Spells and Sorcery

Chapter Two

I ran out of the house as fast as my legs could carry me. I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't...

Magic?

Was real?

Not only was it real, but I had it. So did that make me a witch or a wizard or...?

Or nothing. Magic didn't exist.

But it did, because I'd seen with my own two eyes.

I slowed and looked behind me to see if Jeanie or Nicole were coming after me. I wanted them to rush out and say it was a giant joke and Marie was in on it and "Ha-ha. Happy birthday, idiot."

But as the fall night darkened around me, I heard no voices behind me. Nothing except the random car door slamming or the rumble of a truck passing on the highway nearby.

Perhaps I'd just imagined the whole thing. Maybe I'd had a stroke.

There was a small park in the distance, and I marched toward it, waiting to wake up from this strange dream. The lamplights snapped on, and I jumped nearly out of my skin, my heart thudding wildly. I stared at the orange glow for a moment, taking a few moments to convince myself that the streetlights were on a timer, and not turning on of their own volition.

They couldn't have been turned on by magic, could they?

Could they?

"I'm losing it," I whispered, covering my face with my hands.

I crossed the grassy park, headed for the swing set. I plopped down on the swing and leaned against the chain. After a moment, I began to swing back and forth, allowing my mind to go blank for just a moment. I took a deep breath in and out and stared at the empty suburban streets.

"Yer a wizard, Lexie..." I whispered to myself.

"Rough day?"

My head bobbled up at the sound. An older man stood on the sidewalk. He wore casual khaki pants and a polo shirt, and his salt-and-pepper hair was neatly trimmed. He stood under one of the street lamps, which gave him an almost angelic sort of glow.

"W-what?" I said, realizing he was still talking to me.

"I asked if you were all right," he said, stepping out of the spotlight and closer to the swing set. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Have you ever questioned everything you thought was real?" I asked, for lack of anything better to say.

"Once or twice," he responded with a charming smile. "Mind if I join you?"

I shrugged, and he sat down on the other swing beside me. I might have thought it strange, a middle-aged man on a swing set, but I didn't have a clear definition of weird anymore.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked.

"I doubt you would believe me," I said. "I don't believe me."

"That's a tough spot to be in. Let me guess: did they tell you about magic?"

I nearly fell out of the swing. "W-wait, you know? Does everybody know?"

He laughed, his few wrinkles deepening with smile lines. "No, of course not. Just those of us who have magic."

"A-and how did you know I have it?"

"We can tell," he said. "You'll get there, I'm sure. But I only assumed—teenage girl, looking the way you did, magical..."