Thrice you shall deny me, until the magic potion reveals this secret to you.

Clementina Salazar's words echoed in the quiet room and disappeared. She'd nursed her baby girl for the last time that day. Her lips and fists clenched, she pulled herself together, wiped away a tear, adjusted her apron and went on with her chores. Behind her was the cradle; inside the cradle, Amelia, her little daughter who would soon celebrate her first birthday as a Cabral.

A broken woman, Clementina had tolerated prejudice, perjury, and ignominy, but she was strong enough that day.

Freshly roasted coffee aroma drifted in through the windows. She left the room.

Outside the huge mansion, Clementina's fourteen-year-old nephew carried the quintals on his back; sweating, with a stiff gesture, he came and went. She watched him as she walked to the fields, she thought about how her daughter's fate would be so different from her nephew's for a small price: the immeasurable suffering of a young mother, deceived, with no money or schooling, a poor peasant girl who had come out of nowhere. She took out the wooden wand she always carried hidden in her apron and stuck it into the earth; the incantation occurred in a voice inaudible to humans but not so to the earth. The young coffee plants trembled. She hid her wand again.

Fifteen years passed. Amelia grew into a beautiful young lady. In a desperate attempt to quell the rumors, her alleged mother made her dress and do her hair as if she were her twin. You could tell they looked alike, but when it rained, the water undid the hairdos and deflated the elegance of her dress to make anyone see that Amelia was the spitting image of her father--and of Clementina.

It was on a rainy January afternoon that Amelia, at last, uttered the first offense.

--I'm not your child!--Amelia burst out, tired of Clementina's commanding her to climb down from the fountain statue. At once! You may fall, my child...

Clementina took out her wand and marked a notch with a knife she always carried in her pocket.

Soon, Amelia would apologize, but she'd offend her again in two months time.

--Stop watching me! You're not my mother...

Clementina marked a second notch on her wand.

Then, on an April afternoon, a group of well-dressed gentlemen arrived with Amelia's young chemistry teacher, for whom she pined. The conversation was about a new coffee formula, which apparently was only possible with the beans grown and processed at the Cabral's hacienda.

These men of science had come to ask permission to install their laboratory in the estate so they could study the production process of these beans with which a unique coffee was prepared: anyone who took a sip could recover a forgotten childhood memory. Clementina listened from the invisibility of her condition as a servant, knowing exactly what was happening but without uttering a word.

After arguments and numbers, Hector Cabral granted permission in exchange for 85% of the profits to be generated from the production of this peculiar coffee which they had already decided to call "Magic Potion." And while this magic potion was already almost a fact, his wife, superfluous and cold as she was, remained on the sidelines and in absolute ignorance of all these men's issues that didn't interest her.

The young professor was pouring out compliments on the extraordinary mansion. Clementina immediately noticed the sparkle in his eyes when he learned from the mouth of the proud father himself that Amelia was the only heir to the estate and all the related businesses.

In just two days, the laboratory was installed. The young professor wasted no opportunity to approach Amelia and pay her a compliment. When they were finally alone, he dared to take her hand. Amelia felt her heart leap out of her chest. And just when she was waiting for her first kiss, Clementina appeared, broom in hand, waving it in the air and shooing the greedy young man away like a mosquito. Amelia ran to her room, pale with shame.

That same night, after hearing Clementina's evidence, Hector Cabral took the treacherous weasel out of his estate and forbade him to return on pain of shooting him with his hunting shotgun. Amelia heard everything from the corridor. Her heart swelled with hatred and without a second thought, she uttered the third offense. Clementina was too far away to hear it, but the earth did hear it, and soon as if it had been whispered in her ear, she knew she had to carve the third notch.

The next morning, the scientists awaited the family with a generous and most deliciously aromatic sample of Magic Potion, hoping that the success at last achieved would please and soothe Don Hector, who was unaware of the fact that these men of science had not really been able to discover anything beyond what they already knew. How this coffee brought back the childhood memories of those who drank it remained a mystery.

Amelia was the first to take a sip and just at that instant, everyone heard Clementina's wand break. Amelia stared at Clementina, her eyes filled with tears. and her heart was filled with unexplainable happiness. She ran to embrace her mother and took off her apron as if wearing it had been the greatest offense. The wand fell to the floor, broken in three pieces.

No one understood what was happening, but in just seconds, that captivating episode would be overshadowed by something that was even more intriguing. The "magic potion" had lost its magic.

All text and images are my own. I have taken the pictures with my Redmi 9T cell phone. And if any GIFs here, I've used GIPHY for all them.

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