The young wizard, having finished the sign he was making on the gazebo floor in chalk, stood in the center of it and called out, hands up to the full moon. His loose shirt and trousers rustled in the breeze as he spoke.

“Mikanokyoko, I call on thy light.”

A shimmer, and then a rippling of the moon, as water in a pond; then a crowned and halo-graced female figure in a flowing dress floated before the wizard.

“What is it that you wish of me, wizard?” she spoke in a soft, ethereal voice.

The wizard squinted for a moment as he got used to the brilliant flare of the Lady of Magic before him—Mikanokyoko, the Goddess of All Wizards and Witches.

“Goddess,” he said, “I have been longing for a companion for a long time… er, a wife, if you will.”

The Goddess smirked. “Well, of course I can’t give you that. You must earn one yourself.”

“But I have found that I need your assistance to do so, Goddess. I have been luckless as of yet.”

“What kind of assistance.” The Goddess sounded impatient, derisive.

“Effects that will impress a woman. To be precise, a nice house, nice car, beautiful gardens. I can take care of my own features, milady, but items after that are beyond the limits of any mortal to create.”

“That is true,” the Goddess mused. After a moment she smiled, and said, “Well, I will grant you that. Your wish is done.”

She waved her hand over the large property—10 acres, specifically—that made up the home of the wizard. At that, the small house and large field was transformed into a white brick mansion and impeccably gorgeous, manicured gardens and walkways.

The wizard was astonished. He stammered, “Will the gardens and all… stay that way?”

“They will stay that way—at least, the gardens will,” the Goddess stated. “No maintenance will be necessary there. As for the home, it will need all the cleaning of any normal home.

“However, it will not stay this way for eternity,” she warned. “I give you one year to earn a female companion for yourself with these possessions. You will come to me to report at every full moon.”

The wizard bowed and thanked the Goddess. “How can I repay you?”

“Greatly, I’m afraid,” she smirked. At the wizard’s surprise, she continued. “If, at the end of one year, you have not yet presented your fiancée to me, these things will be returned to me, and you will pay me with your magic.”

“But milady,” the wizard exclaimed, “as with any wizard or witch, I would lose my life along with my magic, should you take it away!”

“That’s the way it works, wizard,” she said with contempt. “You heard what I said. Deal with it. I am being quite generous to give you a year’s time to begin with,” she said with a sneer. “Good luck!” she cackled as she faded into the inky night and the wizard knelt with despair.