must have gone out the window because it just isn’t around anymore. The recliner is sticking out of the fireplace. And I’m taking all this in through the haze of a transparent cinderblock wall that forms a six foot perimeter around me and goes up to the ten foot ceiling. My eyes search for Kallen, hoping I haven’t hurt him, but he’s standing in the same spot with a smug smile on his face.
“Guess that answers that question,” he says triumphantly.
It takes my befuddled brain a minute for that to make sense. Those in my heart will be unharmed. Blood rushes to my face as I realize my subconscious just told us both how I feel about him. Instead of acknowledging that, I ask, “What happened? It wasn’t supposed to do this, right?” Okay, I know that’s a really stupid question, but my mind is a little fuzzy right now.
Kallen chuckles as he pushes off from the wall. “No, it was not.”
I turn to Mom to ask her what I did wrong and her mouth is in a perfect o. I don’t think she knows what happened, either. Dad looks really freaked out. Kallen seems to be the only one who isn’t in shock, or unconscious. “What went wrong?” I ask.
He walks towards me, still laughing and shaking his head, and puts his hands on my shoulders. “Nothing went wrong, my little Witch Fairy. You did everything correctly.”
I look around at the destruction that used to be our living room. “Then why does the house look like a tornado stormed through it?” I should probably go and check on Grandma, but I’m a little scared to go near her after tossing her across the room. So, I’m going to assume from afar that she’s fine. She seems to be breathing okay.
Kallen chuckles again. “How aptly put. You are a tornado personified.”
The shock is wearing off and now I’m getting annoyed. “Will you please just answer my question?”
“This,” he sweeps his hand out to encompass the room, “is what happens when what should have been a gentle summer breeze is replaced by a tornado.”
I still don’t get it. I’m probably being obtuse, but good lord, I just blew up the living room! I’m a little bit overwhelmed right now. Narrowing my green eyes, I look into his. “If you don’t stop laughing at me and answer my question, I’m going to blow you up next.”
Of course, he doesn’t take me seriously, but he does answer my question. “The average witch would be the gentle summer breeze. The spell would have been cast, the mojo bag would have been properly stored for future use, and the Witch would have gone on her merry way. But if you replace the gentle summer breeze with a tornado, you create a spell so large that it cannot be contained by a tiny little leather pouch. Therefore, instead of being stored, the spell is cast out. And where a normal Witch would have created a thin wall around herself, your wall is a hundred times thicker and needs more space. To make room, it removed all obstacles except for those you specifically told it not to harm.”
“Oh.” What else is there to say to that?
“Are you saying that she can’t perform spells? She is half Witch,” Mom says. There’s some defensiveness in her voice.
Kallen turns his eyes to her and Dad, who have not moved from where they were floating before I worked the spell. He shakes his head. “No, I am saying that the outcome of a spell that Xandra casts will be a hundred times greater than it was meant to be.”
“And you couldn’t have said something before she worked the spell and destroyed the living room?” Mom’s voice isn’t defensive anymore, it’s angry.
Kallen inclines his head. “Would you have believed me if you had not seen it with your own eyes?”
Mom’s lips move as if she’s about to say something, but apparently she thinks better of it. After a moment, she finally admits,
“Guess that answers that question,” he says triumphantly.
It takes my befuddled brain a minute for that to make sense. Those in my heart will be unharmed. Blood rushes to my face as I realize my subconscious just told us both how I feel about him. Instead of acknowledging that, I ask, “What happened? It wasn’t supposed to do this, right?” Okay, I know that’s a really stupid question, but my mind is a little fuzzy right now.
Kallen chuckles as he pushes off from the wall. “No, it was not.”
I turn to Mom to ask her what I did wrong and her mouth is in a perfect o. I don’t think she knows what happened, either. Dad looks really freaked out. Kallen seems to be the only one who isn’t in shock, or unconscious. “What went wrong?” I ask.
He walks towards me, still laughing and shaking his head, and puts his hands on my shoulders. “Nothing went wrong, my little Witch Fairy. You did everything correctly.”
I look around at the destruction that used to be our living room. “Then why does the house look like a tornado stormed through it?” I should probably go and check on Grandma, but I’m a little scared to go near her after tossing her across the room. So, I’m going to assume from afar that she’s fine. She seems to be breathing okay.
Kallen chuckles again. “How aptly put. You are a tornado personified.”
The shock is wearing off and now I’m getting annoyed. “Will you please just answer my question?”
“This,” he sweeps his hand out to encompass the room, “is what happens when what should have been a gentle summer breeze is replaced by a tornado.”
I still don’t get it. I’m probably being obtuse, but good lord, I just blew up the living room! I’m a little bit overwhelmed right now. Narrowing my green eyes, I look into his. “If you don’t stop laughing at me and answer my question, I’m going to blow you up next.”
Of course, he doesn’t take me seriously, but he does answer my question. “The average witch would be the gentle summer breeze. The spell would have been cast, the mojo bag would have been properly stored for future use, and the Witch would have gone on her merry way. But if you replace the gentle summer breeze with a tornado, you create a spell so large that it cannot be contained by a tiny little leather pouch. Therefore, instead of being stored, the spell is cast out. And where a normal Witch would have created a thin wall around herself, your wall is a hundred times thicker and needs more space. To make room, it removed all obstacles except for those you specifically told it not to harm.”
“Oh.” What else is there to say to that?
“Are you saying that she can’t perform spells? She is half Witch,” Mom says. There’s some defensiveness in her voice.
Kallen turns his eyes to her and Dad, who have not moved from where they were floating before I worked the spell. He shakes his head. “No, I am saying that the outcome of a spell that Xandra casts will be a hundred times greater than it was meant to be.”
“And you couldn’t have said something before she worked the spell and destroyed the living room?” Mom’s voice isn’t defensive anymore, it’s angry.
Kallen inclines his head. “Would you have believed me if you had not seen it with your own eyes?”
Mom’s lips move as if she’s about to say something, but apparently she thinks better of it. After a moment, she finally admits,
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