“So then,” Tonya said abruptly. “You put one hand on my back, like this.” She placed Simon’s right hand beneath her left shoulder blade. “And then you take my right hand, like this—”
“Wh-wh-what are you doing?”
“I’m teaching you how to dance.”
“I thought we came up here to do magic.”
“Oh, you have your whole life to do magic. But how many opportunities do you get to dance on a mountaintop overlooking the world?” Tonya said in a misty voice.
She batted her eyes at him and tossed her hair playfully. Simon opened his mouth to object, but he could see that it was no use arguing, so he consented… reluctantly. Tonya placed her left hand near his right shoulder and then raised their arms up high. Simon had to stretch because he was shorter than her.
“Okay, now step forward with your right foot.” The boy stepped forward. “Your other right.”
“That is my right!”
“Oh, sorry. Step forward with your left foot.” Simon felt silly, but she pushed him on. “Now bring your right foot to the side, and then slide your left foot over. Good! Now bring your right foot back… Left foot to the side and let your right foot slide over. Good!”
She dragged him around like a rag doll. “ONE—two—three… ONE—two—three… ONE—two—three…” she called out the rhythm. “You’re getting it.”
Simon stumbled but regained his balance. Soon, he was actually leading them in the waltz. It was exhilarating. He was doing it—he was dancing!
“Are you sure you’ve never danced before?”
“Positive.”
“You’re pretty good, for a beginner. Let’s quicken the pace.”
The young teenagers danced merrily upon the cliff top, and after a while, it didn’t even seem like their feet were touching the ground. They gracefully glided in every direction—both smiling happily. Tonya’s long auburn hair swayed back and forth in the cool, fresh breeze. Simon had never seen her hair this color before. He liked it.
Finally exhausted, they stopped their waltz to take a rest. Tonya bent over to catch her breath. She brushed her hair out of her face and smiled affectionately at Simon.
“That was actually fun,” the boy said, panting lightly.
“See, Simon, dancing is fun.”
Tonya was still short of breath. She straightened up and said carefully, “Someday… when you find a girl you like…” She took one of his hands and placed it around her slim waist. “You’ll hold her like this…” She brought his other hand to her waist as well. “And she’ll put her hands on your shoulders…” She rested her hands on his collarbone and nudged him softly to move. “Then, you’ll dance—slowly… like this.” They started to rotate—ever so delicately. “This gives you a chance to relax,” she said. “To forget about everything and just enjoy the company of the person you’re with.”
Trying to avoid eye contact, Simon looked out at the ocean. Birds dressed in colorful robes swam joyfully through the white clumps of cloud painted upon an azure sky. It seemed peaceful, in a way, to look out and see the majestic ocean waves becoming smaller and smaller, their frothy curls eventually merging with the horizon.
Simon noticed that Tonya was humming. He recognized the melody immediately; it was one of the songs they’d heard at the cafe back on Earth.
The boy now faced the mountain. He could see the high-rise towers of glass and metal glimmering in the distance. He’d never been in that part of the city before; Dr. Troodle’s home was located in a more prestigious part of town—away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
What a contrast, he thought as he turned towards the calm ocean once more.
“The Elders would be upset with me right now,” Tonya informed him. “Young girls are not allowed to be alone with boys.”
“Why’s that?”
Simon fixed his eyes on Tonya’s beautiful hair. It was changing into an even deeper auburn color.
“Because something might happen,” she said, closing her eyes.
Simon replied slowly, “I think I agree with the Elders… If you put two people together long enough, you never know what could happen.”
They seemed to be getting closer and closer as they danced. The boy finally looked into Tonya’s eyes, and everything around him seemed to disappear—everything, that is, but her lovely face. Like a magnet, he was drawn closer… closer. Her hands were now wrapped around the back of his neck. Was she pulling him in or was he moving closer of his own accord? Simon couldn’t seem to fight it any longer. He closed his eyes.
Just then, a loud and annoying voice startled them both. “What are you guys doing?”
Chapter 14
Magic Lessons
Tonya shoved Simon away, which made him lose his balance and fall. He looked up from the ground to see Thorn walking over to them.
“You were standing!” Thorn said. The tiny boy stood with his mouth gaped open and his eyes wide with excitement.
Tonya flung up her hands and yelled melodramatically, “It’s a miracle!”
Simon crawled to his hover chair and sat down. “Wh-wh-what are you doing here?” he asked, trying to hide his embarrassment.
“I followed you,” the little Pud replied. “I wanted to see what you guys were up to.”
“Nothing!” Tonya blurted in her native Chamelean language. She switched to Pudo so that Thorn could understand. “Absolutely nothing.” Her beautiful auburn hair turned a fiery red.
“Yeah, I could see that.”
Ignoring the comment, Simon cleared his throat and said, “Tonya was just about to give me a magic lesson. Do you want to join us?”
Thorn’s eyes lit up. “Sure! That would be fun.”
“Just remember, Thorny,” Tonya said, “this lesson is meant for Simon. He’s the only one who can do magic on this planet.”
Thorn raised an eyebrow. “Whatever you say, Butblacruze. But I still want to try.”
“And don’t call me Butblacruze!”
Tonya brought out her wand and slapped it into Thornapple’s hand. He winced in pain.
“All right then,” she said. “First off, you have to understand what electro-magical energy is—”
Thorn interrupted, “I thought you said there wasn’t any of that on Pudo.”
“There isn’t.”
“Then why bother teaching us about it?”
“Because, know-it-all, you can’t do magic without it. Besides, I don’t plan on being in this horrible paraworld my whole life. My father is a very rich and powerful man. If there’s anyone out there who can find me and get me out of here, it’s him.”
She caressed the silver ring on her finger. The dim light representing her father’s life force flickered on the band. Thorn opened his mouth to speak but stopped. He nodded for her to continue.
“Think of E.M. energy as waves of light,” she said, trying to speak clearly. To Simon, she spoke perfect English, but to Thorn, she had an awful accent. “Except for the parastream and the lousy paraworld we’re in right now, this energy fills every nook and cranny of the paraverse, but its intensity varies dramatically. You can have a bunch of electro-magical energy in one spot, while just a couple feet away, hardly any. And just like light, those waves are constantly moving around. So when you feel a pocket of E.M. energy, that’s the time to cast your spell. Unfortunately, it’s kinda hard to time it right. And to make things even more difficult, each spell requires a different level of electro-magical energy to perform.”
“So how do you know when you’re standing in a pocket of E.M. energy?” Simon asked.
“Well, it takes a lot of experience to recognize it. That’s why the royal family set up the schools of magical learning. The more often you cast spells, the easier it is to recognize the energy and use it to your advantage. Other than that, I can’t really explain it. You just have to feel it to know what I’m talking about.”
“But you said yourself that Earth had more E.M. energy than any other paraworld you�
��d ever been to. How come I wasn’t able to do any magic when I was there?”
“That’s the same question I’ve been wondering,” Tonya said. “I think Earthlings must be different from everyone else in the paraverse. Instead of being able to cast spells using E.M. energy, you can cast spells without it.” She put her hand to her mouth and gasped. “In fact, I bet E.M. waves nullify your magical abilities! That must be it—that’s the answer! It explains everything.”
“I don’t know,” Simon said, meticulously rubbing his mother’s medallion. “Maybe there’s something more to it than that.”
“What else could it be?” she argued, now speaking in the Chamelean language. “I heard there are some crazy people out there who put themselves in strange electro-magical devices—kind of like a tanning booth—but instead of trying to get a tan, they’re trying to become more endowed with magical abilities. What ends up happening is that they usually die from overexposure. Maybe…” Her excitement peaked. “Just maybe, because you lived in a paraworld that had ultra-high levels of E.M. energy, your body developed an immunity!”
The theory sounded plausible. Simon felt much better physically on Pudo than he ever did on Earth, but he couldn’t rule out the young woman from his dreams—or his medallion, for that matter.
“You might be right,” he said, trying to pacify her. For some reason, he felt hesitant to divulge his unusual dreams to Tonya. Perhaps he fancied the idea of being special, even if he really wasn’t. Tonya didn’t have to know his true source of power—not yet, at least.
“Of course I’m right. Look, Simon, I’d say your homeworld has the highest levels of E.M. energy in the whole paraverse. Any normal person would die within a few hours of visiting your planet, but somehow, your people are able to withstand the prolonged exposure. I just don’t see any other explanation.”
“So are you saying I’m a mutant or something?”
“Maybe. Anything or anyone exposed to high levels of E.M. waves for an extended period of time becomes altered by that energy.”
Thorn’s squeaky voice broke into the conversation. “I’m sure whatever you’re talking about is interesting and all, but when are we going to get to the actual magic?”
“Patience, young one,” Tonya said in a condescending tone. “Patience.”
Thorn pursed his lips together and squared his shoulders. “Who ya calling young? I just turned thirteen today!”
“Well, I’m fourteen and that makes me the oldest, so there.”
The little Pud snickered. “It doesn’t make you the smartest.”
“Maybe not, but it does give me more experience. I’ve seen things your scientists can only dream of… and I’m the only one here who knows about magic, so be quiet and listen.”
Simon grabbed an apple from his fanny pack and took a big bite while Tonya continued her lesson.
“Magic,” she said, “is produced by the E.M. waves—or the lack of E.M. waves in your case, Simon—but it must be harnessed by a person. As you summon the energy, it enters your body and then is released when you cast your spell. Most people as they start learning magic use something or other to focus that energy. I like to use a wand, but you can use whatever you want: a staff, a ring, a bracelet, or anything.”
“How about a rock?” asked Thorn.
“Yeah, you could use a rock.”
“How about a hat?”
“You could use a hat.”
“What about a book?”
“Look, you could use a handful of dog poop if you wanted to. The point is that whatever you use, it’ll help you to channel that built-up energy so you can cast your spell.” She glanced at Simon as he opened his mouth to take another bite. “Let me see that apple, Simon.”
He handed it over reluctantly, and she placed it on a flat rock nearby.
“Okay, Thorny, flick the wand at the apple and say: Voluminous. When you do it, imagine in your mind that the apple is getting bigger. Can you do that, or do I need to paint a picture for you?”
“Voluminous!” Thorn said, ignoring her insult. He flicked the wand with every syllable, “Vo-lu-mi-nous,” but the apple didn’t budge. “Voluminous—Voluminous… VO-LUMINOUS!” He looked like he was conducting an orchestra.
“All right!” snapped Tonya. She grabbed the wand from his hand. “Yelling at it isn’t gonna make it grow.” She flicked the wand nonchalantly at the red fruit and said calmly, “Voluminous. That’s how you do it. Here, Simon, you try.”
Tonya handed the wand to Simon. It was black with a white tip—similar to what a magician would use at a party. He inspected the smooth, waxy surface and realized that some of the paint had chipped off.
The image of the beautiful young woman from his dreams entered his mind. Who is she? he wondered. She didn’t start coming into my dreams until I got to this planet… Is she giving me these powers, or am I really special like Tonya says I am?
Simon had never thought he could be special. Special was a word used for someone great—someone with fantastic skills or attributes… surely not someone like himself: a sickly young boy too small for his age with big ears, unruly hair, and glasses.
“We’re waiting, Simon.” Tonya interrupted his thoughts.
“Oh, sorry.” He held the wand tightly and flicked it at the apple. “Voluminous.”
The apple began to tremble. Then it shook so violently, it hopped off the rock and rolled to the edge of the steep cliff. It started to grow… and grow… and grow! Soon, it grew taller than Tonya. The red skin stretched like a balloon being filled with air. Even the place where Simon had previously taken a bite expanded. When the apple stopped growing, it was easily ten feet tall.
Bewildered by the strange sight, Thorn exclaimed, “Wow! That was stupendous! I can’t believe you did that!”
“I can’t believe I did, either,” Simon said, completely dumbfounded. He moved his hover chair to get a closer look. The giant fruit leaned partially over the cliff.
Thorn yanked off a small chunk of the apple and popped it in his mouth. “Tastes great,” he announced. “It’s nice and firm—just like a normal apple.” He smacked the juicy flesh of the oversized fruit as he talked.
Just then, the crunching of rocks sounded in their ears. The apple teetered backwards.
“Stop it before it goes over,” Simon yelled. He grabbed the torn skin at the edge of the huge bite mark and tried to stop the apple from falling off the cliff. “If this goes over, someone below might get killed!”
Tonya and Thorn grabbed the apple as well, which stabilized it for the moment. “We can’t hold this forever!” Tonya cried.
A faint grumbling sound resonated from within the apple. Thorn pressed his ear to the side of the fruit, and a troubled look appeared on his face. “Guys, do you hear that?”
“Yeah, that’s my heart racing,” Tonya shouted, readjusting her grip.
“No, there’s something else.”
“I think I do hear something,” Simon said as the grumbling became louder.
Suddenly, the side of the apple exploded outward, and the head of a giant worm emerged. The strange snakelike creature had two sharp horns on the top of its green head as well as two beady little eyes. Its massive jaws opened wide, and it gave out a loud screech that shocked Thorn so badly, he lost his grip and fell backwards. Seeing the helpless boy lying on the ground, the worm lunged towards him with its mouth gaped open. But just before it reached Thorn, the apple rolled over and fell off the cliff—taking the huge worm with it.
Simon still held a flap of red skin in his hands. He watched helplessly as the apple descended the tall mountain. Thorn scurried to the edge of the cliff and looked down.
“Well, Simon,” he noted, “there goes your lunch.”
SMASH! The apple splattered on the ground below, causing pieces of fruit to mushroom out into the field. Giant Puds dodged as parts of the juicy apple rocketed through the tall shocks of wheat. Although some of the workers had gotten messy, no one was seriously injured—tha
t is, no one except the worm, which now lay dead.
“Sorry!” Simon yelled, but he was too far away for any of the Puds below to hear his apology.
“Wow, Simon, that was pretty impressive, but for the next spell maybe we should try something simpler… and less dangerous,” Tonya said. She looked around for a tiny rock or twig they could practice on. “There we go,” she said, pointing to a weed that resembled a pussy willow but had a thick, cylindrical end like a cattail. She snatched her wand from Simon and demonstrated the next spell they were to perform. “Foonati,” she intoned, waving the wand over the peculiar weed.
“What does it do?” asked Simon.
“Sometimes you can’t quite reach something, so you cast a moving spell. Foonati is the most minor moving spell of all. Really, about the only thing it’s good for is flipping switches. So with your hyperactive abilities, you’ll probably snap that weed in half, but other than that, I can’t imagine anything horrible could happen.”
“Let me try first.” Thorn begged like a little kid.
“Okay,” Tonya said, handing him the wand with reservation. “Just wave the wand slowly from right to left and say the magic word.”
“What’s the magic word?”
“Foonati.”
“Oh, of course.” He waved the wand slowly from right to left with an exaggerated motion. “Foonati.”
Nothing happened.
“All right. Simon’s turn,” Tonya said bluntly.
“FOONATI!” Thorn yelled. He cut the air with the wand so that it made a swooshing sound as it passed over the strange weed. “FOONATI! FOONATI!” Finally, he got so frustrated, he sliced the weed in half with the wand. “There! That moved it.”
Tonya grabbed the wand from Thorn and gave it to Simon. “All right, that does it! You’ve lost your wand privileges,” she growled.
Thorn demonstrated his skill of annoyance by picking up the severed weed and handling it as if it were a sword. “Oh, lighten up, Butblacruze. I’m just having some fun.” He pretended to fight an imaginary person. “Why don’t you teach us some fighting magic?” He swung the weed so close to Tonya’s face that it almost nicked her nose.
Paraworld Zero Page 15