Singing Out Loud

 

        This is a perfect day for a hike, Liza thought as she walked among the trees. It was a gorgeous summer morning, and Liza wanted to finish her hike before it got too hot. She breathed in the fresh air with satisfaction as she climbed the hill steadily.

        Liza often came hiking out here. She found it so peaceful just to be among nature with no one else around. She had her music to keep her company, of course. She kept a playlist of songs on her phone that she used every time she went hiking. There wasn’t a lot of traffic on this trail, so she let the music play through the phone’s speakers.

        Often on her hikes, Liza would almost forget everything else except being outside and singing along to her music. The song, “Stargazing” finished as she reached a small rise and started on a section of trail that went down into a beautiful meadow. The next song that came on was “Life Is A Highway.” Liza turned up the volume because this was her most favorite song in the history of ever. She knew every word and belted them out as she walked through the meadow. Her spirits rose as the song went on. She found that she had more energy now and didn’t feel at all winded.

        The song ended, and Liza turned the volume back down, just a little, as “Shake It Off” came on next. She reached the end of her hike a short time later. A waterfall greeted her loudly, and she had to pause her music until she started back down again. She noticed a few robins flying around near her. She loved to watch birds in flight.

        On the way back down the trail, Liza continued to listen to her music and was in a great mood by the time she reached her car. She had probably seen at least ten different robins on the way back down. That was lucky, she thought, feeling energized and refreshed. She always considered it a good omen to see a robin.

        Her mood continued to improve when she turned on the car and “Any Man of Mine” was playing on the radio. She rolled down the windows and turned up the music as she drove away. When she got home, she saw another robin sitting in the middle of the lawn in the front yard. Huh, she thought curiously. We don’t usually see too many robins outside of the woods. More luck I guess.

        Liza unlocked the front door and let herself inside. Before she could shut the door, however, the robin that she had seen outside suddenly flew in through the open doorway. Startled, Liza tried to shoo the robin back out, but it perched quite calmly on the back of her sofa. Liza moved toward it to try to drive it back out, but it only fluttered up higher and landed on top of a bookshelf. Perplexed, Liza went to go fetch the broom.

        When she came back into the living room, Liza was shocked to find a man waiting patiently for her. Liza glanced back at the door, which was still open, and tightened her grip on the broom. She turned back to the man, who wore long blue robes that trailed along the ground. “Uh, excuse me sir, but this is my house. What are you doing here?” Liza asked cautiously. She put her hand on her phone in her pocket, just in case she needed to call the police or something.

        The man looked back at her seriously and said, “You’re what I’ve been looking for. I almost gave up hope of finding someone like you, so I had to follow you to be sure.”

        This wasn’t exactly what Liza expected him to say. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” she said worriedly. She had her phone in her hand as she said, “I’ll call the police if you don’t.”

        The man smiled kindly and said, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you, and the police can’t do anything to me anyway.”

        “Why do you say that?” There was a definite tremble in Liza’s voice now.

        For answer, the man disappeared and a robin took his place. Liza felt her jaw drop as the man reappeared and the robin disappeared again. “You did follow me,” she whispered.

        “As you can see,” the man explained, “I am not a normal human. I am a wizard, and my name is Calvin.”

        All Liza could do was stare at him as she slowly let herself sink down into the couch. The broom that she had been holding clattered to the floor.

        “Yes,” Calvin continued as he settled himself into a chair. “I’ve been looking for someone in this world who has the potential to learn magic.”

        “Magic?” Liza interrupted, coming out of her stupor. “This world? Where are you from?”

        Calvin chuckled as he answered, “Some place far, far from here. I came here by a magical portal. I belong to a society of wizards that are dedicated to teaching anyone with magical abilities. I’ve traveled all over this globe to find just a hint of magic, and I found you.”

        “Uh, I think you’re mistaken,” Liza said slowly. “I don’t have any magic.”

        Calvin shook his head and said, “Of course you do! You just don’t know how to use it.”

        “What makes you say that?”

        “The way you sang your songs. I’ve never heard so much magic coming out of one person before. When you sing, it pours out of you in waves.”

        “Wait, are you saying that I did magic? What kind of magic did I do?” Liza was sitting on the edge of the couch now, becoming more interested with everything Calvin was saying.

        “With training, you could become a greater wizard than even I,” Calvin said slowly. “Would you like to learn?”

        “How?”

        “Come with me, back to Treebird, where you will attend the finest magical school in all of the known realms.”

        Liza stared at Calvin. “You want me to go back with you to a strange place, and leave my home?”

        “Well, proper magical training will take years, but you can come back when you’re finished.”

        “There’s no way I’m going to follow a strange man anywhere.”

        Calvin looked at her with a twinkle in his eye. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to decide right now. Now that I’ve told you about magic, you’ll start to notice. That’s usually all it takes.” He took a flat clear stone out of a pocket inside his robes and held it out to her.

        Liza took it, slightly apprehensive. It was just a smooth rock, slightly bigger than her hand, with a flat surface. It didn’t look any different from hundreds of other rocks that she’d seen, until it started to glow and shine with an inner light. She gasped as a picture slowly appeared on its surface. It was like a cell phone screen. Liza gasped as she realized it was exactly the same picture as on her own cell phone. She was also startled to discover that she was no longer holding a rock at all, but a complete clone of her own phone.

        Calvin laughed at her confusion as he said, “Every wizard has a different magical tool. The rock transforms into the tool that would be most beneficial and comfortable for that wizard. What it has become is only visible to you. Everyone else will see it as just a rock.”

        “No one can see that this is a phone?”

        “No, not even me.” He turned to leave, but then said, “You’ll be able to contact me through your tool. When you change your mind about coming to our school, let me know.” With that, he transformed back into a robin and flew out the open door.

        Liza finally got up to shut the door, and then sat down to look at her new phone. There were small differences from her old phone – new apps that obviously had to do with magic. There was contact information for Calvin at Treebird Academy.

        Over the next several days, Liza thought of nothing except Calvin and what he had said. Could she really do magic? Should she leave to become a wizard? While she wrestled with these questions, she got to know her new magical tool better. It might look like her phone, but it didn’t work exactly like her other one. She didn’t even have to use her fingers for navigation. She would just think about what she wanted to do, and it would be done.

        Her daily hikes had changed, too. She became more aware of her music and how it really did make her feel different. She thought of all the other things that she could do with proper magical training.

        When she finally contacted Calvin, his response was, “Well, it took you long enough. Most people jump at the chance to learn magic. Are you ready to step into a magical realm?”

        Liza took a deep breath before she said, “Okay, I’m ready.”