Hey I’m Clarence! And I just want to tell you guys a story about how I ended up as cow chief of wizardry at wiz corp. it’s because im a wiz duh. Well not literally. You see I’m from a small town of wizards. Actual wizards. No like seriously, in order to live on this town you have to be a wizard. And I understand, Create that safe space for wizards to be able to live and express them selves and form community’s. Only problem is, I’m not an actual wizard. I don’t have powers. But I can’t tell Anyone or I will fail to meet the requirements to live in this area. So I lied and told everyone that my magical ability is to see the future. Which is perfect because…. Nobody wants to known their future. When you get a certain age you have to prove your magical abilities to the “processes” I passed with flying colors! They didn’t even bother to test my magical abilities. I’ve been able to exist in this city without having to deal with any problems. Nobody bothering me, nobody trying to use my “powers” because nobody wants to know their future. Until one day someone did and my life completely changed.

“Ya know, it’s always cargo pants with you everyday rain or shine.” Stu says his eyes squinting at me.

I flop down on the threadbare lawn chair next to him and toss him back a middle finger. Since Stu turned away, the baseball that he was. keeping in air flung back down to a kid desperately waving for him to give it back.

“Hey don’t be a jerk he’s just a kid.” Yasmine says from her spot on a treestump a foot away from us. She then goes back to melting the small metal rods into cage shapes around a set of amethyst necklaces, using only her index finger. Though it was less flashy then inane telekinesis , I had always admired Yasmine’s spell binding much more than Stu’s. Stu only admired that she made a profit from her binding . And that she was a girl, up until Dallas Pamdel asked her out to the Spring Fling.

Since then the two were at odds. The only time they talked to each other was to argue about if they were even actually dating at all, and on how noncomital Stu is/was. That’s why since April I’ve carried Advil in my cargo pants pockets. Among other things. Simply just ‘insurance items’ I liked to call them.

“So do you want to start orrrrr should I?” Stu asks unenthusiasticly. Yasmine shrugs and mouths something to him.

Wait. Why am I even here? Summer is peak Yasmine busy season. And it was for Stu too. His schedule mostly comprising of harassing beach goers. Interspersed with his random ‘Good Deeds’ . Like helping an overworked mom load her groceries or get a kite out of a tree. His syrupy smarmy smile at the end always warrented me punching him in the side.

“Start what?” I ask sitting up straight in the old lawn chair, my hands suddenly clammy.

“Relax… Relax…” Yasmine whisper shouts. Putting down her metal rods. “We’re just concerned about your… uhm…. binding” Yasmine finishes her words attempt at sensativity but still hit hard like a sharpened sword.

“Or lack there of…” Stu says snickering into his ‘Sprite’ can.

Yasmine swats her hand at his thigh. Landing a light singe on his shorts.

I stutter, fumbling to come up with an excuse. Or to be more accurate on that I haven’t used already.

For some stupid reason my tween self had chosen water as binding. It was easy to prove to people at first. Bringing water to a boil: carry lithium around in small amounts, Predict rainfall: Stupidly simple, followed some lesser known wives tales and tricks from pre industrial science, Bend water in the pool around you: saw a trick once where you put your fingers a certain way and spin to move it. But eventually my two bit tricks would lose their charm, and soon after their beliviblity.

I copped out and produced a strangled sounding “Why?”. The lithium and notepad felt heavier in my pant pocket. Some insurance.

“Well for one, you barely use it, like casually you know?” Stu says leaning back further in the lawn chair.

“Well would you rather I spill some puddle gunk on a random kid?” I shoot back defensively.

“I mean kinda, in a less Stu way, you have to market yourself, ya know network. Scouts are everywhere. They aren’t gonna wait for you to do it once in a blue moon.” Yasmine responds, her voice still attempting a sensitive tone.

Easy for her to say. It’s LITERALLY business as usual for her, even more casual for Stu the wunderkind.

I let out a long sigh and weigh my options, if my closest friends are telling me this now, how obvious was it for everyone else?

I have some other tricks saved up for insurance. I wanted to keep them to tell off random freaks and my family, but sooner now than never.

I adjust my “new bracelet” further into my hoodie sleeve. I watch the two of them carefully, making sure they don’t look at my wrist. I attach it’s long tube ending to a small plastic bladder I keep inside some of my hoodies. I pray there is some water left and lift my hand dramatically toward the center of our small circle. The bracelet and bladder thankfully don’t move and are still holding under the sleeve.

Water springs out from my hand. Looking absolutely magical. Just as intended.

I close my fist and get up to leave.

“So screw you all.” I say in an apathetic tone. While internally I’m a mix of anxiety and fear. In a sea of my own lies I am uninsured and unsure.

Sorry, using prompt as excuse to talk about one of my favourite insects…!

As old as time, Odonata. Not magical, just a born survivor. Aerial expert, I’m a helicopter.

Weaving and diving. Surviving, dare I say thriving? Incomplete metamorphosis eating power, like a hippopotamus

A conjurer of tall order. Molting, changing, Physical recorder. Nymph-like, a damsel In distress.

Water, faster.

D i s s a p e a r i n g

Losing my space,

Total disaster.

——

Nearly a fifth of the world’s dragonflies and damselflies are at risk of extinction:

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/dragonflies-extinction-wetlands-damselfly-iucn-b1973016.html

I live in a small town, far away from the rest of the world. It’s a seemingly ordinary town, with church on Sunday, a close knit community, and a suburban look. But one thing I know is that this town is the furthest thing from ordinary. Everybody in this town as old as time has ability’s. Almost like magic. Most people have the basic ability’s and some have even more. Most meaning I don’t. And that’s why I must protect this secret with my life. People here believe that this town was created to purify the world and regular humans are the the toxin wasting the world away. So we have human hunters. They kill the humans and bring them all to burn at the stake. Some say that’s even how the power is fueled. With the blood of mortals. But that’s just a myth. My family used the excuse I was a weakling. Meaning my powers went as strong as others. Sure that meant I was disrespected by the community, but it’s much better than the other option. The problem is today I won’t be able to hide Being human. Usually I make an excuse like I have to wash up for dinner, or use tricks to make it seem like I do have ability’s but today is choosing day. Every sixteen year old must show of their ability’s to see which job suits them best. My issue is I can’t show of an ability I don’t have.

I stand in the line with about forty other sixteen year olds. Most look proud, confidently practicing their ability’s. A girl next to me moves a flower from side to side with her mind, and a boy near the front of the line begins throwing flames. And here I am, nervously shifting which foot I’ll put my weight on, trying to think of what I can do. The thought of being burned at the stake leaves sweat trickling down my neck.

One by one they call the kids names and I begin getting closer and closer to the front of the line. With each step I take forward I feel my heart leap out of my chest. The kid in front of me goes and that leaves me at the front of the line. Maybe I should have run away? No, that would have been a guaranteed death. From what I’ve been told, the nearest town is hundred of miles away.

The kid exits the room with a smile on his face as he strides past the kids left.

“Wanda Prince” a voice says from inside the room”.

I try moving my leg forward but it stays put to the ground. I I get caught, I’ll run to the mountains. Starving to death is better than burning.

I enter the room where a man and a woman sit in a desk with a few dozen other adults surrounding them. They are not just any couple. They are the leaders of the town.

“Now Wanda, can you begin your…performance” says the man. He toys with his ring as he spins it around his finger.

“Sure-just we need to go outside for it” I say.

The man and the woman stand up but the group of people stay put.

“Very well” he says.

We go outside and the harsh wind dries my eyes. I’ve always been really fast at running, even without ability’s, I can run as fast as people with them.

“Well my best ability is running”.

The woman breaks out in laughter but the man only shakes his head. “That’s what’s to be expected by a weakling”.

I wiggle my fingers and take a deep breath in, but I don’t let it out. If I think I’m doing badly I’ll just keep on running.

“You may begin” says the man sounding ever so slightly annoyed.

I take of and close my eyes shut to stop the wind from getting the sand in my eyes. I begin running and quickly run back. That was probably a record of the fastest I’ve ever run.

“I guess we can get some use out of her has a human hunter” the woman says to the man.

He nods and the both walk away. I feel excited and proud for a moment until I remember what job I have. I’ll have to be faking it for the rest of my life. Hiding. And even worse, I’ll have to kill my own kind.

“Good morning, Mx. Heart!”

Mx. Heart smiled warmly. Lukas was hovering in midair a few inches above the ground, waving.

“Ah, Lukas,” Mx. Heart said, tossing back their long dark hair. “Always greeting your elders! What a kind young man you are.”

“I do my best,” Lukas said, shrugging.

“Hah! You should see him when I have to wake him every dawn,” his twin brother, Sakul, said. Small fires flickered along the tips of Sakul’s fingers. When he held up his hand, he allowed the flames to weave between one another, as if in a dance. “He’s not such a kind young man when he whaps you in the face with a pillow.”

Mx. Heart laughed. “You boys.”

“And how are you doing, Mx. Heart?” Sakul continued. “How are your students?”

“Quite well! Most of them have already manifested their magic. But a few the younger ones haven’t yet.”

“Any interesting powers?”

“Hm… not anything extraordinarily unusual. Well, there is one little boy can make flowers bloom, and a girl who can summon any sword within walking distance.”

“Cool,” Lukas said shortly. He cleared his throat. “Actually, Mx. Heart, I’ve been meaning to ask you a cooking question—“

“And, oh! We have a student who can manipulate constellations!”

“Seriously?!” Sakul cried. “That’s fascinating!”

“Surely not as fascinating as twins, masters of wind and fire,” Mx. Heart said, giving both of them a wink.

Lukas managed to force a laugh. “Yes! Right. Wind and fire. Now, about that cooking question. If you combine a pinch of—“

“You should come by the campus sometime!” Mx. Heart cried suddenly. “I so miss having you boys around. If you’ll pardon my honesty, in all truthfulness I was actually quite sad when you left for the upper school. It meant I wouldn’t get to see your beautiful faces each and every day!”

Sakul blushed. “Please, don’t flatter me—“

Lukas elbowed him.

“—us,” Sakul corrected quickly. “Please don’t flatter us. We only manifested two years ago, and we’re not even close to being done with our training.”

Mx. Heart waved a hand. “Oh, please. Everyone knows you’re both going to be the most talented Mages in all of the kingdom. I mean, look at you!”

They gestured to Lukas, who abruptly realized he was now much farther up off the ground than he had been when the conversation started— at least five feet farther.

Lukas shot Sakul a panicky look, and with a quick nod of Sakul’s head, Lukas drifted back down to the grass.

So quick, in fact, that Mx. Heart barely noticed.

Sakul cleared his throat. “We should really be going, Mx. Heart. We’re going to be late for our first class of the day.”

“Nice talking to you,” Lukas said stiffly.

“Nice talking to you too, boys!” Mx. Heart said cheerily.

They snapped their fingers, there was a loud POP!, and then they were gone.

Lukas rubbed his ears, turning to face his brother. “Okay, ouch. They really don’t have to teleport EVERYWHERE they go, do they?”

“They like to show off their magic, I guess,” Sakul said.

Lukas sighed. He kicked at the grass with his boot, hard enough that the toe of the leather took on a sickly green.

“That was a close one,” Sakul muttered after a minute.

“Yeah. It was.”

“Sorry.”

Sakul waved his hand, and a cool breeze blew over from the hills.

Lukas cringed.

“We can’t keep this up forever, you know,” Sakul said quietly. “You know we can’t.”

Lukas whirled on him. “Why not? We made it through a whole year of primary school and a whole year of upper school with none of the magic professors noticing. Who says they ever will?”

“Because… it’s lying! And you know how people in this kingdom talk. Eventually someone’s going to find out.”

“Come on. At least wait a few more years!”

Sakul sighed.

They stood together for a long moment in silence, Lukas still digging his boot into the earth, the fact that they were both supposed to go to class forgotten.

“We can keep it up until we come of age,” Sakul said finally. “Then at least we can legally run… and keep you hidden.”

“But we’re not telling anyone why,” Lukas said firmly. “Nuh-uh. No way. No way am I getting up and telling everyone, ‘hey, my twin has two powers and I have none! Surprise!!’“

Sakul exhaled. “No. But promise me we’ll run. To keep you safe. Promise?”

Lukas sighed. “Fine. I promise.”

It was midnight, again. One more hour, and I’ll go to bed. I dimmed my laptop screen a bit more. Maybe I should get some sleep, actually. Fine... half an hour then I’m off.

“Nathan, wake up! I’m going to make breakfast.” My mum yelled. Wait, what? Already? Did I really stay up all night again?

“Coming,” I shouted back, trying to sound like I’d just woken up.

I still had my clothes on from yesterday, so I had to stumble around trying to put my new uniform. I went downstairs to see my brother Michael toasting bread with his fire powers.

“Ready for Year 7, Nathan?” My dad asked.

“Yep,” I said. This was the day that I ‘find out’ my powers, but I already knew I had none. Almost 100% of people get a mark at birth to symbolise their power - which I didn’t - and most kids find it out before they turn 10.

I was 12. Going into a new school, but I had a plan.

I was never late to school. Harry had super speed and he took me and Mike each day, and it never seemed to get boring.

I didn’t have any friends. While everyone else went around asking each others’ powers, nobody asked me. Which helped, until tutor time. We had to go up to the front and say our name, power, and level, which is basically just a score out of ten for how good we are at our powers. You can pick your number, but anything above five has to be verified.

The register first - Bramble is my surname. But hopefully there will be people before me.

Joseph Adams. David Arnold. Fran Bass. Frederick Botts. And then me. I’d kind of worked out over time that kids lose interest after the first few, then pick it back up near the end, unless some said they were level ten or something.

“Hi... I’m Nathan Bramble. I have super intelligence and I am level two.” I said.

Great, nobody cared! I don’t even think the teacher was listening. Now I just had to keep up with my A level work at night and nobody would suspect a thing!

“What am I thinking then?” Khloe asked, obviously trying to suppress her smirk; the girl had been trying to catch me out for years.

“I’ve told you umpteen times,” I say with a put-upon sign for emphasis, “that’s not how my ability works.” I glare at her, and her cronies who are gathered at her back watching our exchange with rapt attention, over the top of my book.

She gestures minutely and her brother moves from his spot on the other side of the cafeteria. He seems to disappear from said spot and reappear behind my back in the same instance. I expertly dodge the attempt to reach over and grab my book from my hands.

This attempt is followed up by small fires appearing in midair on either side of me. I take a deep breath to reign in my annoyance before vaulting over Kai’s head; Kai being Khloe’s brother. I land and quickly press my back against Kai’s; from this position I can grab his hand and scratch at his palm with my nails. I feel his body jolt and then suddenly he’s back to himself.

“What the hell, Khloe,” he says and any eyes in the cafeteria that weren’t already trained on us turn in our direction. “I thought we agreed that you’d stop using that ability without my permission!”

I knew without having to look that Khloe was glaring at her twin. I also knew that wouldn’t stop Kai from speaking his mind; especially since she’d used this ability so soon after the last incident.

“Don’t look at my like that,” Kai said his breathing becoming increasingly ragged. “You have other abilities that don’t require manipulating me.” His body was shaking and his grip on my hand kept tightening and loosening rapidly.

I managed to wrestle my thumb out of his grip and started stroking it across the back of his hand. His breaths stuttered and then started to slow.

“I’m going and Seb is coming with me,” he says pulling my hand till I was standing by his side.

I quickly lean down to grab my rucksack and dodge an ice blast aimed at my head. I look up from my new vantage point to glare anew at the gaggle of individuals backing Khloe in her vendetta.

“Stop it,” Kai said staring down each individual in turn before landing back on his sister. “And you,” he says, “stop this.” He turns to me and offers me a small smile. “Do you wanna head out?”

I nod my head in response and follow him out of the cafeteria; he only lets go of my hand for a second, if that, while he grabs his shoulder bag from where he’d left it.

“Thanks for the lift, Kai,” I say waving him off, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The moment the door is at my back I sink down and rest my back against it. This was only going to get worse if someone didn’t decide to discipline Khloe and soon. My eyes drop shut but I manage to drag myself up the stairs to my room where I collapse on the bed face first.

You see, my hometown is full of people with magical abilities and I learned early on that a non-magical person, like me, would not fit in here; therefore I found a way to ‘fake it’.

One day I came across a collection of books in the library while my mother was talking to the rats down in the basement to see if they would be willing to relocate. The books were about a private detective who uses deduction and logical reasoning, often to others’ amazement, to solve cases.

I became obsessed with the series to the point that when the magical aptitude test, held just before we all started primary school, came around I took what I had learned and used it to appear ‘magical’. Somehow it had worked and from that point on I’ve continued to hone my skills. I live in constant fear of someone figuring it out; which is what Khloe appears to be trying to do. Hopefully I can hold it together till I can leave this nightmare of a town.

My town is called Magician. As you can guess everyone does things the easy way. I am an outsider here because I have no powers. My parents have powers but it never passed down to me. I did weird things like actually using my hands to pick up things. I even changed clothes in rather strange way. While everyone else was zapping away; I was the strange one. Can you imagine being the odd one out even in your own family?At first, I thought that I was a late bloomer. After all, I was born into a magical family. Everyone at school called me the “m” word “muggle”. I could not talk to my family about it because they wouldn’t understand. My sister taught me a few simple spells to impress every in Town. It did not work. I guess I will have to go a place where I am truly accepted. I am going to Miami.

Clicks of fingers, winks of eyes, waving of arms that’s all you saw as you walked down the wooded walk in the center of town. Even above the baby carriages you could see baubles and rings floating unattached to strings. At school every child was required to wear the unmagic woven mittens and the reflective unspectacular spectacles so that they could not play pranks during their educational hours. Lunch in the cafeteria was another matter as the mittens were off and everyone was wide eyed to see who could make the most mischief without being caught. Chairs moved when someone had reached across the table so that when they came to sit down again their buttocks found nothing there. Or sometimes a french fry might find its way into someone’s nose or ear. Each day was a challenge, but not for the others, just for him. He lacked what they called the ‘spark’ or ‘that spark’, the one everyone had. When he was very young his parents had been constantly hovering around him, doing the magic themselves that everyone else thought was his doing. They were all so impressed by such a young tot who worked wonders usually not seen until you were hit by puberty. At first at school it didn’t matter either, in kindergarten to fourth grade the kids all came with clothes and gloves that prevented the use of any kind of a magic which was a relief to the teachers having twenty students in their classes. Yet when the fifth class started it was thought best to give the children some freedom so that they might learn how to behave with their powers. That’s probably why the fifth and six class teachers pulled at their hair and were always a bit paler than the others in the faculty. So, the years of pretending to be a good boy by not using his magic at school had come to an end. Now everyone did it in secret just like smoking a cigarette behind the gym. The day had come and the three bullies as well and they looked at him and in a slithery sneer, “Bur—p—-ton!” Of course his name was not really that, it was ‘Burton’ after is great granddad, but those three loved to say his name with belchy sort of tone, so everyone simply called him that long throated, burpy name. He hated it and felt his face flame red. Again it came: “Bur—ppppp—-ton! Show us what you can do, show us that spark!” Their laughter erupted and their hands began to wave as they lifted from the ground with their magical might, whatever they might find, shriveled cigarette butts, pebbles and splinters of glass, up they went into the air, swirling above their heads and slowly pointing in his direction. For anyone else it would have just taken a blink of the eye or the snap of the fingers and it would have all fallen on the ground or simply disappeared in the air. Not for him, all that litter swirled in his direction and all he could do was fall and lay flat on the ground. He could feel it fall from above him and pelt him on the back as an uproarious laughter rose from those gathered around. A chant had begun: “Bur—-ppppp—-ton the sparkless, Bur——ppppp-ton not one of us!”

“Anyone going to use their magic to help me out?” A grumpy trader called out exasperated. “Mine isn’t suited to this... task.”

The back wheel was hanging off the edge of the particularly narrow path. The rest of the cart was safely positioned on the path, the trader safe but angry. A small crowd was forming around the trader and her cart.

Zayn nudged me and I stumbled forward.

“Go on Mikey, maybe your magic will kick in if you push hard enough!” He leered and the small group began to laugh.

“You, boy! Get my cart back on the path,” the trader spat with a glare.

“Look, I’m sorry ma’am. My magic isn’t suited to moving objects.” I shrunk under the crowd and the trader, embarrassed and humiliated.

“What is your magic? Your friend over there seemed to think you could help,” she seemed more confused now, her stare now curious.

I awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand. “My magic? It’s....problem solving..?” My voice came out weak and unsure as I mentally scolded myself. “I can see solutions quickly,” I sounded more confident this time.

“Problem solving, did you say nerd? I thought you were the only useless ones here. Why’ve you been keeping it quiet huh? Cos you’re lying!” Zayn was back at it again, guffawing and whispering to the others in the crowd.

“Well solve my problem kid, or get someone who can.” The trader scoffed and turned her back while chucking a small purse of coins up and down.

I glanced around wildly. There had to be something I could use lying around here somewhere. I spotted a large plank of wood propped up against a stall and ran up to the owner, asking quickly if I could borrow it for a second. I brought the plank over to the cart and began to slide the plank under the suspended wheel. The plank was long and sturdy, I balanced it carefully so it wouldn’t tip off the edge.

“Ma’am, could you possibly get in and try and move the cart forward?”

She spun round and looked the cart up and down. Wordlessly she walked forward and climbed into the cart and began to drive it forward. The small group looked on, all voices now hushed whispers. The cart smoothly drove back onto the path, all four wheels safely on land. The cart came to a halt and the trader climbed out, arm outstretched.

“Huh kid, suppose you were the right one for the job. Thanks.” With that she threw me a coin and climbed back into the cart, driving away to her destination.

Zayn and the group stared at me through wary eyes.

“Congratulations Mikey, for discovering your magic! I knew you were a late bloomer.” The town mayor walked out from behind a couple of horses, hat tilted and eyes gleaming. “We didn’t want to exile you, my dear boy! Time for celebration!”