A Fresh Start Contest (2023)

Winner: Nicole Hebdon

Champagne Witch Wishes

New! Just in! A limited Quantity Available! Champagne Wish Witches, a wish with every sip. Every one in five wishes guaranteed to come true!

Each bottle comes with its very own witch floating inside. With the art of suspended animation, you can keep the bottle in your cellar for years. You’ll grow old and your witch will stay the same. Don’t worry, she’s not dead, but also not alive!

Take a sip and listen for her peculiar wishes, such as, “This year, you’ll get your fill of baby laughter, huffy like an old man’s chuckle.” Or “You’ll find a ghost apple, the old one shriveled below it like a bloody shadow.” Or “You will find that book you read as a teen but can’t remember the title of.” Or “A piece of red glitter will get stuck to your mirror and won’t wipe off. It will look like a twinkle in your reflection’s eye.” Or “Any paint you spill will fall in the shape of a cat.”

Or, “I wish for you to experience a feeling of newness, not recycled newness, true freedom from the idea of a lifecycle. You won’t think of flowers growing from dead animals. You won’t think of saplings sprouting from dead trees. You won’t feel guilty when you buy something swaddled in plastic. You will feel newness like bubbles on your skin, wet kisses on your cheek, dew on your knees.”

When your bottle is empty, leave the cork off and your witch is free!

Disclaimer: If a bottle of champagne containing a Wish Witch is drank with those you hold a grudge against, the witch will dry out and die. Refunds will not be issued, but the witch will keep for several years as a tchotchke if kept in a dry environment.

Nicole Hebdon's fiction has been published in The Kenyon Review, The New Haven Review, The New Ohio Review, and The Antigonish Review among other places. She is currently writing a horror novel and a collection of speculative stories. “Champagne Witch Wishes” won the A Fresh Start writing contest in 2023, hosted by Thirty West Publishing.