by J. A. Areces
Chapter 11
Thursday
Jesse woke up exhausted the next morning. He suffered another sleepless night and it was taking its toll. It didn’t help that he was also stressed with all the things he still needed to do. Halloween season was killing him. The first image that popped into his mind was the computer screen and all the orders yet to be filled. Jesse sighed.
He could see through the open window that it was another gorgeous, bright, sunny morning. The kind of morning everyone mentions all day long, but not for Jesse. All he felt was anxiety. He wanted nothing more than to stay in bed all day. Why go to work? Work -- the word alone seemed to give him a sour taste, if that’s possible. And why wouldn’t it be with everything else that’s going on.
Who knew what was waiting for him back at Alivan’s Witches and Wizards Corner Store besides his regular duties. It was all spinning out of his control. For all he knew, the wizard Beifar was back with more leads to Claw, or the three witches were brewing some fatal poison for him to drink so that they could keep the crystal ball. Jesse sighed again.
He forced himself to think of something else. With his arms spread out on the bed and the pillows over his head, he drifted from thought to thought not really focusing on anything, not concentrating on any idea. He was just there, breathing slowly, trying to clear his mind of any negative thoughts. Then, he slipped into magic. Jesse recalled how the wizard Beifar and the witch Ana were capable of magic. He skipped from memory to memory of the small feats of magic he witnessed in the last couple of days. It was truly amazing. Jesse breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with wonderful, fresh, morning air. That’s when he felt it. That’s when he felt his fingers without touching them. In fact, they were not touching anything. His hands were palm up, his fingers curled toward him. Jesse sat up. He could feel his fingers. He knew they were there without having to touch them because he could feel them. He didn’t need to look at them to be aware that he possessed them. They felt tingly, heavy, and alive, it was hard to explain -- to put into words, but he was sure of it. He could feel his fingers. He still kept his arms spread, palms up. He looked at his left hand, and then at his right. He could feel both hands at the same time. Jesse smiled.
