The Diary
Part Seven
December 15th
Well, here I am at home again. Mom was kind of pleased and surprised at the same time when I told her how I got there. She was sort of annoyed at George for letting me come alone, but I told her it was all my idea, so she calmed down a little bit.
I've never really understood Mom's position on this issue. She doesn't seem to want me to learn magic, but she doesn't want me to not know it either. Sometimes she's proud of me for learning to do stuff, but other times she wants me to act like one of the human people who don't have magic. I get a lot of mixed signals from her in that respect. But I don't care. I like learning magic, and I think I'm going to keep learning it whether she wants me to or not.
The rest of the day went along pretty normal. Mom spent a lot of time outside in the freezing cold working on her magnolia tree, which I thought was totally and completely insane of her, but I can't stop her. I stayed inside where it was relatively warm and worked on some homework I had. Then I got bored with that, so Mom started to teach me how to knit. She said it was something to keep oneself occupied on cold winter days, and it was also useful. So I'm knitting a hat. I don't know how well it will come out, but it's something to do.
Aunt Clarice came today and I showed her how I'm doing on my hat. It's coming along okay. Not bad for the first thing I ever made. Aunt Clarice thought it was very impressive.
She was also impressed when I told her about teleporting home. She got kind of teary-eyed and smiled and was sort of sappy for a while. Then she started wailing about how I was growing up and she was getting so old and this might be her last winter.
That sort of confused me a little. But Aunt Clarice has always been sort of sappy and emotional. So it wasn't too much of a surprise.
Today was a bit more exciting. We started the winter celebrations. It's not really a holiday of any sort, just a way to break the monotony of winter boredom. I don't know if all the families with magic celebrate it, or even the families without magic, but Mom and I have done it since I can remember. Even after I started staying with George, I would come home for a week or two just to hang out at home.
We always have a little bit of gift giving and we set aside a day to spend doing nothing. Sometimes we'll sing or go for a long walk in the woods. Other times we'll just sit around and listen to the radio (when it manages to work). Once in awhile Mom or Aunt Clarice, who usually visits during this time, will tell me stories about long ago when they were kids. And how life was run in the magic realm, where they grew up. And where Aunt Clarice still lives.
Yesterday we all spent the day baking a lot. We backed cupcakes and cookies and cakes and muffins and bread. Normally none of us are really into cooking. But for winter celebrations we always have lots of food.
Today we ate a lot of that food. We stuffed our faces on cupcakes and cookies and muffins until we couldn't eat another crumb. Then we went for a walk to work it all off. We didn't go very far, just around a little bit. Not even a mile. Then we walked back without a problem.
After that we were all way too tired and stuffed to do anything else, so we all fell asleep and took a nap until dinner. Today we ate dinner lightly, but later we'll stuff our faces for that, too. I always like winter celebrations.
Yesterday we stuffed our faces with dinner. Today we rested and did nothing. Aunt Clarice and Mom sat around talking about stuff that didn't really interest me, so I went for a walk in the woods.
Normally I'm not supposed to go walking in the woods. But after our walk the other day I felt like exploring more of the area. I saw some tracks that I'm sure were wolves, and some slightly smaller ones that must have been foxes. There were plenty of deer tracks around, but no bears. They're probably sleeping this time of year.
I went a different direction this time than we did when we went all together, and I reached the side of a hill. Not a big hill, but a hill nonetheless. I climbed to the top of it and could see for miles and miles. If it had been night, it would be a great way to see the stars. To one direction I could see the roof of our little house, covered with snow like the rest of the landscape. Far beyond that I could see lights and buildings and I figured that must be the closest town. In the other direction I could see another town, but it was further away.
One of the sled dogs must have followed me, because just then, while I was standing there thinking, he jumped out of the trees and nearly scared me half to death.
That's when I decided that out in the woods it is a good idea to stay alert to your surroundings. So I walked down the opposite side of the hill, always listening for some thing else that was coming. I used my mind, too, trying to sense if there was another mind coming towards mine. Animal minds aren't the same as ours, of course, but they still have thoughts and instincts that make it impossible for them to sneak up on a telepath who is paying attention.
I got so caught up in sensing and listening that I didn't realize how far I went or where I was. I was scared for a minute, but then I remembered. I could teleport! The whole idea got me so excited. Anytime you're lost I don't have to worry about it because I could just teleport from where I am to home again.
So I did, and I brought the dog that had followed me with me. Then I left him by the barn with the other dogs and went back inside. Mom and Aunt Clarice were still talking and didn't seem to even notice that I had been gone. I went to the kitchen and made myself some hot chocolate. That was when I noticed the stone was glowing.
You remember that stone that George gave me that was on a chain? It was glowing again! It had glowed once or twice before, but now it was glowing again. And I don't know why.
I was going to ask Mom and Aunt Clarice about it, but they seemed so busy talking that I didn't want to ask them about it. Instead I just sat down with my hot cocoa and went to work on the hat that I'm sure will never be finished.
Back to main page
Back to part six
