MidReal Story
Witch's Awakening: Power, Friendship, and Secrets
Scenario: Teenage witch struggling to control her powers
Create my version of this story
Sylvia Greene
elder witch and Elara's mentor, mentor to Elara and friend to Leo, wise with silver hair, patient and stern
Leo Thompson
fellow witch and Elara's confidant, friends with Elara, tall with sharp blue eyes, protective and logical
Elara Morgan
young witch, friends with Leo and mentored by Sylvia, petite with curly auburn hair, determined and curious
I was going to kill Leo.
He knew I hated speaking in front of the class, and he’d still made me go first.
I was going to make him pay for this.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm my racing heart as I set my project down on the table at the front of the room.
It was a small, wooden box that I’d painted with a galaxy scene, complete with stars and planets.
It was supposed to represent the universe, but it wasn’t what was inside that mattered.
It was what I could do with it that counted.
“Hello,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
I cleared my throat and tried again.
“Hello,” I said louder this time.
“My name is Elara Morgan, and I’m going to show you how to make a wish.”
I reached out and opened the lid of the box, revealing a small piece of paper inside.
I picked it up and held it out for my classmates to see.
“I can’t tell you what it says, because that’s a secret.
Wishes are like that, you know.
They’re personal and unique.
They’re something only you can truly understand.
But today, I want to talk to you about the concept of wishes.
What are they?
Why do we make them?
How do they come true?”
I glanced at the clock on the wall, counting down the seconds as I waited for the microwave timer in my head to go off.
It was almost time.
“Most people think that wishes are just a way to make themselves feel better,” I said, forcing myself not to fidget.
That was the last thing I needed to do right now.
“Or that they’re silly and childish, something only little kids believe in.
But that’s not true.
Wishes are powerful things.
They’re like magic, in a way.
And just like magic, you have to believe in them if you want them to come true.”
I fought the urge to tap my foot as I continued my presentation.
I could feel my power writhing under my skin, pushing against my control as it tried to break free.
I couldn’t let that happen, not again.
I’d been lucky last time, but I didn’t want to risk it today of all days.
Not when I was standing in front of all my classmates, with everyone’s eyes on me.
Not when I was so close to finally mastering my magic and convincing Sylvia to let me move on to the next level of training.
I had to stay focused.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and tried to push away the urge to let my magic out to play.
This was important, and I didn’t want anything to go wrong.
I definitely didn’t want to accidentally set anything on fire this time around.
That would be bad.
Luckily, it only took a few seconds for the feeling to pass, and by the time I opened my eyes again, it was gone.
“Wishes are like snowflakes,” I said, picking up where I’d left off before abruptly cutting myself off with a small gasp of surprise as something orange flickered in the corner of my eye.
Panic surged through me as I realized that I’d lost control without even realizing it, and I quickly closed my eyes again, trying to block out the distraction so that I could concentrate on getting it back.
The last thing I needed was another fire incident.
Not when we were currently sitting in an auditorium surrounded by flammable materials like wood and paper and fabric, all of which would be very easy for my magic to ignite if I wasn’t careful.
“Please go out,” I whispered under my breath as I focused on extinguishing the wayward flames of my power one by one, hoping against hope that no one else had noticed what was happening.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for me to realize that wasn’t going to be the case at all.
I opened my eyes, only to see wisps of smoke and the unmistakable scent of burning paper.
Panic gripped me as I realized that the wish I’d written on that paper was on fire, and that it was only a matter of time before it burned up completely.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
The worst part was that I hadn’t been able to put it out in time, and now it was going to ignite everything else in the box along with it, and then the whole thing would go up in flames.
And then what?
Would that be enough for Sylvia to finally decide that I was ready to move on?
Or would she just be disappointed that I hadn’t been able to control myself better?
The classroom was silent, but I didn’t have to look to know that everyone was staring at me with their mouths hanging open in shock.
I didn’t care.
I was too busy trying to figure out how to save my project and get out of here before anyone got hurt.
Before I got hurt.
“Elara, are you okay?”
Leo Thompson asked from his seat at the back of the room.
I glanced over at him, and that was all it took.
I lost control completely.
“Put it out, put it out, put it out,” I chanted frantically under my breath as I stared at the burning piece of paper in my hands, willing the flames to go away.
But they didn’t listen to me, not even a little bit.
If anything, they seemed to burn even brighter and hotter in response to my distress, their flickering orange light casting harsh shadows over the room.
Someone screamed, and that was all it took for the chaos to begin in earnest.
First one person started running, and then two more joined them a few seconds later, and then the rest followed until it felt like we were all stampeding towards the door at once.
I tried to follow suit, but my legs wouldn’t move.
They were frozen in place, and no amount of wishing or yelling at them seemed to make any difference.
“Elara, don’t just stand there!”
Leo shouted from somewhere behind me.
I could hear him moving closer, his footsteps echoing across the floor as he came towards me.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
I finally managed to take a step forward, but it was too little, too late.
The box burst into flames, and I screamed as I dropped it onto the table and jumped back to avoid getting burned.
“Oh no,” I whimpered, staring at the fire with wide eyes as I tried to figure out what to do next.
I needed water, lots of water, but none was around, and I couldn’t leave the room to get any without risking someone else getting hurt in the process.
I didn’t know what to do.
I was so lost in my own terror that I almost didn’t notice when Leo Thompson ran up beside me.
“Get back,” he said, his voice oddly calm despite the way his eyes were wide with fear.
I watched in horror as he reached out and grabbed the burning piece of paper with his bare hands, intending to extinguish the flames before they could spread any farther.
“Leo, no!”
I screamed, my voice cracking with fear.
He ignored me, of course.
He always did when he thought he knew best.
He never listened to me when I told him that he was going to get hurt.
“He never does,” Sylvia Greene whispered in my ear as she came to stand beside me, her presence a source of both comfort and fear as we watched Leo work.
“He never listens to you, Elara,” she said, her voice soft and kind as she stepped up behind me and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“But he should,” she continued, her voice shifting to something more stern.
“Even though he won’t.”
My heart sank as her words washed over me, and for a moment, I thought that it would be better if she had just let me die.
Maybe then I wouldn’t have had to watch Leo burn to death while trying to save me from my own mess.
“Is that what you’re afraid of?”
Sylvia asked, watching me closely as we stood side by side in our shared horror.
“That he’ll die because of you?”
I couldn’t answer her question, not really.
How was I supposed to put words to a fear that big?
It wasn’t just Leo that I was afraid of getting hurt.
What was I supposed to do?
I closed my eyes, my heart pounding in my chest as I tried to focus all of my energy on putting out the flames before they could hurt anyone else.
But just like before, it didn’t work.
The fire continued to burn, and my magic didn’t seem to care that I was trying to stop it.
It wasn’t listening to me, not even a little bit.
And just when I thought that things couldn’t possibly get any worse, they did.
Leo reached up with his other hand to try and put out the flames before they could get any farther, but the fire was too strong and too hot, and it didn’t want to be put out.
His skin sizzled and his fingers smoked, and I could hear him gasping in pain as he fought to keep his grip on the paper.
“Elara,” he said, his voice tight with agony as he tried to get my attention.
“Elara, do something!”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face as I watched him struggle in vain to save us from ourselves.
“I’m so, so sorry.”
And then, just like that, it was over.
