Chapter 10

I waited in the line at the diner for about two and a half hours last night. When I got to the counter, I asked for chocolate cake. The waitress rolled her eyes. She handed me a slice of apple pie.

I walked mindlessly to the next spot open at the counter and sat down. I sat perfectly still and stared at the pie for an hour. I kept hearing a deep voice and a light laugh in my head. They kicked me out at midnight.

It was a cold night to walk home. I heard sirens and shouting around Watershed Heights so I walked to the play ground and sat on the only working swing. There was a single gunshot and all of the sirens and yelling stopped. I was scared so I picked up a stick. I think it was the handle broken off of an old broom. There were splinters and cracks throughout the whole four feet of cheep, stained, wood. I don't know why I picked it up. It just felt right.

The wind picked up and I began to talk back to Watershed Heights, dragging the stick behind me. I began to thing about everything. My parents, no friends, and my so called "magic" all raced through my head. I felt disconnected from the world around me. I walked, floated rather, across the street and up to the dry fountain. I stepped up onto the edge and walked around the lip. Even though the lip was cracked, uneven, and covered with slime, I had no trouble balancing. My mind didn't tell my feet where to go. They found footholds on their own and my arms swung out automatically to keep my body upright. I circled the fountain again and again, faster and faster.

As my body circled the fountain, my mind was racing through my entire life. I remembered every conversation and every day of work and every pot of chicken I cooked at that terrible Vietnamese restaurant. My right hand felt wet and I looked over my shoulder. Droplets of water were coming out the cracks in the old broom handle. Everything slowed back down to its normal speed. I suddenly was back in control of my body. My left foot slipped and I fell into the fountain. There was a splash and I knew what had happened.

Chapter 9

The power went out in the city today. Normally, I would have tried summoning light fairies to light the city. Instead, my staff is still collecting dust.

Now that I am like most other people, I went to the diner. People lined the street waiting for food. It was pitch black. Everyone was bumping into one another and tripping over their own feet. As I stood in line, I smelled a whiff of apple, cinnamon, and dough. I remember my parents laughing at the after supper while the three of us ate apple pie. I have not touched it sense.

The man in front of me turned around. He asked me why was I crying. My shock was even greater than his. I am used to people staring at me and sneaking pictures with their cell phones. I can not remember the last time a stranger was interested in me.

I explained my memories of apple pie and my parent's death to the stranger. He shrugged and said "Wow, that's rough."

The stranger began to turn away, but I blurted out, "I tried to honor their memory by practicing magic, but I have not done it lately." The stranger took a step back. He said he didn't know there were "warlocks" around Watershed Heights. I could tell he regretted saying this. I couldn't stop myself from correcting him. The general public should know that warlocks are not human. Men can be wizards and women can be witches. That is it.

He seemed to be apologising when he told me that his mother died too. I wasn't too sure. We talked about more things but I wasn't listening. I was smelling the apple pie and thinking about my staff.