A Touch of Magic

Chapter 26: Exhale

Robbie sat legs up on the sofa watching football. "No Ed?"

"Nope." I sat on his feet, eyes on the screen. "What did Doc Frost say?"

He shrugged. "My stigmatism's moved. Nothing to write home about, but enough to make my glasses out of focus." He carried on watching the TV. "I've ordered new ones."

"But that's great," I said bouncing on his foot.

"Minta! Sit still. Yeah. It's not bad, I suppose."

"Robs, you're not going blind yet, cheer up!"

He shrugged again. "I'm never going to play for England am I?"

"And? There are hundreds of things you can do. You're smart and funny, well randomly humorous at times."

"Stop being nice, it's frightening." He looked away from the screen for a split second. "But thanks."

I sat there for a moment, unsure of what to say next. Then I realised, I'd said enough. With a squeeze of his foot, I left him to watch the game.

I cleaned the house as I walked through each room. Now, a flick of a wrist or a tap of a finger did the job. Upstairs, I designed a bind-rune for Robbie with the purpose of reinforcing his own strength and self-assurance. Once consecrated and blessed, I hid it behind an England squad poster in his room and then clicked my fingers. If his glasses were out of focus, he'd never notice I'd tided. And the smell was now gloriously fresh.

I stood and looked around my own room. It'd changed so much in the last month. Little bits of magic littered the floors, walls and air. Secret bind-runes and gemstones poked out between mundane objects like pencil cases and dirty cups. Incense, left over from spells, hung in the atmosphere. I loved it now. It was so...me.

I shivered.

A warning. The shiver was a warning.

"It can't be this way."

It took seconds to move everything associated with magic into my school bag. As an after thought, I even cleared the cache on the computer. Not even a light dusting of the supernatural remained.

I sat on the bed for a moment surveying the tidy box-room. "Back to normal, but empty." I'd changed, really changed inside and out. Even removing magic from my life would not alter things now.

*

Mum, with her supersonic hearing, caught me as I stuffed on my second winter boot, my coat already on. The porch was cold.

I stood up, sweeping upturned hair back into place. "I'm off to study at Zara's." 'After emptying my bag at Jasmine Cottage', I didn't add.

Mum nodded. "Thank you for clearing up. I don't know how you did it; you should be studying. But I really appreciate it."

"It's fine mum. I might not enjoy it, but mundane chores help me order my thoughts and then clear my mind." It was meant as a joke, though it was definitely true.

Mum's face froze in smile and I absorbed her emanating horror. "Go," she murmured.

Sick with fear, I reached forward and tried to grab her hand. What had I said? Done? "Mum I-,"

"Now." It was final.

She knew. Pieces of a jigsaw Mum had been playing with had fallen into place. My words were Gam's. She'd heard the words a thousand times before. So had I. It wasn't coincidence I'd cleared my room; it had been a premonition.

"I'm sorry Mum." I turned and fled, the bitter wind biting my un-scarfed cheeks, but I couldn't say a spell to help, my head full of horror - because I knew Mum knew, and that she'd always known about Great Aunt Minty; and ecstasy - because I was like Gam and I felt my eyes sparkle at the thought.

I felt alive.

*************

   Advice is always welcome. Thank you. 

This chapter is dedicated to my brother (who will never read this!) but who has 'Robbie's eyes'. That bit's a true story. My nephew was also born with the same eye condition and a failed operation has left him blind in one eyes well as being partially in the other. I wish I could wave a magic wand and fix it, but have to stand by my own words and know that he will be great in what ever he grows up to be....