Page 1 of Magic Blooms

one

The sun’s beams beat down on me—bright and warm, but different somehow.

I forced my eyes open, squinting against the blinding light.

Too bright. Too warm.

I pressed my palms into the ground and pushed myself up as the grass beneath me crunched, pricking at me through the thin fabric of my dress.

A soft breeze wafted by, cutting through the moisture in the air and sending a chill right through me despite the intense heat.

My head spun as I tried to take it all in. One minute I’d been safe at home, getting ready for one of the biggest days of my life, and the next I found myself… here.

In this unfamiliar place that felt nothing like the world I’d always known.

But where was here?

And perhaps even more importantly, how had I gotten here?

As I stood on shaky legs, vibrant fuchsia and gold flowers bloomed around me, reaching out as far as I could see. Even more curious, though, was the indentation in the dirt that perfectly outlined my body. Its presence implied that I hadn’t just fallen into the ground, I’d slammed into it.

I rolled my neck and shoulders, slowly testing my muscles for soreness or pain. While I was definitely stiff, I seemed to be uninjured.

But how?

How had I survived that?

How had any of this happened?

As the shock began to wear off, ice cold fear cut through the heat of the air around me. This was all very wrong. I wasn’t supposed to be here.

Wherever here was.

I took a tentative step forward; a layer of dry, cracked mud crunched uncomfortably beneath my bare feet. I wasn’t looking forward to finding my way out of this mess. But one thing was for certain: I needed to get out of here and I needed to do it right away.

How to start? Where?

Glancing back up at the sky again, my heart sunk. The sun. The clouds. They were wrong.

I wasn’t just far from home. I wasn’t even in the right dimension anymore.

Growing up, I’d heard all the usual fairytales of daring travelers hopping through magical portals and going on to have great adventures in lands unknown. But those were just kids’ stories. I’d never once imagined they could be real, or that they could one day happen to me.

Just fiction, bedtime stories.

And yet… What else could it be?

Nobody could change the sun in the sky, even as part of an elaborate hoax. I’d always known two suns, one blue and one purple. The one that hung above me now shone a whitish-yellow.

Bizarre. Completely and totally bizarre.

Resolved to find my way back before nightfall, I recalled all those old tales, searching for any details I could use to help me now. All those storybook heroes had sought their adventures out—wanted them.

I, however, was not bred for adventure. I was meant to stay home, live the quiet and dutiful life that had already been mapped out for me before I’d even been born.

I ventured another step forward and immediately noticed that the flowers started to change.

With each new step I took, fresh bulbs shot from the ground and infant petals unfurled to say hello.

Wherever I was, there must not be a lot of magic here.

Otherwise the plant life wouldn’t be so eager to respond to my magic.

The breeze kicked up as though to prove my theory. I tried to run my fingers through my hair, but a series of thick mats and tangles had worked their way into the long brown strands. How rough must I have landed in order to do that?

My hair had always been plain, but well kept and healthy.

I’d never sported the bright colors that were popular among those my age.

Nope, no shining turquoise or fiery orange locks for me.

I had, though, taken one small stride toward being fashionable by keeping my hair pulled tightly back in an intricate braid crown—and it suited me.

Hopefully it wasn’t too damaged from the fall. I’d cry if it were.

The thought of having to say goodbye to something that so defined me felt even stranger than seeing the wrong sun in the sky.

Never accept fate. That’s what Dante would say. Never stop. Never give up. No matter what.

His constant preaching usually drove me crazy—especially since I knew he’d been brought up in the same way I had, completely devoid of adventure—but now I sorely wished he were here with me. If only to have an ally.

I spied the edge of the field and hurried in its direction, flowers following my progression as if to encourage me forward.

Which way should I turn now?

A deep forest stretched as far as the eye could see. No sign of civilization yet. The flowers faded away as I reached the woods, but creeping vines jumped from tree to tree as I journeyed ever onward.

The plant entourage was enough to ignore as I focused on carefully choosing each step, so as not to take things from bad to worse by becoming wounded.

Scattered leaves along the ground cushioned my footfalls, but errant twigs and rocks lurked in wait, ready to tear into my soft soles at the slightest misstep.

This was not the way today was supposed to go. It was meant to be big, important—but not like this. I should have been getting preened and pampered, rare jewels woven into my braid crown and strung around my neck. It was to be a grand celebration.

I could remember all of that and yet… I still had no idea how I’d ended up here.

I tried to work my way back in time from what I last remembered, but everything in my recent memory had blurred together in an unreadable mass.

That was when a single voice broke through my untamed thoughts. Somehow both syrupy and scratchy at the same time, a woman shouted from the distance.

“You don’t belong here,” she warned.

I froze in place to show I meant no harm. As an elemental, I was gifted with the ability to speak and understand every language, but this one was new to my ear. After a few tense, unmoving moments, I slowly turned and braced myself to face the waiting stranger.

The woman stood between two towering trees, a sweating glass of light brown liquid in one hand and holding a large woven basket in the other.

Her hair was long and a silver gray, streaked with a few darker sections that rebelled against her obvious advanced age.

Her dark eyes sparkled with amusement as she regarded me then took a slow sip of her beverage.

I blinked hard, rearranging my cluttered mind to stop wondering about what had happened and start focusing on finding some way to connect with this stranger now.

She continued to sip and smile, sip and smile, seemingly content to wait while I searched the dark recesses of my intellectual storage bin.

“I’m… lost,” I stuttered at last. The unfamiliar language tasted strange on my tongue. Too fluid. Soft.

The old woman chuckled as she marched straight up to me and pushed her cool glass into my unprepared hands. “You look like you’ve been through a lot. Here. A drop of sweet tea will do you a world of good.”

I fumbled, and the glass fell to the earth and did a small bounce. Not actually made of glass at all.

She bent down to collect the fallen object, then snapped back up with a half-cocked smile. “Don’t you worry about that, dear. We’ll get you a fresh drink and a shower back at my place.”

A shower? That would certainly be nice.

The beverage, however, was one I’d never encountered before.

My first instinct, of course, was to refuse. As nice as she seemed, I didn’t know this woman. I didn’t want to become a burden—or a victim. Who knew what dangers she may be hiding just beyond this wood?

On the other hand, wandering around aimlessly on my own could bring even bigger threats, even more unknowns as I attempted to map out my journey home.

“C’mon now,” the woman clucked, deciding my path for me. “Don’t just stand there all day. We’ve got work to do.”

She trod away, and I followed for lack of any better plan.

It only took a few minutes to reach a clearing, and then her dwelling.

It was set back in a grove of trees with three sizable stories.

The wooden siding had been painted with a delicate blue while the trim and railings were a bright, clean white.

There was a set of ten or so steps leading to a porch that wrapped around the entire home.

If today weren’t already so overwhelmingly terrible, I might stop a moment to admire the spectacle.

But I could only think of how strange it was compared to the homes back in Vilea. They were all sleek and built into the landscapes as though they had grown organically from the rocks and rivers and sky. Made it easier to hide, when needed.

But this, this was meant to be seen. It was meant to look hand-crafted, a tribute to its resident’s greatness.

The haughty style had its own charm, I supposed. Seeing this flagrant display of wealth relieved some of my hesitation when it came to accepting the woman’s help.

“C’mon then,” she said, leading me up the steps. “I’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in.”

“Is this how all of your kind live?” I asked with a slight tilt of my head as I took in the cluttered interior. She had so many things which appeared to serve no purpose at all. Strange, indeed.

The woman smiled at me, her sun-kissed skin crinkling around the corners of her eyes. “Oh boy. You’re more lost than I expected.” She set the basket down and I peered into it, seeing a collection of leaves and sticks, each bundled into small, neat stacks. I didn’t recognize any of the species.

I really needed to get home as quickly as possible. “Can you take me back to Vilea?”

The woman stared in confusion, which was all the answer I needed. “Let’s start at the beginning. I’m Lorraine, and you’re in Fox’s End. That’s my bed-and-breakfast, dear.”

I stood still as I waited for her to continue.

She blinked a few times, then cleared her throat before continuing. “Now it’s time for you to tell me your name, darling.”

Oh. I was used to everyone knowing me already. “I’m Pollyiela, daughter of Orthoceras, mother of the earth elementals.”

Lorraine let out a long, low whistle. “Hooo-eee! Don’t get many of your kind around here. This really is an occasion. How exactly is it that you came to Elyria?”

“I…” I struggled to find the words. How could I answer what I didn’t even know?

“I just woke up here,” I settled on at last, offering a small shrug of resignation.

“Well, I can guarantee you didn’t come all this way for nothing. Either you were playing with magic or someone else was playing with it on your behalf. Do you care to tell me which it was?” She stared at me unblinking now as if I should have known the answer.

If only.