Gwen Doh Lynn

15: A Normal Day

"Does it really need that much butter?" my mom asked, watching from the table. She and Nouci were drinking coffee while Hazel and I made Esmerelda May's great-aunt's devilishly delicious angel food cake.

"Yup," I said, checking the recipe. I had copied it onto a note card so I wouldn't get my grimoire dirty in the kitchen. My grimoire was safely stored in a box under my bed with a handwritten copy of my winning essay glued to the first two pages.

We finished all the mixing and put the cake in the oven, hoping for a good result.

It was an unusually warm fall day outside and the window was open. We heard a caw. Cat was sitting on the edge of the sink looking out the window at some crows high on the neighboring tree. "Man, I miss flying sometimes," he said.

I had a great idea! I whispered to Hazel and then scooped up Cat. "Hey!" he protested.

"Mom, we're going outside for a little while."

"What about this mess on—? Nevermind," I heard her say.

Out on the porch, I put Cat down. He was not thrilled about being picked up like that and licked down his fur where I'd ruffled it. 

Hazel looked at me. "You think we can do it?"

I nodded. "If we put our magic together."

We faced each other and linked hands. I concentrated. She concentrated. The magic swirled.

And Cat lifted off the ground. "Woah!" he cried, but he quickly got used to it. We lifted him higher and then whooshed him around, first slowly, then a little faster. "Woo hoo!" he yelled as we flew him around the yard.

"What the—" we heard my mom say. We quickly brought Cat down to tumble in the grass just as she opened the door.

"What's going on out here?" she asked, looking all around. Hazel and I were standing on the porch and Cat was rolling in the grass.

"I thought I heard—" Her eyes darted around. "I thought I saw—"

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Um, nothing," she said. "Maybe I'm going crazy." She shook her head and stared at Cat. "I just thought I saw something weird out here."

"Like two witches making a cat fly?" Cat said.

Hazel giggled.

"Nope," I said, as my mom turned to go back inside, "everything's normal here."