"It's almost 2023, Zach! That still feels like some futuristic date. Maybe because I was born in the 1940's."
"We still have about a half hour - and don't be ridiculous Wanda, you're still as young and spry as a woman half your age," Zach replied.
Wanda giggled. "I think you're a little biased. Now get back to the party!"
Meanwhile in the kitchen, a much more serious get together was occurring.
A coffee bean rolled across the counter, stopping in front of a stainless steel pot. "I can't believe you got us caught, Clem! Now I'm a coffee bean instead of the heiress to a multi-billion dollar company. And you're a pot instead of a wizard!"
"A magical pot," Clem corrected her.
"Whatever! The only time you can work magic is at midnight on New Year's Eve. And then only with whatever is in you," grumbled the bean.
"So you'll simply be one of the ingredients put in me for the traditional toast, Stella."
"You idiot! People drink champagne, egg nog, or sparkling water to toast in the new year. None of those things go into a pot!" she raged, almost losing control and beginning to roll away.
"No... I overheard a woman saying that every year at midnight on New Year's Eve, she has either a strong black cup of coffee, or a cup of green tea. We just need her to choose coffee this year."
"Clem, I don't want to be a coffee bean for another year. But I don't want to be ground coffee either, for that matter. What can we do?!?!" Stella asked, with a tinge of panic.
"You can't do anything. I on the other hand most certainly can," a raspy voice said.
A few seconds later, a teabag dragged itself out of a corner. Its tag proudly proclaimed it to be green tea.
"And what can you do?" the coffee bean asked, in a tone that would have been most appropriate for having one's hands on their hips. Except coffee beans have neither hands nor hips...
"I can sit here, in the open. How much easier is it to throw a teabag in a pot, than to make coffee?" it asked with a sneer.
"Please, just wait until tomorrow. I really need to be used tonight," Stella the coffee bean pleaded.
The tea bag lunged forward. "No! A sorceress turned me into a tea bag last year, just because I tried to steal her diamond necklace. I've been stuck here ever since. And I heard what you two were talking about."
"Well Clem and I were trying to stop a wizard from releasing the flu all over the world at the same time, just for his amusement. If we don't get out of this mess, and you become a man, you'll catch it too," argued Stella.
"I can live with that," the bag replied.
"But some people will die. You don't want to be the cause of so much sadness and suffering in the new year, do you?" asked Clem, the somewhat magical pot.
"I don't care, as long as I get out of this mess," the evil teabag replied.
"Stella, ROLL!!!" whistled the pot.
The little bean did so, towards the back of the counter. Clem rattled and shook forward, knocking the slower teabag off of the edge.
As luck would have it, the man turned teabag landed square in the middle of a waste bin.
"Stella? I think I have an idea. Get in here, so you won't get ground up if she chooses coffee. And if she chooses tea, you'll still be in here at midnight," suggested Clem.
"That's the problem. How do I get in? I can't climb!"
"I'll tip over, and you roll in. Just be careful not to rattle around when I'm picked up, or you'll be discovered," the pot warned.
Clem began rocking from side to side, until he eventually crashed sideways onto the counter.
Stella rolled in with some difficulty, seconds before the kitchen door opened.
"Do you want coffee or tea?" a man called out.
"Coffee. But please hurry, or you'll be too late," a woman replied.
"There's time, I was watching the clock," the man said happily, as he picked up the pot.
Stella couldn't help but rattle, but he didn't notice, because he was rushing, not having planned on coffee.
"She chose tea last year," he thought worriedly, as he quickly ground up a batch of gourmet beans, and threw them in the pot.
"Uh oh," gasped Stella, as she floated above the coffee grounds. The water was becoming increasingly warm!
"One minute!" announced a female voice in the other room.
Sniffing the aroma, he poured off a cup of the rich but only warm liquid, being careful to keep the grounds in with a strainer, then set the pot back on the burner.
After he left, Clem and Stella endured the heat in silence.
"Five. Four. Three. Two. Happy New Year!" Exploded from the other room. Clem the wizard found himself sitting on a hot stove, with a young woman in his lap.
Both yelped and jumped. Clem ran for the sink, and sat in it before thinking to turn on the water.
Several curious people walked into the kitchen.
"Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?" asked Wanda.
"You wouldn't believe us if we told you, Ma'am," replied Stella.
"I'm calling the police," she informed the two strangers.
"Please, no. We mean you no harm. Let us leave, and you'll never see us again," promised Clem, still trying to put out the fire on his backside.
"Then get out. You've already ruined my party," she complained as she escorted the two relieved intruders out.
"If she only knew, she would have been nicer," reflected Stella.
"She wouldn't have believed a word of it. You didn't until you saw proof," the wizard reminded her.
Cover image made in Canva using their gallery