It's Not Magic

Five

Beside me, Cam was laughing at the tree branch I'd just snapped. And I laughed too, mostly because he was laughing, but partly because I hadn't even moved. We laughed even harder when the branch hit the ground, narrowly missing the squirrel that was regarding our odd behavior.

"Move something else," he said through laughter, holding his stomach.

"Okay," I replied, looking around. What else was there to move? I looked beside me at a still-laughing Cam, who appeared to be about thirteen. Smirking, I focused on him, on making him float above the ground. I laughed as his body jerked upward slightly, pulling him an inch or so off of the ground.

Surprised, Cam stopped laughing and let out a short yelp, his arms flailing momentarily as he was trying to figure out what was going on. "Lili!" He half-shouted. "What's going on?"

I laughed, falling on my back. "You said make something move, so I made something move," I replied between laughs, barely able to contain myself.

"I didn't mean me!" He replied, still surprised he was floating. "Put me down!" He yelled, trying to flip himself over to grab at the ground.

I laid on my back, laughing as I clutched my stomach, losing my focus for a moment. Cam fell to the ground with a quiet thud. "Oomph," he muttered as his stomach hit the ground, his breath knocked out of him. "You didn't have to put me down that hard," he muttered, but I could tell he had enjoyed it.

I sat up, still laughing, and smiled at him. "The people you're closest to tend to let you down the hardest, Cam."

He shook his head, a soft smile on his face. "Don't get all philosophical on me, Lil."

I smiled even bigger. "It's just another puzzle piece for you to put in place."

He let out a small laugh. "I don't think I'll ever solve the puzzle you created, Lili."

All of a sudden, his demeanor changed as he looked around us, towards the sky, in the surrounding trees, even at the ground. Then, his gaze shot to me, and his expression was serious. "You have to wake up," he said, the sound of his voice changing slightly. "Wake up!" He shouted.

"Cam?" I asked him, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Lili, wake up," he responded, sounding urgent as his voice changed even more.

"Cam, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm wide awake, this is my reality."

He shook his head, becoming less serious and more sincere. "Lili," he said, sounding more like himself again. "You can't stay here any longer. There's a different reality that you belong to."

"Cam!" I shouted as he started to fade. As everything around me started getting blurry and mushed. "Cam! Don't leave me! Cameron!"

"Cam!" I yelled as I sat up, my eyes popping wide open. "Please—" I stopped myself once I realized where I was. I was no longer with Cam, but in an old-looking room, where there was just the couch-bed thing I was laying on, and a couple chairs in the corner, one of which seemed to have been hastily put back there. I stopped when I saw that a woman I didn't recognize was standing by the door, staring at me.

"Cam?" She asked, a look of concern on her face. Her voice sounded strangely familiar. "There's no Cam here, Lilia."

I froze when she said my name. She must've noticed, because she smiled softly and took a step towards the couch-bed thing I was laying on. "H-how do you know my name?" I asked, my voice quiet.