The White Witch || Paul Lahote

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"I don't see how this is very peaceful." Penny spoke breaking the once quite atmosphere. She was currently in the forest with her grandmother. She was suppose to be concentrating on connecting with the forest, but it was hard since her grandmother was breathing very hard beside her.

"Shush!" Nonna whispers aggressively towards her granddaughter. Nonna was connecting with the forest until Penny had interrupted her concentration. "You must concentrate my child. Feel the dirt beneath your legs and the wind dancing among the tree tops."

"All I can feel is a rock digging into my right butt cheek." Lifting up her leg she reaches down to pull the rather medium size rock out from underneath her. She tosses the rock a few feet in front of her before going back to concentrate.

"Shh!"

Rolling her eyes she closes them shut. Her shoulders falter from their sudden tense statue and relax more. Her breaths become shallow from the amount of breathing she had started to control. Penny tried hard to connect with the forest but it was obvious the forest did not want to connect back.

Her mind race with the possibilities of getting eaten by the pack of wolves that run the forests. Nonna had tried to calm her nervousness since the wolves would leave them alone but Penny didn't actually believe her.

Letting her thoughts run wild she loses concentration when an image of Paul's face pops up into her head. Snapping her eyes open she can see a wolf standing in front of her and her grandmother.

"Nonna." Penny whispers quietly not wanting to startle the wolf. "We have a visitor."

Nonna opens her own eyes to see the wolf. She knew exactly who it was at that moment, it was Embry. Nonna stands up while helping Penny knowing the other members of the pack would be on their way to them.

"Don't mind him, he won't hurt us. Come Penny I think it's time for us to leave." Nonna looks pointedly at Embry before walking past him. Penny soon slowly follows her grandmother.

You can't keep her away forever.

Taking another look back at the wolf Penny watches him stare intently at her. Her mind races with thought that this wolf could be Embry. Shaking her head at her ridiculous thought she heads off with Nonna towards home.

Nonna curses inside her mind about the wolf pack. She did not understand why they keep bugging Penny when the girl needs to concentrate. The pack was stalling the girl's powers to become fully strong all because they had a little crush. It was foolish of them but yet they did not care.

"You will be home school from now on. There will be no socializing among other people besides myself and you will now live with me." Nonna stops on her back porch watching the forest behind Penny trying to see if any of the wolves had follow.

Penny stops abundantly not realizing she would be taken out of school for good. Her eyes widen in shock that she was that dangerous to others around her. She had only thought that she would lose her friends, but still be able to go to school. Yet she was losing all social to anybody around her making her be isolated in the house that was surrounded by the forest. No other houses insight.

"Nonna will I ever be able to see my friends once again?" Her voice breaks at the question not wanting to believe she will be alone forever.

"My dear only time can tell." Nonna softly says while bringing Penny into a hug. Her arms had snake around her granddaughter's waist while she held her.

"This is not fair. I don't want to die alone. I don't want to be a monster. I want to be normal." Her voice had rose an octave or two higher. Eyes were seen to be glossing over as she fears to never feel love ever again. She fears that she will never have a lover and will die alone.

"You are not a monster. You are something absolutely beautiful in this crazy messed up world. The way your powers had been activated before your sixteenth was beyond marvelous. You will be one of the greatest white witches of your generation." Nonna tightly holds Penny's shoulders out in front of her. Nonna was smiling brightly at her granddaughter trying to get her to see things from her perspective.

"If I'm so marvelous then why do I feel like a monster?"

"You have not learned to control yet my dear." Nonna says while she leads the child inside the house. "Come it's getting awfully dark out."

---

"Concentrate!"

Nonna throws a pencil at Penny's head harshly. The young girl was not focusing hard enough on trying to bring the dead plant back to life. Penny had her finger touching the stem of the plant while she tries to focus on the root, yet again she had fail.

The pencil had thump against the girl's head breaking her concentration. Her eyes had narrow on her grandmother not understanding why she was making a fuss. It was only her first day testing out her new powers and Nonna was freaking out.

"Hard to concentrate when you're always yelling at me." Penny huffs in annoyance at the elderly standing before her.

"I wouldn't be yelling at you if you just concentrate more." Nonna throws another pencil at the back of her head once again. "Again."

Rolling her eyes she lets her fingers rest upon the lower part of the stem. She focuses on trying to fight the heart of the plant as she tries to revive it. A tingly feeling that made her fingertips feel numb was felt. Mind fully blank she could see a small bright yellow light slowly growing in size.

While Penny was focusing on the small yellow light her grandmother was watching closely. Her eyes had widen in astonishment when she saw the once dead plant rising up to a healthy green. The purple Tulip had fully bloom as it's brown dead leaves turn light healthy green.

Opening her eyes Penny had finally let the light grow bigger making her mind be develop in the shining light. Looking at the blooming Tulip Penny held a wide toothy smile across her face. She had thrown her hands up in excitement while bouncing up and down in place.

"I-I did it," Penny breathlessly says, "I did it!"