I am a skeptic. Slowly but surely throughout life, I've learned that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is; and if something seems like magic, there's probably a trick to it. As hard as I tried to go to Narnia, Narnia would not come to me. You can't cure cancer with a grass, and you can't move pencils with your mind. No one knows the future and the past wasn't any better than today, really.
But there's a different kind of magic that comes when you give up the magic that isn't real, and it's the magic of what's real. The stars are even better when you understand what they are doing, and life is still sparkly when you learn how to enjoy the things that are real as much as the things that are imaginary.
One of the closest things to a magic potion I have ever made is liquor 44. It has strict rules for its making. You have to take an orange and puncture it 44 times, then insert a coffee bean into each hole. Then you drop in white rum, and take 44 sugar cubes worth of sugar and dump it in there too. Then you let it sit for 44 days exactly, turning every so often to help the ingredients meld.
I had to remind myself every now and again that there were no further special rules, such as "Leave out in the light of the full moon with claw of a crow and dragon's blood," or "rotate counterclockwise 44 times at 4:44 am and 4:44 pm each day."
I have to admit I lost count of the 44 days, but I had a general idea of when it was, based on my general idea of when I started. Did this inattention to detail negatively affect my liquor? Did my vague timing ruin the cordial? No it did not!
Luckily the 44 isn't a real magic formula and so is not necessary for success! My liqueur is deeelicious. The combination of flavors ends up tasting of chocolate and works as an aperitif, after-dinner drink, or mixed with sparkling wine as a cocktail.
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