What’s the issue?” Stella asked. “Don’t you agree this witch has used her magic when she was instructed not to?”

           

“No,” Esme said.

           

“Do you agree that she should face the consequences of her choices?”

           

“Yes.”

           

“Then what?”

           

“She used her magic for a good reason and didn’t personally gain from it."

           

“That opinion doesn’t take away from the fact she disobeyed the witches’ council.”

           

“But we should take into account her reason for using it and pass a sentence accordingly.”

           

Wren watched the smoke above Bryony’s hand lighten. Stella saw it out of the corner of her eye and groaned. She waved all the smoke away.

           

“If we allow this witch to go unpunished, we’ll only have more and more young witches doing as they want for their own good and not the good of all of us witches. I’m thinking of all of us, not just one witch.”

           

Stella punctuated her words with a few jabs of her finger at Wren.

           

“It doesn’t have to be all or nothing,” Bryony said. “Wren, do you enjoy your day working here?”

           

“The never-ending line of customers. The same, repetitive tasks day after day. Not really being able to use my skills that I’ve spent years working on. I’d rather drink Granny Rose’s potions,” Wren said.

           

Esme pulled a face at the thought of those potions.

           

“Wonderful,” Bryony said.

           

“Wonderful?” Stella repeated.

           

“Let the record show a proposal of an appropriate consequence for Wren. I propose to these members of the witches’ council that Wren serve the rest of her community service here,” Bryony said.

           

“That’s all?” Stella said.

           

“All of it?” Wren said.

           

“And an extra month because of her disobedience, even if it was unintentional at first,” Bryony continued.

           

“An extra month?” Wren and Stella said together.

           

“While using her magic only to take decent photos for those driver’s licenses that people need,” Bryony finished.

           

“An acceptable compromise,” Esme agreed.

           

Stella looked at the other witches. Wren held her breath and didn’t dare say anything. Silence held over the table.

           

Stella opened her mouth, closed it, and rubbed her forehead.

           

“Let the record show the witch Wren will fulfill her community service plus an extra month. Unless you find that objectionable and want us to reconsider that offer.”

           

Wren shook her head, not trusting her voice. The witches all took turns signing the last page of the record. With a wave of Stella’s hand, the record and pen vanished.

           

“We’ll be watching you for the next four months. Closely,” Stella said.

           

“Understood,” Wren said.

           

The three witches who didn’t have to work in forty minutes headed toward the back door. Esme stopped them all with a question.

           

“Just one thing. How did you do it? How did you get your magic to work with the camera?”

           

“Well, I just said ‘smile pretty’ to the one woman who was kind. She honestly didn’t look pretty though the camera lens. I guess I just transferred my wish to the camera and she became pretty in her photo. I’ve been saying it ever since,” Wren said.

           

“Smile pretty? Nothing more?” Bryony said.

           

“Simple spells are the best,” Wren said with a shrug.

           

Esme and Bryony gave her a quick goodbye and Stella said nothing. They walked out the back door and vanished. Wren looked around the parking lot to see who could’ve noticed them, but it was still empty. Her secret was still just that from her coworkers and customers.