Milkweed: Short Stories for Wizards

Family Day

Family Day

The dormitories were busy and buzzing with the frantic panic of students cleaning their rooms, vigorously. Empty pizza boxes, expired potions and whatever other mess imaginable was tossed out in trash bags that lined the halls of their living quarters, ready to be picked up by the custodians. In the basement of the quarters, the laundry room was filled to the brim and every machine available seemed to be rumbling. In the common room, students worked together to clear the coffee tables, vacuum the cushions of the area sofas and sweep the wooden floors to rid them of crumbs from late night study sessions and snacking.

In their own room, Kyle did his best to polish the makeshift alter at his desk that had over the course of the term, collected major amounts of dust. It seemed like everyone was on edge. Everyone but Sigmund the Sorcerer. Sigmund notoriously kept his living space lavish and hardly spent much time in it. His clothing was either purchased brand new weekly or sent away for dry cleaning. Just this afternoon, he'd spent the early morning away to meet his manager and returned to the academy just in time to witness the distressed aura of his peers.

"Ugh!" He groaned, closing off his nostrils with his hand as he passed by the piles of garbage in the halls. "Just foul..."

He couldn't believe how dirty his peers had been keeping their rooms all term. Seeing the door to his own room opened, Sigmund poked his head inside and spotted Kyle actually making up his bed for once.

"Wow! It's a miracle!"

"Please don't patronize me today." Kyle sighed, fluffing his pillow. "And I mean it. I really can't be bothered today."

"I've never seen our room this clean though!" Sigmund teased. "Didn't think you knew how to clean!"

"Sigmund, PLEASE!"

Sigmund actually jumped towards Kyle's tone. It sounded incredibly strained, and not in his typical tone of strain. Something was wrong.

"Are you alright?" The sorcerer asked.

Kyle sighed deeply, pausing in his rush for a moment to run his fingers through is hair. Facing Sigmund, Kyle shook his head.

"No. I'm not okay..." He finally admitted, leaning back against his bed. "I'm dreading this entire day."

"Why? It's Family Day! It's gonna be great!"

"No, not for me."

Sinking to the wooden floor below, Kyle pulled his knees to his chest. Sigmund sat on the floor across from him, on top the Persian rug he'd set beside his own bed.

"Want to talk about it?" Sigmund asked.

Kyle buried his head in his arms and didn't respond straight away. Sigmund frowned and spoke up again.

"I can't say I'm too thrilled to have my own parents come here either. I'm trying to be optimistic, but it's been tough."

"Why?" Kyle questioned. "What do you have to worry about?"

"My parents don't act the same as they used to." Sigmund spoke. "Ever since the fame and the touring, they're more consumed in being rich than being a family."

"Really?"

"Ja. My father actually told me we come from a long line of really powerful sorcerers. We've always been top in our class."

Sigmund conjured an old Milkweed yearbook, catching Kyle's attention. Flipping through the pages, Sigmund held up the book and pointed out a black and white photo.

"That's my great grandfather. He was top of his class the entire time he spent at the academy. Wizard of the Year, every year. I never knew about him till recently. In fact, I never knew about my lineage at all till recently.."