Simple Magic

Late for Testing

It was a very rainy Saturday.

"What in the world are we going to do!" Cried Reese, his hair soaked wet from the unrelenting downpour outside. "Assessments start in five minutes and I haven't even brought more than one healing potion with me! If they ask us to make a spell with items we have on hand, I'll be totally doomed."

I try to ignore his persistent whining as I finish the last of my notes. Despite all odds, I've managed to keep them dry from the rain by shoving them down my raincoat on the way to the assessment building's main lobby. Memorization is always important, especially for the biggest assessment of my life. Here in Merl City, we have a very special test where you either pass on the first try, or fail and never be able to take the test again. One chance. No redos.

"Everyone spreads rumors about this assessment being soooo tough," Reese goes on again, starting to fidget with his hands. "But what if- maybe- it's, like, a myth? Maybe the new spellcasters are told to say that, to scare people from even trying? Divine arts are mutually exclusive practices anyway, you know." I just shake my head disapprovingly as he lists off more whacky ways for him to have a chance at passing.

"Everything will go according to plan," I say as soothingly as I can through gritted teeth. "Just cast a sun spell on your clothes to dry them off really fast, and let's head into the testing hall before we're late." I begin to head through the lobby of the building before I hear anymore complaints from Reese. Whatever he has to say can wait until after the test is completed. I have no doubt in my mind that we will both pass, we studied together after all... or at least I hope so. I had tried to read the future this morning in fact, to see if the assessments would go well, but that magic is not my specialty. All I could see through a glass of water was a blank, murky face at the bottom. Who's face, I have yet to find out.

Reese catches up with me just in time as I open the doors to our assigned testing room, a mix of nervous and excited adrenaline shooting up my spine. I can hear Reese's and my own heavy breathing as the weight of our situation finally dawns on us.

Carefully, tentatively, I open the door.

Humidity hits my cheeks as if I was standing over a sprinkler.

Of course a testing room for the magic arts would be enchanted... It makes me feel like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. Rainbow macaws fly overhead, chirping and jeering, and their calls pull me back into magic-ridden reality. The door I've opened is not an entrance to a simple classroom, but a portal to a faraway rainforest.