Fairy Tale: Winter's Bite

Chapter 23: Unraveled (Part 1)

Chris wasn't one to make a big deal out of his birthday. He didn't want anything special, didn't expect anything, but it was his thirtieth birthday. At the very least, he hoped someone would remember.

But the day had turned into evening, and the evening was nearly over. He hadn't even seen his father or brother all day.

When Chris returned to the hut, he had to duck out of the way of a floating book. Then he had to wait for a bowl with a wooden spoon to pass by. It wasn't exactly "Welcome home, happy birthday!"

Chris understood why his father had selected Joe to be the magician, yet it was still irksome. While Chris was training with the army, sweating in the heat of the Hawaiian sun until he couldn't see straight, Joe was likely in cool shady spots moving little twigs and flowers with his mind.

From a tactical standpoint, it seemed to him that he and Joe should be trained in both areas. If Chris knew how to use magic, wouldn't that give him a greater advantage over his enemies in battle? And Joe learning how to use a sword couldn't hurt, either.

So Chris hung his weapons and armor on the rack, determined to ask his father for his first lesson in moving things with his mind.

When Chris spoke up, Scott gave him an I'll-humor-you pat on the back and put him in the corner of the room with MAGICAL MECHANICS. Then Scott left the hut for a moment and returned with a green leaf about the size of a sheet of paper.

Chris set the leaf on the floor, knelt behind it, and read the first page of the first chapter, "Simple Lift." The initial read-through didn't go well. The wording was archaic and technical, and he got nothing out of it. He gave the page another attempt, and then another. When he thought he had the basic idea, he pointed all his mental energy at the leaf.

Nothing happened—no lift, no swirl, no rustle, not even a twitch!

It wasn't helping his confidence that Joe had all four chairs and the kitchen table floating in the air.

Heeding Scott's command, Joe flipped the chairs over and stacked them on top of the table. He performed the task flawlessly.

"Now the candles," Scott said.

Joe lifted the four lit candles into the air while he simultaneously lowered the chairs into their positions underneath the table. He set the candles down in a perfect square on top. He brought forth the plates, goblets, and silverware from the shelves and cupboards with amazing control. Next, Joe levitated a pitcher over to the table and poured water into each goblet without missing a drop. At last, he set the pitcher down between the candles. The table looked prepped for a romantic dinner by the ceiling.

Scott then came over to check on Chris's progress. His unhelpful suggestions made Chris want to shred the leaf into a thousand pieces and throw every fragment into the fire.

Scott sighed and shook his head. "Chris, you seem like you've had enough for one day. Why don't you call it a night?"

"Giving up on me already?"

Joe joined Scott's side. They both looked down at Chris and then exchanged condescending glances.

"No, I get it," Chris said as he rose to his feet. "He's brains. I'm brawn. So why don't I go play in the jungle with the other gorillas!"

He charged over to the front door.

"It's not like that!" his father called after him.

Chris slammed the door shut. He didn't want to hear any more lies.

It was like that. And it had always been like that.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cassie, reading one of Scott's reference books behind her curtain, heard the heated exchange and the door slam.

Wolu—walrus

Wōwō—to bellow, roar

Once she'd committed the last word of the Hawaiian-English dictionary to memory, she clapped the book shut and set it back on the bookshelf. Then she peeked around the curtain. Joe and Scott had resumed their lesson. They were lifting furniture, clearing out the cabinets, and making quite a racket.

It looked as if they would be working their magic for a while. Even if they soon stopped for the night, they still had to put the contents of the hut back in order.

Cassie had never been skillful in the realm of magic and could therefore sympathize with Chris. She decided to find him. He might appreciate some company on his birthday, and it seemed like the perfect time to catch him alone, an opportunity she had waited for all day.

She grabbed a lantern and a wrapped bundle and slipped out of the hut. Her best guess was that Chris had gone to the lagoon. Whenever he stepped out at night, he would usually return with damp clothes and his hair dripping wet.

Cassie knew the way there, or at least she thought she did. She had never wandered around alone at night, though. As she stepped beyond the light from the hut, she realized her intended journey was a much better idea in theory. The flora was tall, thick, convoluted, and menacing. The insects that had fascinated her during the day were now creepy, massive, and incredibly fast! When she spotted the back end of a centipede slither by, three words came to mind: venomous, nocturnal, carnivore. Her tentative steps switched to a sprint.

Soon, she saw the water and, better yet, she saw him. Four stones, each one successively larger, led to the tallest, widest, and most embedded, a miniature mountain with a sizable drop to the lagoon. At its steep edge, Chris was tossing pebbles into the waterfall.

For a few moments, she felt safe and comfortable just watching. From a mild distance, she could appreciate the simplicity of her admiration. Staying where she was, hiding, waiting for his notice, or considering a hasty retreat would be something a young girl would do. Thanks to her mother, she had matured early, as a means of survival. The phase between childhood and adulthood had never existed for her, so she was ready to move forward, take a chance, step out of the safe zone and into the unknown. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Charlene Soraia. Wherever You Will Go.

~

"...when I'm gone,

you need love,

to light the shadows on your face.

If a great wave shall fall,

it'll fall upon us all..."