A Touch of Magic

Chapter 5: Magical Me

I sat right back in the chair, my head swimming. It made sense and yet, I still didn't understand. Magic? Me? The enormity wasn't sinking in.

"It's a rarity these days. Those who have the gift do not always have the support. Dearest Minty was going to tell you, show you," Gladys shook her head, "however, she became too tired when she decided to die. Minty Fager quite simply ran out of time."

I raised my eyebrows sceptically. "Decided? I don't understand." An understatement.

Gladys head bobbed to and fro. "Hum. A subject best left until we have longer. For now, the most important thing for me to do is to help you appreciate your own abilities."

This was an out-of-body-experience. The conversation didn't really seem to be happening to me. I wasn't sure what I believed at this moment. An icy wave washed through me.

Gladys looked concerned then closed her eyes for a split second longer than needed. A fire sprang alive in the grate. The warmth around the room was instant. She continued. "You command the magic. Nonetheless, you are correct in some respects regarding the charm. Can I see it? Your aunt Minty told me she would charge a keepsake, so your magic found an easy channel to pass through."

My mind whirled again. "Charge... channel... what?"

Gladys extended and elegant arm forward. I scrabbled around my pocket and reluctantly passed over the disc. It seemed too personal an object to share with a virtual stranger. And weirdly, the charm didn't seem to want to go.

"How apt." Gladys's expression was all knowing once more. "Your Great Aunt Minty put an enchantment on this, so that if your instincts and choices guided you towards it, your inner magic would reveal itself. If you had chosen not to believe in the coincidences or trust feelings, the enchantment would have dried up and you would be none the wiser."

I fiddled with the ends of my hair and thought. "You're saying, my choices steered me here. I don't have to be magic? What if I decide I don't want this," I gestured towards the charm in her hand and searched for the right word, "...gift? I don't expect it comes without a huge amount of problems."

Gladys nodded soberly. "Undoubtedly. You will have to live life in fear of discovery. Though it becomes easier with age and experience, one is never quite at ease with the natural world. There is never anyone you can trust." She tilted her head sympathetically. "A friend now might be an enemy later and then you can imagine what could happen. Family is never the same when a relative reveals magical qualities. It's almost like one has joined an occult and gone over to the other-side. It's always the same, there is an inevitable distancing between humans and..." She paused again. Was she searching for the right word or protecting me from the whole truth?

I waited.

"...and those of us who possess supernatural gifts. Nevertheless, there are always choices. If you leave here now and do not look back, eventually you will be as you were and the problem will no longer be an issue." Gladys seemed impatient. She obviously didn't have much time for this cowardly attitude.

I sat silently, thinking. I could foresee problems. Zara's scientific logic and the way she'd refused to believe for a second anything other than positive thinking could have affected her life. Mum's Christian values and distaste for the sacrilegious... Then what about an eventual boyfriend? George's face flicked across my mind. Relationships only worked on trust and if you had to keep a large part of your life a secret, how could you ever really be loved? Though the initial excitement still simmered, I wasn't sure I wanted to choose.

"You are choosing, Araminta."

I jumped at the intrusion into my thoughts.

"Every day you become more receptive to magic. You already make decisions influenced by your magical ability. I know there is much to take in," she said more softly. Gladys gracefully stood up and walked over to the bookcase. She lifted one arm and paused as a book inched its way out of the shelf towards her outstretched fingers. With a satisfied nod, she read the spine.