by Jerod Lollar
Chapter 27
I felt terrible. I didn’t mean to meet Smith, it just happened. If Johnathen had only allowed me to explain. He looked so hurt and upset at all of us, but the one thing that was nagging me was how completely worn out he seemed, almost a shadow of his former self. It looked like he was getting worse and worse every time I saw him. I couldn’t shake the idea that it was because he was working too hard to hide and protect Fetch, me, and Michelle. There was still so much I didn’t know. I was beginning to think I would never know. But, I felt I needed to take more action; more than the writing that was still going on in my computer; more than the Facebook postings. A seed of an idea was starting to form in my head. I hoped Michelle would go along with it. She continued to cry, unconsolable. I kept my distance, feeling she needed to cry this out. Fetch laid his head on the bed next to her, letting her know he was there for her when she was ready. The affection Fetch had for Michelle was touching. After a while Michelle stopped crying. She put her hand on Fetch's head and sat up.
“What happened, Jack?” She asked.
I told her the story of how we met Smith, trying to stress to her that I had no choice. I could tell that she was not upset. I knew she felt that we should show the magic world who we are. She was already known, but her ability to use magic was not. Too many secrets seemed to be flying around.
At the end of my story Michelle sighed, "You have become more of a part of the magic world in a few months than I have over the past ten years. I know he is upset but Johnathen is wrong to keep you hidden.”
At the mention of Johnathen's name, tears welled up in Michelle’s eyes.
“I’m so worried about him, Jack. I’m worried and scared. He will disappear for days sometimes, and, when he comes back, it’s like a part of him is gone or changed. I don’t know what kind of magic he is doing but it is taking its toll on him. I’m sure it is to help you, to keep you hidden, to keep us both hidden. We have to show ourselves for what we are, Jack. All three of us. Even if it means Johnathen would be mad at us. I am afraid of what will happen if he keeps on going like this. We have to help him. It’s time for us to show the magic world who we are. If he keeps this up, I’m afraid he will die."
She put her face in her hands. It was amazing to me that a person as strong as I believed Michelle to be could cry the way she did over certain things. I reminded myself of everything she had been through and how much she loved Johnathen. I knew the idea of going against his wishes was hard for her, but she already showed that she wanted to break away from him a little too, even if it was to protect him. I wanted the same things too. I was glad that she felt this way. I decided to tell her my plan.
“How are you feeling?” I asked her.
She shrugged. ”I'm ok, just a little tired.”
She smiled an encouraging smile to let me know she was fine.
“You think you would be up for a little adventure tomorrow night? I have an idea, but, for it to work, I need you to meet a friend of mine.”
She sat up and smiled even wider.
“Ok,” she said.
“Then I want you to meet one of the only friends I have in the magic world.” I said. “He can help us. It would be the magic world equivalent of networking."
Michelle would amaze me at times. She was pretty much raised in a magic world, but had an understanding of the non-magic world. She was incredibly smart. The magic she used seemed to require words and gestures that I didn’t think I could ever master. Her friendship was something I would always cherish, no matter what. My feelings for her grew stronger all the time. I tried not to think about them too much. I was afraid it would jeopardize our friendship. Besides, it was obvious how she felt about Johnathen. I knew how hard it was for her to go against him. I also knew that deep down she was doing it because she believed it would help him in the end.
I realized that I had been staring at her for a while. She smiled and threw a pillow and the bedspread at me.
”Sorry guys, but I need some beauty rest and this girl don’t sleep on the floor."
I had to stop myself from saying something stupid like “You don’t need any beauty rest."
“Good night," I said turning out the lights in the room.
Fetch curled up at the foot of the bed, laying his head on the end so he could keep an eye on Michelle. I sat in a chair and wrapped myself in the blanket. I planned to go outside in a little while to take a look around for signs of any more goblins. I felt bad that I didn’t get a chance to explain to Johnathen about Smith. I hoped I could tell him about it soon. I lay there staring at Michelle as she drifted off to sleep. I remembered that my magic journal was writing this all down. If I didn’t find a way to edit it, Michelle would read all of this one day. I closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them it was early the next morning. I guess I was more tired than I thought.
Michelle slept the better part of the next day. Neither Fetch nor I wanted to leave her alone, out of concern that someone or something might attack. I wanted to move to another room, feeling that we had stayed here too long. Then the idea occurred to me that Johnathen might have placed some sort of spell around us to protect us from harm. Looking at her sleeping, I began to have second thoughts about going to see Smith. She had been through so much and I didn’t want to push her. When Fetch saw that I was up, he went over to the door. He opened it, going into camouflage mode and closed the door behind him. He returned a little later with breakfast, doughnuts and large coffees. We stayed quiet so we wouldn't wake up Michelle. I grabbed my computer and got on Facebook. I wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to post. I watched Fetch drink his coffee. His eyes rolled back in his head a little. It was quite obvious that he enjoyed the coffee very much. I posted on Facebook; “I don’t know if anybody knows this, but dragons Looove coffeeJ." I waited to see what kind of response I would get. After a couple of likes I logged out and put my computer away.
Michelle woke up a few minutes later. Fetch sat there with a bag of donuts in his mouth so he would be the first thing she saw when she woke up. She opened her eyes and smiled at Fetch's eager face. He could really be a dork when it came to Michelle. She laughed and scratched his head, took a donut and a big sip of coffee.
She looked much better than she did last night. She still had the dark circles under her eyes and I didn’t want to push her too much, but she insisted that she was fine and got up.
“Do you have something I can wear?” she asked with a mouthful of donut.
She had slept in the clothes she had on last night. They were worn out and very dirty. I remembered how Fetch had healed her last night and noticed that her clothes weren’t burned. I wondered if this was because Fetch had gained more control over his flame or he had burned my clothes off on purpose. Knowing his sense of humor, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he had.
"Uh, sure," I said, “nothing that will fit you though."
She smiled and there was a twinkle in her eyes as she said, “I don’t think that will be a problem. A simple spell should change that.”
“Do you think it is wise for you to do magic again so soon?” I asked.
“Oh, I won’t be casting the spell, you will.”
I looked at her in surprise. I never thought of using my Forced magic that way. I guess that it wouldn’t be any different from the way I used it to start the journal. But it would be directed at another person this time. I shook my head.
“I don’t think I'm ready for anything like that. I could hurt you."
“I don’t think you will. Your magic seems to be tied into who you are. The simple fact that your magic comes from inside you the way it does, means you couldn’t hurt me because it is just not in you to hurt me."
I thought back to when I had knocked out Johnathen. I was about to remind her of that.
“I know what you are thinking, but that was when you were defending yourself. Johnathen didn’t give you much of a choice. I still don’t know what he was thinking when he pushed yo
u so hard. You have to learn to accept your magic, Jack. You can’t be afraid of it. You won’t hurt me."
I looked in her eyes and was a little overwhelmed by her confidence in me. She really believed I could do it. She smiled and gave me a peck on the cheek.
”I won’t take 'no' for an answer, Jack. Besides, Fetch will be right there with you the whole time."
I looked over at Fetch. His eyes were the steady green that showed his confidence in me.
"You really think I can do this?” I asked him.
He rolled those green eyes and smacked me with his tail.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I said, rubbing the side of my head.
“Ok. How do you think I should do this?”
Michelle jumped up. ”Give me a sec."
She grabbed some towels and headed for the shower. This gave me a few minutes to think of how I was going to do this. I had no idea! I paced back and forth in the small hotel room. Fetch watched me going back and forth. He was sitting on the bed with the TV remote in his hands. After a while, he got up and stood in front of me. He pushed on my chest with his head trying to make me stop. With a great shove he knocked me back into a chair, flipping it over backward. I heard a laugh and saw Michelle standing there fresh from the shower. She had a big towel wrapped around her body and another one on her head.
"Thanks a lot you stupid lizard," I said to Fetch. "You pushing me doesn’t help me get in the right frame of mind."
"Ok, Jack," said Michelle. “Time to stop playing around. I want you to look at me. Get a good mental image of me in your mind."
I got up off the floor and looked at Michelle. She stood there wrapped in the towels, hands on her hips. I could see the design of her tattoo curling around her body. I had to admire the time that it must have taken to get such a design. I got a little distracted at the thought that she was standing in front of me wearing nothing but a couple of towels.
“Relax Jack," she said. "It's just me. You can do this. The human mind has a better understanding of things than we give it credit for, Jack. I know you’re not aware of it, but you already have the idea of what size I am. If you think about it, it was a mind, just like ours, that came up with the idea of numbers and languages, a mind like ours that created pyramids and The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Those things were created by the strongest magic of all, Jack. The human imagination. It is what I believe fuels your magic, Jack. There is no way you can hurt me, because you choose not to. It is the choice we all have. It's what keep us human and not some kind of beast, the simple fact that we can choose who we are and what we do. I have confidence in your forced magic, Jack, because I have confidence in you. Think about me, Jack, the magic I can do. If I can learn to do magic, then you can do this. Once I realized that I knew I could perform magic, it was just the right words and a little practice and I transported myself across the city."
“Yeah," I mumbled, trying not to get distracted at her standing there in the towels. “But that didn’t turn out so well did it?”
"This is different, Jack, now do it."
She stood there not moving. I knew she would stand there all day if I didn’t do something. I nodded 'ok'.
The idea was for me to change the towels around her so that they became clothes. I was going to accomplish this by imagining her in a certain outfit. I wouldn’t be making something out of nothing. I would just change the towels into something else. I just hoped I wouldn’t change Michelle along with the towels. I closed my eyes and got a good mental image of Michelle. I remembered the black dress she wore when I first met her. I played that day over and over in my mind. I wanted to make sure I got the right image. When I was sure I had it clear enough, I searched my mind for the forced magic. It was a little harder to find but soon I found the spark. At first it didn’t want to grow. The thought process I had behind it was different from what I had before. Even when I had used it to start the journal, it was different from making clothes. Finally it started to grow. That uncomfortable itchy feeling spread through my body. When I was sure I had the image of that dress in my mind, I began to rip the magic out of me. As it started to leave my body, that first time I met Michelle became crystal clear in my mind. So much so that it felt like I was standing there, almost reliving that day. I saw Michelle and I even saw myself for a second. The magic left me almost reluctantly this time. My vision blurred for a second. I heard a little gasp from Michelle and a strange grunt from Fetch. I opened my eyes and saw Michelle standing there in the same black dress that she was wearing when I had met her. The towels were gone. I had changed them. Michelle stood there, her hair and even her makeup done exactly the way I remembered it being that day. She turned to look in the mirror.
“Wow, Jack! You did good. This is just how I looked that first day, isn’t it? Wow! All you need is a little more focus and it would be flawless."
I was confused at her last statement.
“A little more focus? But you look fine. Wait, did I hurt you, are you ok?" I asked.
Michelle turned back to me and looked like she was about to laugh. I heard a strange snort coming from Fetch. I looked over to see him on his back on the floor. He was holding his chest and his great big snout was wide open. For a second I thought he was in pain, but I quickly realized he was just in the throes of silent laughter. Michelle was unable to restrain herself from laughing any longer. I was confused. What was so funny? I glanced down and got the answer. Yellow flip flops, purple sweatpants, and blue T-shirt. A quick look in the mirror and I discovered I was wearing the same thing I had on that first day, right down to the red fuzzy stocking cap. I whipped it off, relieved I still had hair and eyebrows. I turned to look at my two closest friends who were laughing like hyenas.
“Don’t laugh too hard, Michelle. With one stray thought you could’ve been wearing this and I could be in the dress.”
Fetch found this really funny and started to snort purple fire. He got ahold of himself, picked up the fuzzy stocking cap and handed it to Michelle. He sat there in front of her. He looked from the hat to Michelle over and over again.
“Oh all right, you overgrown lizard,” she said.
She put the stocking cap on, pulling it down until it covered her entire head. We all laughed at this. I thought back to all the times I had enjoyed laughter like this with my new friends. They were the best times I'd had in years. This, more than anything, strengthened my resolve to help Johnathen by showing myself to the magic world, whether he wanted me to or not.
I grabbed some clothes and a few towels and announced I would be taking a shower myself. I closed the door to the small bathroom to the sounds of Michelle and Fetch's laughter. As I stood under the water, I felt a strange tingling sensation on my leg. I looked down at the strange mark left from Fetch's hatching. It itched a little. I touched it and felt its strange roughness. If it wasn’t so high up on my thigh I would have shown it to Michelle to see what she thought, but I figured that would be a little embarrassing. Fetch had enough to laugh at, without me adding an awkward exchange like showing a mark on my leg to Michelle. I dried off and put my clothes on in the small bathroom. I was feeling a little raw at the idea of Fetch always having a laugh at my expense. I could still hear the two of them laughing in the next room. I wanted to get Fetch back. After all, it was because of him that I was ever in the purple sweats and blue T-shirt combo. An idea was beginning to form in my head. With my new discovery of what I could do with my magic, a trick I could play on Fetch was forming in my mind. Something that might even make him think twice about playing another trick on me. I sat down on the toilet lid and concentrated on an image. I knew he had to be close to the bed, so I knew I could use one of the pillows. I let the magic build in me. It was easier this time. It was as if the magic just had to get used to the idea of what I was doing for it to work. After I was sure that I had a clear image of what I wanted, I pushed. From the next room I heard a yelp of surprise from Fetch, followed by a shriek from Michelle, which was quickly followed by p
eals of her laughter. I had a feeling that was a good sign. I walked out of the bathroom to the funniest thing I could possibly imagine. The magic had worked better than I had expected.
Fetch stood there with a surprised look on his face as he stared in the mirror. On his head, attached by a bright yellow bow, was a twirly beanie cap. The propeller was spinning and whistling a happy little tune. He had a pink T-shirt with gold letters saying 'I’m a widdle dwagon' across the chest. Slowly Fetch turned to look at me. I knew I was in trouble. I didn’t care. I was laughing too hard to care. Whatever he was going to do, it was worth it. He got up in my face. Then, with all the pomp and drama he could master, bowed down to me. He continued to keep bowing in front of me, admitting that I finally got the best of him. I know he picked up on the bowing thing from some movie he saw on TV the other night. We all laughed at Fetch scraping the ground in front of me as the beanie continued to twirl and whistle. This was turning out to be a great day.
Chapter 28
We spent the day in the room, ordering room service and watching whatever was on TV. I hoped Smith would be home. I was sure I could find the bush and I made a hopeful guess that, now that Fetch and I were friends of the gnome's, we would be able to get into his tunnel. I hoped Michelle would be able to also. Another guess made me believe that as long as she was with us she would be able to enter the cave. The day stretched out like a day will when you are waiting to do something. Finally it began to get dark and we decided to go.
After getting some food, and asking Michelle if she was ok about a hundred times, we left to go see Smith. As luck would have it, we didn’t have to try to enter on our own. I found him trimming the bush where he lived. His face lit up when he saw me and Fetch. He waved to us enthusiastically. He opened the tunnel and before we went in I told him I had a surprise for him. We went into the tunnel and Michelle touched him, allowing him to see her. He was love struck immediately. He took her hand and patted it muttering “My, my, what a beauty, what a beauty.”