Melanie's Witch Series Part 11: Childhood Part 2

Melanie’s teen years past without so much as a whisper of magic sprinkled in. Spells seem to be just out of her fingertip reach.Not one book had shown up in years. On her sixteenth birthday everything was about to change. Little did Melanie know how much.

It was a chilly day in April the day Melanie turned 16. She woke up when the sun danced upon her pillowcase. It tickled her eye lids and she slowly responded with a flutter of her long thick eyelashes. She squinted and strained against the morning’s cheery brightness as her eyes settled on focusing in on her dresser across her room. She sat up and her curls were tousled all around her head. They were a mess from her tossing and turning in anticipation of her 16th birthday. She went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and bounced downstairs. As she came to the bottom of the stairs, she stepped into the kitchen where her mom greeted her with balloons of all colors and a splendid HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout! Melanie smiled and ran into her mother’s arms.

Her mother said, “Your present is out front.”

Melanie tore out the front door in her nightgown and saw a gorgeous yellow bike. It had a large cushioned seat and a handmade basket that her mother made for her sweet sixteen. The tires had white wall tires like you would see on a 1950s automobile. She always wanted a bike. Main street was close and the bike would allow her the freedom to explore it alone. Melanie’s mom had given her some freedom for her sixteenth birthday.

Melanie ran back into the house once she realized she was still in her nightgown. Her mother ushered her into the kitchen where she made her her traditional birthday breakfast. Pancakes as fluffy as white clouds, bacon as crisp as new dollar bills, and eggs as sunny as the sun that woke her up that morning. She ate every last bite. Turning 16 had given her an appetite.

After a proper shower and putting clean clothes on, Melanie threw on her blue converse sneakers and headed for that new yellow bike that was begging to be ridden. Her mother told her she just needed to let her know where she would be going and how long approximately that she would be gone, so that she did not worry about her riding around alone. Melanie agreed and told her mom where she planned on going and when she planned on being home.

Melanie climbed on her bike and she felt a surge of power race through her. This was her ride to freedom. She could go out without her mother now. Her mother always kept one eye on her since she was in her early teens and those magical books kept appearing from no where. They were instructing her on how to perform magic, but her mom wondered who would instruct her on the cost of doing magic.

Melanie biked down the street that would lead her to First St. She would ride up it and turn onto Main from there. She bounced alone on her happy yellow looking bike as if she had not a care in the world.Her red curls falling and rising with every bump in the road. Her hands holding tightly to the handlebars and her eyes darting along side roads watching for cars. All of sudden a car came out of no where and she was almost hit. Her instincts were to freeze time, but she knew it would attract attention she did not want. She tried to dive onto a soft grassy area so the fall would not hurt her. She barely missed the car that swerved at the last second to miss her. Before she hit the ground she accidentally froze time. She needed a minute for herself to realize she was OK and safe. She got up from the ground and saw she had grass stains all over the side of her sweater, but was thankful it was not her blood she was looking at. She checked the bike, herself, the car, and the driver. All were frozen as she walked around them all. She lay back where she fell and unfroze time. Melanie knew her powers were growing in strength and she would have to have a discussion with her mom about them. Melanie was not ready for that talk, especially not on her Sweet Sixteenth birthday.Instead Melanie biked farther into town.

Melanie had been biking into town every day since receiving this beautiful yellow bike several months ago. She had only frozen time that once. She was learning how to control her anger, her powers, and her attitude towards others. Sixteen years old and she had wicked mood swings. She was struggling to figure out who she was as a person, but also as a witch.

Melanie had given up hope of a new magical book appearing before her. There were none appearing to rush and teach her about magic. Her patience were wearing thin. One day while biking into town she took matters into her own hands and went into an old bookstore. She dove into piles of old books. She looked for history, witch craft, spells, but found nothing. When she walked back out to her bike there was a large red leather book resting in her basket. She walked back into the store. It smelled of oak and cedar she thought, she took a deep breath and walked to the cashier area. She had seen no one before, but called out “Hello?” Briskly a tiny bald headed stick of a man popped up and blurted out “Helllllllloooooo.” Melanie was startled and jumped. She took a minute to regain her composure and asked the man if he had seen anyone outside by her bike, he had said he did not. She walked back to her bike confused. She turned to wave goodbye to the man, but he had vanished. This did not look like any of the other books that appeared before, so she was skeptical that it appeared on its on. She hopped onto her bike and fled away from this odd bookstore, which come to think of it she had never seen before, no wonder she was skeptical of this new book. Who had placed it there?

Back on her yellow bike, moving away from that odd store, Melanie realized she had no idea where she was actually headed and turned off Main onto Maple and saw a park squarely ahead. Yes she would pull off and look at this book alone. She parked her bike, found a table, sat and looked at the book. She stroked the book spine and her own spine tingled. Magic. She actually giggled out loud. It had been years since a book appeared to her. She was excited to read this as fast as she could. She picked the book up in both hands now and could feel the weight of it. This was a serious book. It looked antique. It was red old worn leather cover with animals embossed into it. It had an elephant, a tiger, cats, cows, and snakes. All sacred animals. It looked like it was generations old. It scared her to have such a valuable book, well she assumed it was valuable. She could ask that little bald man at the bookstore, but he frightened her. The way he looked at her like she was a piece of meat to be devoured. Yes she would avoid him.

She finally oped the book and the writing was in a old script with large loopy letters. It was written on velum paper and seemed like it was faded a little bit. Each page seemed to have some new recipe on it. She never heard of the items needed to make these concoctions. She jerked her head back at a noise heard by the bushes behind her. A moment later a rabbit leapt out, ran under her table and vanished. An omen! She slammed the book shut, scared she packed it into the basket, barely kicked back her kickstand, and biked as fast as she could home. She still had a feeling someone was watching her. She did not slow down until she got to her house. She dropped her bike in the front yard, ran into the house, locked the door, and slid down the back of the door panting for breath. “The book” thought Melanie. She checked that no one was out there, she ran out for the book, back in, and her eyes burned with tears. She slammed the deadbolt into place and ran to her mom. Her mom saw that she was pale, panting, and had a new book. She understood without words, but Melanie tried to explain,“This bike, this book, someone was watching me.”

Her mom looked at the book. It was indeed a valuable book. Her mother remembered when it appeared to her own mother. That was the year her mother paid for magic with her life. She would not tell her daughter this. She calmed Melanie down and told her to yield this book, its knowledge, and its recipes with much trepidation. That this book held an immense amount of magic. Melanie regretted instantly the freedom that the bike allowed her. The next few days she was held up in her room reading this book, but her bike, well it sat in the garage attracting spiders to make webs on it and Melanie had no intention of ever riding out again.

Photo by pixabay.com

Happy Haunting

xo

Debbie