Wait, you're a witch too??

Gwyndolin Wed 28 Apr 2010, 12:28 am

Ok... Maybe this is cheating, but you've all read the first chapter in my book. This is an excerpt from my second chapter. You should have enough information to understand what you read here, but I thought it was a funny match. The second chapter doesn't start here, but this is a scene that I thought was a cute match for this challenge..My whole book is about witches. I couldn't resist. I would have used the excerpt from my first chapter where she discovers her magic if I hadn't already posted it here. Anyway, here we have it.

Rose felt her stomach sink when she noticed each setting included three separate forks, two spoons, two knives, two plates, a bowl, a crystal goblet, and a water glass.

Ugh! She thought to herself, The first lesson already.

After a complicated set of instructions, the girls proceeded to the fancy dining room table. It was covered with a lacy table cloth, and a huge, flowery centerpiece.

Just as Rose had pictured it would be. At least she had been allowed to stay in her jeans.

Gloomily, the girls put everything in the proper place. Their grandma brought in a salad, tapped a specific fork, and they were ready to begin.

“So,” said Grandma, in a quite matter-of-fact tone, “I imagine you've both had an eventful week?”

Rose almost choked. That's putting it lightly! she thought to herself.

She answered, “Yeah, I did. My friend, Amber had to go to the hospital yesterday. She hit her head while we were swimming.”

“I understand you were there alone with her until the ambulance came?”

Rose felt like Grandma's eyes were boring right into her mind!

“Yes, I was. It took them so long to get there!”

She squirmed a little in her seat.

“So, is she okay?” Grandma persisted.

“Yeah, she is, but she had to stay overnight at the hospital. She lost a lot of blood, and had a concussion. They wanted to give her an I.V., and keep an eye on her. They said she would be fine, though.” Rose was trying to steer Grandma away from what had happened at the water hole. “She got to go home this morning.”

“She wouldn't have been okay if it weren't for you, though. Right?” Grandma asked. Her expression still hadn't changed.

Rose felt her stomach clench, and it seemed like her heart was in her throat. Her mouth went completely dry.
How could Grandma know? It just wasn't possible!

“Well, the lady at 9-1-1 said to hold my hands on her where she was bleeding. I guess it worked, because she's okay, you know?” She started popping her knuckles. “The doctor said I did a good job.”

“Stop popping your knuckles. When you put your hands on her wound, what happened, Rose?”

Rose coughed, surprised.

“What do you mean?” she asked, holding her hands tightly together to control her nervous habits.

Trying to calm her nerves, she took a long drink of water.

“You discovered your healing magic, and stopped the bleeding, didn't you?” Grandma hadn't even missed a beat. She took a bite, and watched Rose patiently, chewing her food carefully.

Water almost came shooting right out of Rose's nose.

“I.... uh...” She didn't know what to say.

Grandma said “It's okay, honey. We all have a gift of some kind among us, isn't that right Megan?” and then she turned that iron gaze on Megan.

Rose had almost forgotten there was someone else there! They were both looking at Megan now. Her face had become quite pale and her gray eyes were as big as dinner plates. She looked like she might get up and run off any second.

Megan looked at Grandma, back at Rose, then croaked “Um...” which made Rose snort. Megan and Grandma both started laughing simultaneously. Soon, they were all hooting and laughing so hard they had tears streaming down their faces.

When they settled back down, everyone was much less tense, and both girls were ready – even anxious – to talk about their gifts.

Grandma explained, “Our gifts have been passed down from generation to generation for the entire history of our family line.”

“Do you have a gift?” Rose asked.

“Yes. I'm an Empath.” Grandma answered, simply.

“What does that mean?” Megan asked.

“I can read people's emotions.” Grandma said. “Some of us can heal, some can manipulate earth, water, wind or fire. There is as much variety as there are people with these gifts. I'm an old lady and I still sometimes get surprised by the gifts people have.”

“Why didn't we know about this before?” Megan asked.

“We don't know why, but it always shows up at about the age of twelve. It must have something to do with physical maturity. We never tell the little children, because it's too hard for them to keep it secret.”

“It's funny, this whole traditional stay with Grandma is when we're twelve,” said Rose, then realization struck her. “Wait! Is that why we're here?”

Grandma nodded her head, smiling. “Yes. That's why you're here.”

“So do we still have to take cooking lessons?” Megan asked.

Laughing, Grandma said “No cooking lessons.”

“No etiquette classes?” Rose asked, feeling giddy.

“No etiquette classes.” Grandma confirmed.

Rose felt like she could get up and dance a little jig.

Looking at the table, she asked, “Then why do I have 3 forks here?”

Megan burst into laughter.

Grandma suppressed a smile, trying to look serious.

“Did I miss something?” Rose asked, confused.

“No,” Grandma laughed, “I thought it would be funny.”

Megan laughed even harder. She was completely red in the face, and tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“Are you okay?” Rose asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Megan said, gasping. “I guess it's just been a stressful day. It's nice to get some of that weight off my shoulders.”

Once Megan settled down, Grandma elaborated.

“This gift is evident, to some degree, in all your female cousins, aunts, and so on. It's primarily carried on in women. Every once in a while, a boy might discover a gift, but it's uncommon.

“A skill can be learned, with lots of hard work and practice, if it's in your bloodline somewhere. Rose, your dad learned how to heal after he had married your mom, but his ability is nowhere near as powerful as yours. He must have had some ancestor with a gift who passed it on. His family doesn't know.”

Shocked by this news, Rose asked, “Both of my parents have a gift? What can my Mom do?”

“She can manipulate water.”

Rose contemplated that for a moment.

“I can't believe they never told me,” Rose said, feeling stung.

“Remember, Rose, we never tell the little children. That's why you're here this summer. It's tradition. I'll teach you to harness and control your gifts, and I'll introduce you to a group of families we sort of stick with. We call ourselves Mirabelle.”

“Like a club?” Megan asked, smirking a little.

Grandma tilted her head thoughtfully.

“Mirabelle is made up of families like ours,” she explained. “For many generations we've stuck together. These women have always been my best friends – since I was your age. Working together provides us with the protection of numbers. There's something more to it than just that, though,” Grandma said reflectively. “Mirabelle gives us somewhere that we don't have to hide what we are.”

“Are they weird?” asked Megan. “Will we meet in a secret place?”

“No,” said Grandma, “We'll be having a pot luck picnic at the park next Thursday. You already know a lot of people who will be there. The difference is now you know their secret, and they know yours.”

Rose asked, “Will we have to wear special clothes?”

“No,” Grandma said, laughing. “This isn't Harry Potter.”

The girls started giggling again.

They enjoyed the rest of their meal with the pressure of the etiquette classes gone, but all new pressures began to form. Rose was glad her secret was out, and there would be people she could share it with - especially someone her age. She sensed this was the beginning of a whole new friendship with Megan. They now had a bond that would keep them in each other's hearts forever, no matter what their differences were.

The three of them talked and talked around the dinner table for hours. Before they knew it, it was midnight. Reluctantly, they cleared the table and went to bed.

As the girls lay in their room, trying to sleep, Megan rolled over and whispered, “Rose, are you awake?”

“Yeah, I can't sleep.”

“What do you think it will be like to go home at the end of the month?”

“I don't know,” Rose replied, no longer concerned with being quiet. “But I am so afraid that Amber will remember something. She thought she'd been having a dream when I healed her, but she remembered my hands on her head.”

After a brief silence, Rose said “Megan?”

“Yes?”

“How did you realize you had a gift? I never got to hear your story.”

Megan paused, then answered solemnly, “My favorite tree has a spot in it about three stories high, where it's like the tree actually grew a seat for me. It's perfectly molded to fit me. I go up there all the time to be alone and read. Sometimes, I stay up there all day.

“Three days before we came out here, I was climbing up to my spot with a book tucked under my arm. I was almost all the way to the top when my foot slipped and I started falling. It was really scary! I thought I was going to die. Then, out of nowhere, I saw tree branches moving under me. They broke my fall...”

Gathering courage to go on, she repeated, “I really thought I was going to die...” another pause, and she said thoughtfully, “then at dinner, Grandma got you talking about healing Amber. I hadn't really understood it all until that moment.”

“Really?!” Rose exclaimed, propping herself up on one elbow to get a better look at Megan's face. “You didn’t know you made it happen?”

“Really,” Megan replied. “That's why I was so shocked!”

Rose laughed. “You looked like you were going to get up and run away.”

“At least we can laugh about it, still.” said Megan, becoming much more serious. Her face tightened, and her lips pursed.

Rose thought of the dangers. They could never tell anyone. What if they were found? It made her stomach twist into a knot, and she felt like her throat closed up.

“Megan, I'm scared!” Rose whispered fiercely, her eyes stinging with tears.

“I know,” said Megan, “Nothing will ever be the same, now. We’ll always have to look over our shoulders.”

“I'm glad we have each other, though.” Rose said. She knew Megan would be able to sense her sincerity, and she was glad. “I think it’s really important, no matter what, that we never give up. I know we can use this to do good things with our lives.”

“Definitely.” Megan agreed.

“Let’s make a pact. We’ll always work together, and do good.”

“Agreed!” Megan promised.

“We’ll keep each other in check forever.”

“Agreed!”