I don’t know what to do. Father has killed himself. I never thought he would do something like that. Thinking about all the happy days we use to have makes my heart ache and makes me want to cry. Why, why did he do that? I try to ask Mother but she is too grieved to answer. She doesn’t seem to care about if she eats or drinks anymore, because she just sleeps all day to wake up and cry quietly into her pillow. What am I to do? I just busy myself by cleaning our little hut and tending the garden. Maybe he killed himself.....because he wasn’t happy. That sounds stupid because we were always a loving family and even though we’re poor we get along. He even liked his job . Don’t mind those little specks of water, I dropped my tea on this. No, I’m not crying! I never cry. Really, it’s just a waste of time and I want to be a knight and they never show their emotions. But I know that dream is stupid because I am poor. I have to be one of those nobles who go around in fancy clothes and have fun killing animals hunting. Mother has woken and is pacing up and down the room like there’s no tomorrow. I better check her out.
From your friend-Lady Knight, ( I wish)
Natalie.
Natalie closed her diary and rushed into the next room.
- Ma, are you all right?
A bent figure by the window trembled slightly and a woman’s face appeared. Her face that was once probably beautiful was now wrinkled up and her hair had turned into a shade of white. She turned away and sobbed. But after a few minutes, she lifted her chin up and faced Natalie who was getting a bit scared at this frail woman who was her mother.
- Natalie. Sit. I-
She coughed heavily and tried to gulp at some air.
- Mother, stay here. I’ll get some new bedsheets and a cup of tea with some herbal medicine.
Nat walked out of the room and closed the door. She slid down to the floor and bit her lip. What had happened to her mother? The once beautiful, radiant,happy and energetic mother she had once known was gone. What to do? Her mother was killing herself slowly by doing all this.
She stood up again and grabbed some sheets from a closet and saw a few rats scurrying through a hole in the wall. She put the sheets on the table of the kitchen and ran into the garden like she use to do when her father use to come home from work. She tried to pretend everything was all right, but it was too hard to do. Carefully plucking the right herbs for the medicine, she put them in her dress pocket and walked back into the hut. Nat knew she had to make some sort of potion to make it into real medicine but she had not the adequate amount of teaching in magic so she had not a clue how to do it. Trying to remember what her father use to do when he did magic, she closed her eyes and muttered a few words, and peeked at the tea cup hoping for a result; but there was not even a change of color or taste.
- Natalie.
Nat looked over her shoulder and saw her mother in the doorway.
- Mother! Why did you get out of bed?!
- I’m all right. I’m worried about you, running around the house, cleaning up... I’ve never taught you magic have I? It’s a very delicate tool that can be used wisely or unwisely. Some use it for power, others to help others. I am not an experienced sorceress or witch, so I can only make a few simple spells such as herbal medicines and healing minor wounds. I do not know or have enough knowledge to tell if you have the Gift in you or not. I need to know so I can teach you, so I’m bringing you in a few days to a sorceress in the next village. Now watch and remember:
Whenever you want to do some sort of spell you need the will. That means you really want to do it and you’re forcing the magic out of you. The next step is how to control it. Because if you don’t have control, you could hurt yourself or blow up the house in these circumstances. In a few days you can master a spell without having a headache after or without having to concentrate as much.
Staring at the cup, her ma said a few words, then walked to the cup.
- See? The color changed from brown to orange and there is smoke comin’ out. There you have it. We're going tomorrow to the sorceress and be on your best behaviour.
