I pulled my arms through my jacket and buttoned it up all the way. I turned around and left my room, emerging into the living room where my father sat at the table scribbling in his notebook. As I walked past him, I waved goodbye, but he didn't look up. I pulled on my shoes at the front door and reached for the handle, but I stopped as I grabbed it.
"By Dad, I'm going to play with Alea!" I called. He didn't even look at me. I don't know what I expected, but I had at least hoped that he would at least acknowledge me. "Bye Dad, I'll be home later!"
Crickets
I frowned and pulled the door open, and stepped outside. It was early spring and the air was slowly warming up. The flowers were blooming and everything was defrosting, but that meant that everything was wet. This was a harsh realization as I stood ankle-deep in a puddle outside of my front door.
I shrugged it off and walked down the road. Velglow was a trader's town through and through. There was a constant flow of horse-drawn carriages transporting all sorts of goods, setting up shop hoping to sell their merchandise to people who come from all over Eshos. I watched a travelling bakery go by and I stared longingly at the cakes and pies as their delicious aromas swirled around my head.
I walked past my schoolhouse and stared through the empty windows, glad that it was the weekend and I could play to my heart's content. I reached Alea's house and knocked on the door. I heard a scurry of footsteps and a tall woman answered the door. Her green hair was so long and pretty that I couldn't help but stare at it.
"I like your hair today Mrs. Leowyn," I said looking up at her.
"Why thank you, I got it cut just yesterday," She said with a beaming smile. "I assume that you are here for Alea?". I nodded with a smile. "She's in her room, let me call her for you"
The door closed and I could hear Alea's mother's voice echo through the house. I turned around and looked at the blacksmith ahead of me. He was adding coals to his forge while setting out all his hammers and other tools. He began rubbing his hands together and stuck them out at the forge and from his palm burst a spurt of bright orange flames. The forge roared to life and I could feel the heat on my face from across the street.
I looked down at my hands and then back at the fire.
'Magic blooms in the souls of those who are meant to make a difference'. These were the words of my mother. According to my father, she used to say this to me as a baby because she knew that one day, magic would awaken in me. She was right, but my father doesn't know that. I have no reason not to tell him other than a gut feeling that I shouldn't tell him, so I have been waiting patiently.
I could hear the commotion in the house and I spun around just in time to see Alea throw open the door, tripping on her way out and falling face-first into the ground. Alea was always falling, wiping out, or dropping something, it was quite impressive to watch.
Alea got up and brushed herself off before jumping onto me and hugging me tightly.
"I missed you!" She said, pulling away.
"I missed you too," I replied.
As we walked down the path to her house, her mother's voice rang out. "Don't forget to close the gate behind you!"
"Ok, Mama!" Alea shouted back.
As we walked through the gate and into the street, Alea gave her hand a flick and a small gust of wind slammed the gate shut. Alea paid no attention to it, but I can't help but admire her for her magic; she stands out.
"Where do you want to go today?" I asked Alea.
"I was hoping we could see if the river melted. Maybe there's fish, I would very much like to hold a fish" She exclaimed.
"Why though?'
"Because they look like they feel weird and I want to try it.
I couldn't but smile at her bubbly personality. She skipped down the street, her bright green pigtails bouncing with every step, and she would say hello to every person we passed on the street. As we left the town and transitioned to the forest, the wind began to pick up and leaves whipped around just my head. I swatted the leaves away, but they kept flying into my face and only then did I notice that Alea was waving her arms.
I ran over to her and stood next to her. The leaves began slapping her in the face and we both laughed loudly. She dropped her arms and the leaves dropped too and we both regained our composure. Alea frequently used her wind magic to play pranks on me and unsuspecting people as we passed them on the street.
We continued down the path until we could hear the rushing water from the river. We ran over until the ground beneath our feet began to squish and the air was moist from the water. We found a little pool connected to the main river and jumped around in the water, kicking and splashing each other with the freezing water.
We kicked and splashed, throwing water and bits of seagrass at each other until we began to freeze. Alea crossed the line when she grabbed a handful of mud and pasted my back with it. I debated letting it go before I grabbed my own handful and turned her coat a deep brown colour. Not even a second passed and heaps of wet mud were sailing through the air, splatting on trees, splashing in the water and even hitting the back of the legs of someone walking by. We stopped and waited for him to turn around and get angry with us, but he never noticed.
I waited for Alea to turn around before I hit her with my ultimate move. When she wasn't looking, I used my magic and made a wave out of all the water in the pool and aimed it at her. When she turned back around, it was already too late. I pushed the wave as hard as I could and it took her right off her feet. She was pushed right out of the pool and disappeared into a pile of leaves. Even from where I was standing, I could hear her laughing hysterically, and I couldn't help but start laughing too.
She clawed her way out of the leaves and came running over to me, dead leaves stuck to every part of her body like paper mache.
"Sorian! That was the best thing you have ever done with your magic!" She said loudly. "Have you been practicing more?"
"I have been trying, but never something that big. I wasn't sure if it was gonna work at all"
"BUT IT DID!" She screamed.
"Woah, take it down a notch, it was just a wave," I said, rubbing the back of my head nervously. "I've been practicing in my own time, but only on glasses of water"
"Does your dad know yet?" She asked me. Her face was serious now and the tone of the whole conversation changed.
I turned away and stepped out of the pool. "No he doesn't know yet, and before you say anything, I plan on telling him soon"
She stepped out of the pool and spun me around. "I just don't understand why you haven't told him yet, he'd be happy to hear you have magic"
"You don't know him like I do" I pulled off my jacket and wrung out the water, pulling the excess out with my magic.
"Sori, you're almost 12, you've had it for 5 months already, how much longer are you planning on waiting?"
"I don't know Alea. It's my decision and I'm not ready to tell him yet, will you please just drop it!" I say, accidentally raising my voice.
Alea's face fell slightly, but she seemed to get the message. "Alrighty then, wanna go back to my house and warm up a bit inside?"
"Sure, let's do that"
We took the quickest route home because we were both starting to freeze.
We took the scenic route back through the forest, admiring the blooming flowers and the bubbling leaves on the barren trees. There was a cold nip in the air, and it would have been refreshing if I wasn't soaked down to the bone. With each step, I was convinced we wouldn't make it home.
We made it back to the city, but Alea and I lived in the Residential District which was on the opposite side of the city.
We walked past the children's park and we could hear a bunch of kids playing on the swing sets, going down the slide and making their way across the monkey bars. Their laughter was contagious and even though I was about to freeze solid, I couldn't help but want to join them.
"Sup bitch" said a high-pitched voice.
I turned around and a girl was walking toward us with her pair of loyal grunts. Both Alea and I rolled our eyes and prepared for some good ole' verbal assault.
"I'm talking to you guys" The girl said. "Where are you guys off to in such a big hurry, going somewhere?"
"What do you want, Lewl? Can you please just let us walk home in peace" Alea says with an exhausted look.
"How was your guy's date? Have you kissed yet?" She teased, looking to her two companions who laughed with her.
"Do you actually find that funny? Cause if you do, your sense of humour is embarrassing" Alea says, crossing her arms and turning up her nose to the bully.
"I'm way funnier than you are and if you don't realize that yet, then you're fooling yourself. Everyone knows I'm funnier than you, that's why I get all the boys and you don't" Lewl said, turning and walking away. "Stupid Onfu"
My eyes widened as I realized what Lewl just said. Alea barred her teeth and rolled up her sleeves, marching to Lewl. Part of me thought that I should try and stop her, but it was so funny to see a pissed-off Alea. Her green hair started whipping around her head and her pointed ears bounced as she stomped.
"Turn around you ugly cow!" Alea said, grabbing Lewl's left shoulder and spun her around.
Using her wind-wielding, she accelerated the speed of her fist and punched Lewl so hard that even Lewl's buddies got knocked over from the shockwave. Lewl was on the ground, looking blankly into the sky, blood streaming out of her nose and flowing down her face.
"Call me a slur one more time, and I will turn you and the limp noodles that you call friends into a paste, mark my words'' Alea spat a fat lump of phlegm right onto Lewl's face. Alea stormed off, grabbing me by the cuff of my sleeve and dragging me away.
She dragged me by my arm across the whole city, pushing people out of the way to get home without disruption.
Her mother greeted us at the door and couldn't help but comment on the state of our clothes.
"Oh my!" She exclaimed. "Did you two play in a mud puddle? It looks like you guys actually swam in it"
"More or less, sorry mom…"
Alea's complete change in tone when talking to her mother makes me laugh. She had just been so angry that I wouldn't have been surprised if she punched a stranger, and now she's all sunshine and rainbows. She's so two-faced sometimes.
"Alea, why do you have leaves in your hair?" Mrs.Leowynn asks with a dissatisfied look on her face. "It looks like your hair is also practically frozen"
"Yeah, what about it?" Alea replies casually.
Alea's mom looked very displeased at Alea but then turned to face me with a huge smile. "Sorian, look how muddy you are''
"Yeah I know I did it to myself so I can't be all that annoyed about it. It is what it is I guess, haha..." I say.
"Will you be able to get the mud out, I don't want it to stain" Mrs. Leowynn says.
"Oh I can do that easily at home," I tell her.
"With your water-wielding?"
My eyes widen. I shot a sharp look at Alea who was intentionally avoiding my gaze, probably because she realized she just got exposed.
"Yes, with my water-wielding…"
"I get the impression I am not supposed to know that you are a water wielder, was Alea not supposed to tell me?" She asked.
"No it's ok, I don't mind you knowing, I just don't want my dad to know just yet is all," I tell her.
"Might I ask why? Magic seems like a very important thing that you should tell your father"
"I just have this bad feeling about telling him, it's really dumb, but I'm just not ready yet," I say. I take a look up at the sky and notice the time. "Well, it was fun playing with you Alea. I hope we can play again soon!"
"Bye Sori, see you soon!"
I walked home at a brisk pace, making it back to my house in a minute. Before I entered, I turned and looked back at Alea. Her mom had her hand on her back and walked her home, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. I didn't have a mother to walk with or do anything with. I hope Alea is appreciative of what she has.
I pushed the door open and my father was still seated at the table, but he was accompanied by a bottle of amber liquid. He sat over his notebook, pondering over whatever was written inside. He took a long swig and turned to face me, apparently no longer oblivious to my presence.
"Where the hell were ya?" He slurred his words and his face was pink. "What did I tell you about leaving the house without telling me!?"
"I'm sorry father, I thought I told you on the way out" I lied. I knew for a fact that I told him, but it was often easier to lie and ask for forgiveness than stand up to him. "I'm very sorry"
He stood up and walked over to me. He raised his fist and I braced myself for impact, but he simply put his hand on the top of my head. "I don't want you getting hurt, make sure that you tell me next time. There'll be consequences if you don't!"
The liquid that he was drinking always made him a little nicer to me, which I found odd. He had less of a filter when he drank, and his random kindness while drunk made me think his neglect was simply a facade, but he was always the same the day after.
He walked back to the table and seated himself back down. I walked over to the table and tried to get a look at whatever was in the notebook, but he quickly covered it. He told me something about 'minding my own business for once and shooed me away. I walked into my room and closed the door behind me.
I took off my jacket and walked over to the bucket of water in the corner of my room, placing the jacket on the ground. I raised my hand and a tongue of water rose from the bucket. I looked at the door, checking to make sure my father wasn't sneakily watching, but it was empty. I began scrubbing out the mud with a separate cloth, aggressively scraping the fabric of the coat until it was back to its navy blue colour, free of any brown splotches. I concentrated on the coat and extracted all the water from the fabric, carefully placing it back in the bucket.
I folded up the jacket and placed it back into the top drawer of my dresser. I walked back over to the bucket of water and sat down next to it. I pulled some water out of the bucket and held it in a ball in front of my face, pushing and pulling it, changing the shape into a cube, then into a star, then back to a ball.
I clenched my fist and the ball of water condensed down into a ball of solid ice. I let the ice fall into my open palm and held it there for a few minutes. Not a single drop of water formed, the ball was still totally frozen.
'I wonder what would happen if you put this into a drink' I thought to myself.
I didn't even notice the sound of the door opening, let alone my father standing right in front of me.
I nearly jumped at the sound of his voice. "Where did you get that?"
"I um- I…"
I tried my hardest to come up with an excuse on the spot, but there was no way I could have just gotten a ball of unmelting ice from nowhere. My brain seemed to lag, and I couldn't even form a sentence.
"Answer the question". His voice was stern, and his eyes were serious.
I couldn't even answer, and I felt like I could puke any second.
"You made it, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?"
"Yes sir…"
"How long have you known you have magic, and I want to know the truth,"
"I uh- I've had it for a few months now" My voice was shaking. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Please don't be mad at me"
The next thing that he said nearly killed me. "Are you kidding, this is a great blessing, I'm so proud of you!"
"I promise I'll- wait what?" I was so stunned. "You're not mad?"
"Of course not, this is a really good thing. This means that you can help me with my work"
This whole situation was very bizarre and scary. I had been worried for the last couple of months that if my father ever found out about my magic, he'd hit me again. But he's actually happy about it, he wants me to help him with his work, whatever it is that he does.
"Does this mean you love me?"
"Of course I love you, you and your magic are precious to me" He responds.
His voice is steady and filled with excitement, and he fools me into thinking that he actually cared about me all this time. How very wrong I was.