by Dani Corlee
Kim didn't look like a fool or a naive person. Nevertheless, Isidora needed to have the whole situation firmly under control.
Her hands folded, Isidora started: “Kim, please, listen carefully to me and don't interrupt me. I'll answer all your questions as soon as I finish.”
“Okay,” Kimberly replied. But she thought Run away, run while you still can! You aren't going to like what she will tell you!
“Your coming had been announced by a prophecy which was written many thousands of years ago.”
Kim’s eyes widened. Was she crazy?
“I cannot tell you much because I—we all—know little about it. The prophecy, as with every prophecy, is quite obscure and subject to interpretation. What had been written so long ago was that a queen was coming, announced by a comet. The comet passed near the earth a few days ago. And you, in the same period, turned into a witch. It seems that the same comet arrives every 50,000 years and together with it, a new Queen, a witch with extremely strong powers. Somebody who can really change the destiny of the world. These were the exact words of the prophecy. We suspect that the last comet and Queen gave life to civilization...the big leap from a semi-animal state to consciousness. We don't know what you will achieve, but we know it will be something extremely important, probably vital. It's a big burden to put on you; we are aware of it. We will do our best to lighten that burden for you.”
Kim stared at Isidora, motionless, with no expression. Then she sprang up and spat out, “No way. All this is pure madness. I'd better go and forget that I was ever here.” She dried her sweating hands on her light trousers and moved to leave.
Celeste moved, too, so as to stop her, but Isidora halted her with a raise of her hand. They didn't want to force Kim at all. It would probably have been easy to force her mentally to accept the situation, her powers still being in a weakened state. They could have even made her happy about it, but that was unethical, terribly wrong, and in the long run, it would have weakened Kim's ability to comply fully with the prophecy.
Isidora closed her eyes and tried to approach Lucille. This was an easy job for a trained witch, and, after having had Lucille's permission, she explained the event with a visualization and asked her to follow Kim. Lucille was the right person to calm her down. She had felt how well they got along, their auras vibrating in unison together. Soul sisters, they called this kind of relationship.
Lucille needed no further explanation to take immediate action. She saw in her mind that Kim was already near her car with Aurora, and after performing the illusion spell so that nobody in the car park would see her arriving, she teleported herself a few yards from Kim. She called and approached her, pretending she had run after her.
Kim turned just as she was opening her car's door. She looked tired and annoyed while Aurora waved at Lucille, smiling.
“I think I need to be left alone now.”
“You can’t, Kim. Let me come with you, please.”
Lucille's funny, chewing smile was irresistible and Kim couldn't help nodding, even though she wasn't entirely sure she was happy about the situation.
“How will you get back?” she asked, while entering the car as Lucille climbed in beside her.
“Don't worry about me. We can teleport,” she whispered.
“We? Do you mean you witches can teleport?” she replied, trying not to be heard by Aurora.
“Yes, I mean we witches. We, me and you as well.”
Kim gasped. Could it be real? Despite all her resistance, that would certainly put her life in a totally new light. Could she go and visit all the places she had dreamed of and never had the chance, let alone the money, to see? Could she really go to Rome and Venice, Paris and Barcelona, London, or Hong Kong? Could she see the Mona Lisa, the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, the Giza Pyramids, the Aizuwakamatsu Castle in Japan, Yangshuo in China with its hundreds of green peaks, the Taj Mahal mausoleum in India... what else? She couldn't stop thinking about all the beautiful places around the world she had always wanted to visit.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Lucille giggled.
Kim gave a look in the rear-view mirror to check the back seat. Aurora was talking to Mrs. Daisy and wasn't paying attention to them. She shook her head and gave a shy smile. “No, I was thinking about teleportation. How does it work?”
“Just like every other magic. A strong will and concentration, and voilà.”
“Is it really so simple?”
“It is, but you need to be trained. Some spells are more difficult than others. But don't worry about it, we have a school for it.”
“A school for magic? That's...weird. I feel like I'm in one of those animated movies Aurora likes so much!”
CHAPTER 15
At home, Aurora rushed into her room because she had lots of things to do.
“Don't mess up everything as usual,” Kim shouted after her.
“I won't,” came her unenthusiastic answer.
Kim and Lucille went to the sitting room. “Would you like something to drink?” Kim asked.
“What about an iced lemon tea?” Lucille answered, and two glasses of the cold drink appeared in her hands.
“I'd better get used to it, hadn't I?”
“It's up to you, but even if you decide you don't want to meet us or hear from us anymore, you are part of us. You cannot do anything about it, apart from accepting it and learning how to control your powers.”
Kim took the glass Lucille offered her and gestured for her to take a seat. Wearily, she plopped down on the couch, Lucille sitting across from her.
“Ooh!” Lucille let a groan slip out. The couch was hard, the cushion flat.
“I know!” Kim exclaimed. “That's one of the many things friends gave me or I found online. I should have bought better stuff, but I couldn't afford a total remodel, so...”
She shrugged, looking at Lucille, who winked.
“Uh?” She frowned. “Oh!” she exclaimed soon after, widening her eyes, suddenly aware of what Lucille meant.
“You mean that...?”
Lucille nodded, smiling, chewing her gum more quickly than usual in anticipation.
“Wait,” Kim said, leaping up and rushing out of the room. She came back soon after, bringing an interior design magazine.
She flushed while showing a page to Lucille. “I've been looking at this picture so much that I have worn it out. That's the house of my dreams!”
Lucille looked at the image of an open-spaced room, which included the kitchen, the sitting room and the dining room. The furniture was modern and stylish and she nodded, approving the choice.
“It's classy, and the overall color will complement the house,” she exclaimed.
“Okay, so...what's my next move? How should I go about accomplishing it?”
“Sit down and relax. Look at the picture and then study your rooms. Try to visualize them as they are in the picture, with all the necessary changes, of course. Consider where the windows are, for example. Start deleting from your mind the divider walls, since you want it to be an open space, right? Express no wish, just imagine how it would look. Can you see it?”
“Hmm, roughly, yes. But I see the arrangement is different, therefore I should make some changes.”
“Would you prefer drawing it out on paper? I mean, creating a rough sketch of it?”
“I think it would be better.”
“Here you are,” Lucille replied, giving Kim a pencil and paper. “You'll have to practice to improve your visualization abilities.”
But Kim wasn't listening anymore, deeply intent on creating a drawing of the three rooms without any division, and arranging the furniture to the best of her ability.
“I think it could be something like this,” she said, proudly showing her drawing to Lucille.
“Yeah, now you know where everything should be. Relax, and look at the magazine again. Close your eyes and change the kitchen furniture, but still leave the divider wall.”
Lucille moved to the kitch
en door and looked at the spell being enacted under her eyes, everything slowly vanishing like mist and being replaced by the new furniture. Kim was quick to learn, but still uncertain, and there were some imperfections and empty spots as a result of her insecurity. Definitely, she needed to practice visualization exercises. In a blink of an eye, she fixed the wrong things and also moved all the items on the old furniture from the divider wall onto the new cabinets.
“Cool, well done. Now you need to get rid of that divider wall. Perfect!” Lucille exclaimed when the wall vanished. “Now, go on. Don't rush. You have all the time you need. Stop if you are tired; take a break if you want.”
Kim looked at the kitchen. Where there used to be the wall, now there was an empty space and she could see the kitchen being already part of the room. She stared in wonder. “Did I do that?”
“Yep, you did.”
She smiled. “I can’t believe it.”
She went on, more confident in her abilities, Lucille helping her and gently pushing and strengthening her power when she was tired or couldn't do something at her highest potential.
When she looked around, she smiled and took a deep breath. She stood up, her hands on her waist, she turned to Lucille, who was nodding and said with a grin. “So?”
“Well,” her smile widened. “I must confess, I like the potential of all this.” She waved with her hand. “All this magic. It's just that something inside of me thinks this is bad. Certainly, it's evil. Nobody should be allowed to have things this easily.”
Lucille shook her head.
“No, Kim, nothing is evil. Please don't think about us as the iconic witches from Halloween. We are much more than that. You mentioned fairies a few days ago. We are magical. Think about our spells like the magic fairies do. As a child, you never thought badly of fairies, did you? We have powers and enjoy them. We enjoy our abilities just like anybody enjoys their particular talents, or at least should enjoy their abilities and their lives.”
CHAPTER 16
The alarm went off and Kimberly squinted at it long enough to read 8.30 a.m. It was late, but Kim hadn't any commitments for the morning, and she figured she deserved some rest. She was awake but didn't open her eyes. She remained still, lying in bed, enjoying the laziness of the moment. She mentally switched the alarm off, then she turned the water on in the tub in her bathroom to prepare a bath. With care, she added bath soap and some bath salts, and put the carpet near the tub.
She was now hearing the water happily rumbling and a light perfume of roses started wafting into the room. Time to get up, she thought.
The week had been the most surprising period of her life. She had discovered she could do many little things and was starting to enjoy it. She had decided she wasn't doing any harm by taking advantage of her powers. Aurora was still a puzzle to Kimberly, who was unsure how to handle a child with such abilities.
It had been very nice to see Aurora’s surprise and joy when she came down the stairs and saw the house totally transformed. She started laughing and jumping, running in the open space, her arms wide open, pretending she was an airplane. The new furniture was much better than those second-hand furnishings she'd had. Kim had only kept a few antique pieces which had belonged to her family—a small cabinet and a little tea table, some ornaments, a hand-painted vase, a statuette and a few other knickknacks. She still had to hang some pictures and she wanted to use her own paintings which were lying, still wrapped, in the tower.
In the afternoon, she was expected at the club for an official presentation to the community. Lucille, Isidora and the few other witches she had met since they had approached her had been very nice, giving her plenty of time to reflect upon the situation without pressing for any decision on her part. Or maybe they had? She wasn't totally sure they hadn’t used some spells to make her accept her new condition. Regardless, with all their talk about their codes of conduct, they seemed sincere, and she had decided they deserved a chance.
Summers in Springsville were very pleasant. The weather was mild, hot enough to enjoy an iced drink but never so hot as to make people tired. Kim wondered if the witches had anything to do with it while driving to the club one afternoon.
Aurora was a fan of the playground at the club. She had made many friends, most of whom she would meet in her class when the preschool was opened. She hadn't shown any magic anymore, after the ice cream appearance and the new doll. Nevertheless, Kim suspected that she was still performing some magic—probably little spells that wouldn't do any harm.
Lucille had assured her that if Aurora was a witch, she would have to be trained and that, most of all, they would do their best to make her understand she couldn't do her spells in front of non-witches. Having to train somebody so young who wasn't born with powers, and in a witch environment, was something totally new for them, but they were positive about teaching her how to control her magic.
When Kim saw the auditorium full of witches waiting for her, her knees started trembling. Lucille and Isidora insisted, quite adamantly, that she be introduced to the community, but she wasn't a natural performer and having to talk in public was one of her worst fears.
Everyone turned to look at her as she entered, and her face reddened. She was meant to make a short speech after Isidora's presentation, but regardless of what they kept telling her, she wasn't ready and was not in the least happy to do it.
What was it for? She had started accepting her powers and was even enjoying them, but she wasn't a queen and had no intention of acting as a queen. What did they want her to do? And why? She had yet to understand that part.
Isidora hit the microphone a few times to be sure it was on. Then she smiled and said, “Today is the first official visit of Kimberly to our weekly meeting. You all know who she is. What nobody knows is what the future will bring us, thanks to her. She is meant to do something incredibly important for humanity, but we still don't know when or how. Will you please greet Mrs. Kimberly Pupp?”
Lucille forced Kim to stand up from her chair in the first row of the auditorium and approach the dais.
She hesitated and then moved, her cheeks burning, while the people in the room kept applauding.
She rubbed her hand on her light skirt, then, stiffly leaning over the microphone, she said, rushing one word after the other, “Hello, thank you, I'm very happy to be a part of this community. I really wish I was able to be of some help, but I think you have unrealistic expectations of me because I can’t even imagine how I could save the world.” She tried to be funny. “I don't look like Superman, do I?”
The witches in the room giggled.
“So, thank you very much for your warm welcome and...well, thank you.”
She smiled, embarrassed and still flushing. To the sound of loud applause, she reached Lucille who nodded approvingly.
“You have been sincere, and we do appreciate that. But a prophecy cannot be wrong. Tomorrow, we'll show you the school. Both you and Aurora will attend some lessons starting next week. We need to teach you some basics, both practice and theory. You'll see, it will be fun. I promise.”
CHAPTER 17
“So, how was that?” Ravyn asked.
“Well...I don't know,” Kim replied, while widening her eyes, looking in every direction. “I was expecting something like flying, or making a big jump. Not something like taking a step and suddenly being in another place.”
The young witch nodded, sympathetic.
The place they arrived at was weird, not at all what she had expected. There was a small cottage on the right, some fifty yards from them. It was a fairy-tale little house, the sort of cottage the seven dwarfs of Snow White must have lived in. The building was surrounded by low hills, covered with light green grass, reminding her of the old Windows desktop. Right in front of them, a few kids were playing with a striped ball that kept on running away with its short, skinny legs. Another bigger ball was floating right over them, from time to time lazily moving its rainbow wings. A little further, just behind t
he playing kids, older children were reading in the shadow of a tree full of big, red apples. Leaves kept on falling down, turning into colorful butterflies and flying away.
On the left, not far from the tree, there was a pond, full of life. A swan family was swimming slowly, looking at a mother duck with her many ducklings, all of them making a fuss, quickly moving their small wings to throw water on their siblings. Tiny ripples all over the water's surface showed there must have been a rich life underneath, too.
