My hand reaches for the keys in my pockets. As quietly as possible I proceed to open the door. I know she isn’t a light sleeper, but better safe than sorry. The standard creaks of the rusty hinges mark the end of another mystery solved. I hang my coat back on the rack, the same autistic way as always. My stomach protests to the lack of food. I turn myself to walk to the kitchen, but there she is, sat on the sofa. “Had a good night?” Sophie asks. My mind races, quickly trying to find an excuse. She was supposed to be asleep, though, I guess that comes with puberty too. “Just had to run some errands.” I replied with a distinct sound of unbelievability in my voice. The TV in front of her is turned on. It’s the news about the robbery this evening. The one I had been involved in. “Crazy how this stuff always happens when you are running errands,” Sophie says as she turns her head to the screen. Before I can reply, she continues. “I am not stupid, dad. Not anymore at least.” There is both anger and sadness in her voice. “I just don’t understand why you would have to lie to me about it. I’m your daughter after all.” She says as her eyes start to tear up. I knew this would come. I take the keys and levitate them over the palm of my hand. “I know you’re not, Soph. You’re the brightest girl I know.” I say as she looks at the levitating keys in awe. “I’m sorry.” Suddenly she shoots ip from the sofa, runs towards me and tightly squeezes me in an embrace. The keys fall onto the tiles below and all I can think is: “what now?”

And there it was, breaking the pattern of rolling hills, a purple cloud erupting from the ground. As if a massive campfire had been lit. Stephan was waving his hands in a swirly motion. I couldn’t quite make out what made it repetitive, yet it somehow made sense. It’s what I had done for years. Embracing the natural flow my body wanted to move in. I could tell he was doing the exact same thing right here. Though, my movements never made this appear. The smoke-like, I guess “Magic”, kept growing as it started reaching for the stars. It looked so powerful, though it was peaceful in its movement. I asked myself why he took me here, why he decided to show me this. I wanted to ask, but one look at him and it was clear to me that he was in a state where he wouldn’t even hear my question. The cloud reached for us. In a matter of seconds we were embraced in the eye of a purple, hazy storm. Once fully enveloped, Stephan raised his arms towards the sky and start swirling. Slowly but surely the cloud started moving in a counter clockwise direction. Then, suddenly, he stopped. The cloud kept its momentum and Stephan turned towards me. He layed both of his hands in mine. “This. This right here is what I want to teach you. It will bring you so much farther in life than you would have ever expected.” He said. “Is that a promise?” I asked in return as my eyes locked in with his. “It’s a promise.” Stephan said. As soon as he spoke those words, I could see the purple cloud be eaten by the ground. Bringing back the backdrop of rolling hills, and bringing us back to the world of where there are more than just the two of us.