Anna’s mind
was on autopilot as she drove to the store. Mom wanted her to pick up a few
things for dinner and Anna agreed. She had homework to do, but she needed a
break and the store wasn’t far.
It was as
she came up to the stoplight that it happened. The grocery store was down the
street to the right, but she couldn’t slow the car down to turn. Alarmed, she
frantically pushed on the brake, but nothing happened. The steering wheel wasn’t
responding either.
Throwing
herself onto the passenger seat, she grabbed her phone out of her purse. All of
a sudden, the car swerved to the right, and she was pushed back into the driver’s
seat. Looking around wildly, she realized that she had turned onto a different
deserted street. Trying the steering wheel again, the car didn’t respond. Then,
it turned left without slowing down. In shock, Anna realized that the car was
driving itself.
Finally
reaching her phone, she couldn’t believe it when she saw that she didn’t have
any service. How could this happen? She was on the best cell phone network, and
she always had service. She tried to roll the windows down to shout for help,
but they wouldn’t budge. As she racked her brain for anything else she could
do, she realized that she had left the city and was now bumping along a dirt
road. When had that happened?
The road
disappeared, and the car was swerving through a forest of trees. Anna held on
for dear life, just praying that it would be over soon. She looked ahead, and
her heart nearly stopped. The car was heading straight for a rock wall.
Anna braced
herself and shut her eyes, waiting for the crash. But it didn’t come. The car
continued to hurtle along, and when she opened her eyes again, she was in some
kind of tunnel. Had she gone through the rock wall? Glittering diamonds and
gems winked at her as she sped past toward some unknown destination.
It got
brighter and brighter as the number of gems on either side of her increased.
Something else changed, too. At last, she was slowing down as she left the
confined tunnel and a huge cavern opened up in front of her. The car finally
came to a stop at the edge of a vast, underground lake. While Anna sat, staring
and terrified, the door opened on its own and she felt the seat tilt sideways
as her seatbelt unbuckled.
The next
thing she knew, she was on the rocky ground outside the car. With her eyes as
wide as saucers, she wasn’t sure if she should get up and run or not. The
cavern was silent, but brightly lit by the priceless gems that glowed with some
strange inner light. The lake water was still, but then it started to ripple.
Small waves
reached the shore where Anna sat as she watched something rise up out of the
middle of the lake. Spires and turrets appeared first, bringing up a castle
beneath them. It was immense, but it continued to get larger until it nearly
filled the whole lake. Waterfalls rained down from roofs covered in moss and
algae. A great gate stood facing the shore. There was the sound of wood
scraping along stone, and the gate opened.
Anna nearly
cried with relief when she saw a figure walking toward her. She picked herself up
and ran toward the boy with the smile she knew so well. “James!” She threw her
arms around her best friend. “What happened? Where are we?”
After
returning Anna’s grateful hug, James pulled back and studied her with concern. “Are
you all right? I know how terrifying the first trip here can be.”
Anna launched
into the story of her harrowing journey while James listened patiently. When
she finished, she asked again, “What is this place?”
James’s
eyes twinkled with excitement as he said, “It’s a place of magic.”
“What, you
mean like Hogwarts, or something?” She looked curiously at James, waiting for a
joke.
James just
shrugged. “If you want to think about it that way, sure. Only people with magic
are brought here. Those who have true magic manifest it around the age of 16 or
17. They are then brought here to learn how to control it. For the next few
years, you can expect to come here every day to hone your new skills.”
Anna took
this all in with wide eyes. “How long have you been coming here?”
“Just a few
months.”
Anna was
confused. “But, how? I see you at school every day. When do you have time?”
His eyes
continued to shine and sparkle. “You have all the time you need here to finish
today’s lessons. When you go home, you’ll discover that no time at all has
passed.”
Anna’s
brain felt like mush. “Are you serious?”
James gave
her his best smile as he put his arm around her. “Come on, I’ll show you
around.” Together, they walked into the still dripping castle.
That day
marked the beginning of Anna’s education as a true magician.
