The water was so peaceful. It almost looked like glass if it wasn't for the occasional splash of a fish.
I was astonished at how large the lake had gotten. Back home, our "lake" was a pond compared to this lake. I enjoyed sitting by a tranquil lake surrounded by knee-high grass and willow trees. The clear and still water reflected the vibrant colors of the foliage on the other side of the lake. The sun was a mild, warm blanket warming me down to my soul.
I breathed in the fresh air, listening to the gentle rustle of leaves and the soft chirping of birds. It was so quiet and yet so full of life. I felt utterly relaxed as if nothing in the world could bother me.
Then the birds got angry. The chirps got more insistent. I looked around, starting to feel worried. But nothing seemed wrong. Only the angry birds were getting louder and more insistent. I turned back to the lake and started to see the face of Nayan looking at me about 10 feet away from the bank. Her form was shimmering like magic, but her facial expression switched between seductive flirtations and cannibalism.
I jumped up, summoning my wand, but with a blink, the gentle sun and gorgeous lake disappeared, replaced by a room with the mean sun and angry birds still insisting on getting my attention.
I looked around in confusion, trying to figure out what was happening. The sound of chirping birds was still ringing in my ears, but no birds were in sight. I did realize I was standing on my bed, my wand clutched tightly in my hand, whirling around, trying to find the source of the sound.
Suddenly, my foot slipped and I lost my balance, falling off the bed and onto the floor. On the way down, I identified the sound coming from the desk a fraction of a second before I slammed with a loud thud into the floor. I groaned as I tried to pick myself up, rubbing my sore spots.
I heard laughter from the door and Uncle Paul's voice, even deeper than usual. "Good Morning, John. I was about to knock to see if you couldn't figure out how to turn off your alarm. I walked in cause I heard a thud. You okay, buddy?"
I slowly turned my head to look over my shoulder at the doorway. Sure enough, Uncle Paul was standing at the door with an amused expression on his face. I forced a weak smile and rubbed my head, feeling embarrassed.
"Yeah, I'm okay," I muttered, getting up off the floor and heading towards the desk. The alarm was still blaring without mercy, filling the room with an obnoxious bird noise. I fumbled around with the buttons for a few seconds. I couldn't figure it out, so Uncle Paul walked up and offered to show me. He put one finger on the circle and pulled in a direction, shutting the infernal birds up.
Uncle Paul smirked. "You must have had a good dream to sleep through that?"
I nodded, then froze, remembering the end of my dream. "Yeah, except the end was weird. Thanks for helping with the alarm."
Uncle Paul asked, "How did you wake up at home? Some sort of magic?"
I shook my head. "No, my parent's familiars took turns waking me up. Never let me sleep long enough to get woken up by the alarm."
Uncle Paul laughed as he headed out the door of my bedroom. "Well I'm sure Julie can lend you Sparky if you want."
I shuddered at the proposition.
I took a deep breath and shook off the lingering remnants of my dream as I went to the bathroom. I splashed some water on my face and brushed my teeth. Aunt Fraya explained and demonstrated how it works. My mouth still felt dirty, so I finished off with a quick sanitation spell. After that, I quickly got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen.
Aunt Fraya had already made food and had it on the table waiting for us. I was second to last to arrive, with Julie stumbling down the stairs with Sparky in her arms. We ate, talking about plans for the day. I would start with going with Uncle Paul and Jake to their business. We were going to see if I can work with them. Aunt Fraya was also going to work, leaving Julie home alone.
Julie complained, "I don't want to stay home alone."
Aunt Fraya responded, "You are a big girl now. You don't need a sitter. But if you really are worried about it, do you want to come to work with me?"
Uncle Paul interrupted, "Julie, you'll need to learn to be responsible sooner or later. If you learn sooner, it will be easier."
Aunt Fraya frowned but didn't say anything. Julie thought about it for a second and asked with a smile, "Can I call Emma to come over? She's gonna be bored, too."
Uncle Paul thought about it for a second. "Do your chores first, then call."
Julie nodded assuredly. Aunt Fraya seemed anxious but didn't say anything. We finished breakfast and headed out the door, with Jax and Apollo barking their farewells.
Since it was close, Aunt Fraya walked to work as I followed Uncle Paul and Jake to the second garage. Inside stood 3 cars, a few motorcycles, and some other contraptions I was going to have to ask about later. Uncle Paul and Jake were standing in front of the cars, scowling at each other. I was starting to get nervous, thinking I might need to choose sides.
Out of nowhere, they each raised a fist in front of themselves and yelled, "Rock paper scissors shoot!" Something happened; they flashed some sort of signs with their hands, and Jake yelled in defeat as Uncle Paul explained in victory, both fists raised. My anxiety gave way to confusion.
"What just happened," I timidly asked.
Uncle Paul looked at me with a smirk. "We are taking my car to work today."
Jake yelled, "SHOTGUN!" causing me to jump. Pointing the finger at me, he added smugly, "You're folding your self yourself in the back."
I had no idea what shotgun was but at least the instructions were clear. I awkwardly climbed into the back of Uncle Paul's car, trying to fold myself as best I could to make room for Jake in the passenger seat. My head bumped against the ceiling as I settled in, feeling like a giant in this tiny back seat of the angler-looking car.
Uncle Paul glanced at me in the mirror and said, "Sorry, if this becomes a thing, we will take Jake's car. The Charger has a better backseat than the Mustang."
Jake rejoiced as Uncle Paul started the engine, and we pulled out of the garage, that opened and closed by some sort of magic. After a minute, we passed Aunt Fraya walking. Uncle Paul slowed down, opened a window, and yelled, "Hey there, hot stuff!"
Jake stuck his face in his hands. I managed to see Aunt Fraya blush and wave a hand at us as we drove away. "Dad, you don't have to do something like that every single day." Uncle Paul didn't respond; he just started chattering away, pointing out landmarks, the library and telling stories about different cars they had done work on in the past.
It took us less than ten minutes to get to their auto-body shop. The process of getting out of the car was actually more challenging than getting in. Eventually, Jake stopped laughing long enough to lend me a hand to get out of the back seat.
Uncle Paul opened to the glass front door, and Jake unlocked the large rolling garage doors, revealing a spacious workshop filled with tools, car parts, and half-finished vehicles. The smell of motor oil and exhaust fumes filled the air, assaulting my nose, making me wrinkle my nose and turn away, seeking fresh air.
"Alright, John, let's give you the grand tour," Uncle Paul said with a smile, seemingly not noticing the acrid smell. They walked me around the shop, pointing out various pieces of equipment and explaining their functions. A pair of large lifts was in the center of the room for hoisting cars off the ground and several large sets of tool cabinets filled with wrenches, sockets, and other mechanical tools. They also showed me their computer system for diagnosing problems and ordering parts.
I didn't notice the hole in the ground and almost fell into it. Uncle Paul and Jake both grabbed me as I was already teetering, yanking me to safety.
Finishing up the tour, Uncle Paul clapped me on the back. "Don't worry, John, we'll make a grease monkey out of you yet."
I looked at him in desperate confusion. "I have no idea what that means or what most of what you explained is."
Uncle Paul froze for a moment and looked confused at Jake, who just started laughing. "What do you mean? I thought you were following everything we were saying," Uncle Paul said, looking puzzled.
I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. "I mean, I understand that you guys fix cars, but that's about as much as I understood," I explained, feeling a little stupid.
Jake kept laughing, but Uncle Paul just shook his head and patted me on the back with less confidence. "Don't worry about it, John. We'll teach you everything you need to know. It'll take time, but you'll get there," he said with a nervous smile. Looking at Jake, he added, "Can you lead him around for a bit and get started on your projects. Also, don't forget you wanted Friday off, so you must finish everything by Thursday."
"Who's partying where on Friday?" A familiar gruff voice came from the large rolling doors. Looking over, I saw Jacob coming in with wolf toothed smile. "By the way, boss, Emma said Julie called her and invited her over. Just giving you a heads up."
Jake waved for me to follow him. We greeted Jacob, and I followed Jake to a car on the large lift. He explained the project was to fix the breaks on this car.
I watched as Jake grabbed a tool and started removing the wheel and then the brake caliper, explaining each step as he went. I tried to follow along but quickly found myself lost in the tangle of metal and wires. Jake noticed my confusion and tried to explain things more simply, but it didn't seem to help. After a while, he just asked me to stand back and watch, telling me to ask any questions if I had them.
I felt frustrated with myself. I wanted to be helpful, but I had no idea what I was doing. I watched as Jake worked, feeling useless but still trying to learn what I could. Eventually, he finished fixing the brakes and asked me to help him put the wheel back on while he went to the next wheel. It was a simple task, but even then, I fumbled with the lug nuts, dropping one on the ground and taking too long to get them going.
Jake didn't seem annoyed. Just smiled and said, "Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey." That didn't make sense, so he walked around the car and showed me how to operate the wrench to tighten the bolts. But I could tell he didn't need me for this job, and I felt like I had wasted his time.
Uncle Paul must have noticed me standing with my hands in my pockets. He came over and asked how everything was going. Jake was gracious in his assessment but concluded that he didn't really need my help at the moment. Uncle Paul waved to me to follow and led me over to where Jacob was working on another car and explained that Jacob needed help with installing the fender and light. To Jacob, he explained that I was being evaluated for a potential job.
Jacob nodded and gave me clear instructions on what to hold and twist. I was able to follow his instructions with a few corrections here and there. But in all fairness, I was not really beneficial. At one point, I was supposed to turn some screws that were hard to reach. I looked at Jacob and asked if he thought it was fine if I used magic. He shook his head and said it would cause problems if an enforcer showed up. I explained that I was fully licensed, but he was clear that it wouldn't work unless I could do the work without magic in the first place.
I sighed and kept struggling. Eventually, I gave up, and Jacob finished, where I failed for 20 minutes in under 30 seconds.
I hunched my shoulders as Jacob tried desperately to cheer me up. Uncle Paul probably had a 6th sense for his shop because he materialized over my shoulder and asked if we were done. Jacob gave his report in a very charitable light, but I still got the sense that Uncle Paul was less than impressed.
He told me to follow him to try my hand at soldering. He led me to a station where there was a fan pulling air away from us, placed a set of wires in a clamp in front of me, and told me to copy what he was doing on the wires in front of him.
With an expert hand, he connected and fused the wires with the wand-looking tool while holding another wire in his other hand. It took him maybe 15 seconds a wire when the tool heated up. Then he motioned for me to try.
And try I did. For 15 minutes. On one wire. And after I thought it finally wouldn't break, it snapped as soon as Uncle Paul picked it up to examine it.
With a sigh, Uncle Paul turned off the tools and turned and turned to me.
Uncle Paul looked at me and sighed again, shaking his head. "John, you're positively counterproductive," he said with a hint of frustration in his voice. "I'm willing to give you a chance, but I think it might be best if you explore other options as well. I don't think you look thrilled here, and honestly, it will take a lot of work to teach you how to do this job."
I felt deflated, emotionally exhausted, and also a bit relieved. I thanked him for his honesty and his offer, promising to think about it seriously. Maybe this wasn't the right path for me. Uncle Paul suggested that I give the library with Aunt Fraya a try. I thanked him, walked around to Jake and Jacob, explained that I would leave soon and thanked them for their patience.
As I left the shop, I walked to the street and realized I had no idea where I was going. Walking back in, I asked for directions. Uncle Paul said it was the library he pointed out across from the school and next to the firefighter house and Sheriff's station.
I looked visibly confused but said I would try to find it. If anything, I would come back. Walking back to the street, I looked around, and summoned my wand and held it reverse grip, hiding it up my sleeve. I activated a search and locate spell at the same time closed my eyes and focused on Aunt Fraya. In my mind, I sensed many beings, a few of them magical, which surprised me. After several seconds, I opened my eyes just as a wispy shimmering flame avatar climbed out of my sleeve and waddled away on the sidewalk in the direction where we drove from that morning.
I followed the wisp for a good 30 minutes, taking a walk to work through my emotions. Worst case scenario, I won't get either job and need to learn to function in the non-magical realm first, then look for another job. My desperation and pity ended well before I reached the library. When I walked up to the property, I dispelled the location spell and put the wand away.
I walked into the library, my eyes scanning the vast bookshelves and the cozy reading nooks. The smell of old books and freshly brewed coffee filled my nose, making me smile. I could absolutely see myself being at home here. As I approached the front desk, I saw Aunt Fraya, who greeted me with a warm smile.
"Hey John, how did the job practice work out?" she asked, her eyes filled with curiosity and anticipation.
I let out a small sigh and replied with tight lips, "It didn't go as well as I had hoped. Uncle Paul was willing to give me a chance, but I don't think it's the right fit for me." I glanced at the shelves and then back to Aunt Freya.
Her expression softened as she listened to my response. "I'm sorry to hear that, John. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll find the right path eventually. Sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to, but that doesn't mean we should give up."
Her words were comforting, and I appreciated her optimism. "Yeah, I guess you're right. You mentioned that your organization was also hiring?" I replied, a faint smile appearing on my face, my eyes filled with hope.
Aunt Fraya nodded with a chuckle. "Yes, we are. And you're always welcome here if you need any help or guidance. It is a lot more people work than dealing with machines." She looked down at my dirty hands and clothes. "You should go at least wash your hands extra clean." She winked and pointed to a bathroom
I thanked her for her support and walked into the bathroom. Inside, I locked the door and glanced at myself in the mirror, looking horrified. I was covered in oil stains everywhere. Aunt Fraya must be very used to this to not have reacted.
I quickly summoned my wand and used the cleansing and sanitation spells on myself and my clothing, looking at the mirror to make sure I got everything.
Giving myself a final look over, I put the wand away and walked out of the bathroom.
As I walked out of the bathroom, I could hear Aunt Fraya talking with a few patrons, their voices hushed as they discussed various books and literary topics. I waited for them to leave, approached the desk, and asked if there was anything specific I could do to help out with.
Aunt Freya smiled and looked me up and down "First, let us walk around, and I'll explain the programs and the job."
I nodded eagerly, happy to explore the book stacks. Aunt Fraya asked a girl to take over the front desk and lead me around the library. As Aunt Fraya led me around the library, she explained the different programs they offered, including children's storytime, book clubs, and educational workshops. She also gave me a brief overview of the responsibilities of a library assistant, which included shelving books, assisting patrons with finding books and organizing various materials.
As we walked, I couldn't help but feel a sense of comfort and belonging. The atmosphere was serene, and the people around me seemed content and happy. I was grateful to have found this place. Aunt Fraya then introduced me to the other staff members as we ran into them, who were all friendly and welcoming.
After the tour, Aunt Fraya asked what my thoughts were
"I'm very interested," I said to Aunt Fraya, smiling widely. "I think this would be a great opportunity for me to learn new skills and help others simultaneously." To emphasize my words, my stomach growled loudly.
Aunt Freya smiled and nodded. "That's great to hear, John. I think you would be a great fit here. Why don't you think about it for the rest of the day, and let me know tonight if you're still interested? And you should go home and grab some food."
I agreed and thanked Aunt Fraya for the opportunity. I turned to leave when Aunt Fraya called after me and told me which direction the house was in. I paused and explained that I would just use my own way of finding my way around for now. I jingled my bracelet, and she gave me a sad and pained smile. I froze, realizing I might be pushing a finger into an old wound, excused myself, and sprinted out of the library.
I walked in a random direction to find a place away from people to summon my wand and activate the search, and locate spells again. To my shagginess, I had to walk past the library again, following the wisp back home.
As I walked home, my mind buzzed with excitement and possibility. The thought of working at the library filled me with joy, and I couldn't wait to start this new chapter in my life. The wisp led me faithfully home, disappearing at the driveway.
As soon as I took one step on the driveway, Jax and Apollo came running up to me, their tails wagging furiously. They stopped right in front of me, and I hazard a pat. They didn't bite my hands off, so I guess we were becoming friends.
As I walked to the front door, the dogs escorted me as if to make sure I didn't go anywhere without them. I tried the front door, and it was open. I didn't know if I could let them, so I turned to them and said, "Stay outside, please."
They each barked once in protest, making me jump, but walked back to their giant dog house and laid down.
I smiled, turned to the door, and opened it, stepping over the threshold. I turned to take off my shoes and heard a scream behind me, making me jump out of my skin.