Maglins and the Infinite Quest

23

Lucy Nova

I left Maglins Saturday afternoon to go back home. My parents came to get me and brought my younger sister as well, she was only a few years younger than me.

Before I sat down in the carriage, I gave both of my parents a warm embrace and told them how much I missed them. I bent down to allow my mother to put a soft kiss on my forehead, telling me she had missed me as well.

My father and younger sister Paige sat together outside the carriage while my mom and I sat inside.

"How's Paige?" I asked once the carriage began moving.

"She has missed you dearly," My mom began, "For the past week or two shes been counting down the days until you come home,"

I let out a smile as what my mother had said, truly warmed my heart.

"In just less than a year you'll both be going to school together," My mom said, "Feels like you two have grown up so fast,"

"How's dad?" I asked.

"He's been doing fairly well," My mom said.

The two of us talked for a while before we ran out of things to talk about. The rest of the dreadfully long trip was spent in silence, either looking out the window, or closing our eyes and drifting to sleep.

About two hours into the trip, my dad stopped the carriage and allowed for my mother to switch spots with my sister so I could talk with her.

"Are those new shoes?" I asked her once we were both seated inside the carriage.

"Mom got them for me because my feet got too big for the other ones," She spoke, "I like your hat,"

I took my hat off and placed it on top of her head. It was a little big but fit fairly well. She smiled and continued to talk to me.

"Dad's making spaghetti for dinner tonight," Paige said, "With garlic bread!"

I continued to listen to her rant and discuss random things and I pulled out a sandwich from my bag and began eating it. Paige began to eye the sandwich so I pulled it apart and handed her a section.

At home I brought my bags upstairs to the room I shared with Paige. I didn't hate sharing a room with her, especially because the way it was shaped and the size made it so we had our own sides.

Before throwing myself down onto the sofa that sat in the corner of our bedroom, I looked through the bookshelf and found something to read. Most of the books there were ones I had already read but there were a few new ones which I chose from.

Paige was eager to spend time with me so she pulled a book off of the shelf and sat in her bed to read it.

I hadn't gotten much of a chance to talk to my dad so I decided to before dinner.

***

It was now Christmas Eve night, the four of us, my mom, dad, sister, and myself sat at the dinner table eating as we chatted.

"After dinner can you come outside to play with me?" Paige said.

I didn't particularly like playing in the snow but my main focus was on making sure Paige was happy so I nodded my head in agreement.

Once we were outside, Paige threw herself into the snow and made a snow angel before carefully pulling herself up to show me. A few feet beside hers, I decided to try and make one and somehow I messed it up a bit, but Paige just laughed along with me.

Unknowing what to do next, Paige begged me to go inside and retrieve my wand to which I hesitantly agreed.

I kept it in my coat pocket with my hands because I couldn't find my gloves.

"Cast a spell," She asked.

I pulled out my wand and began to think of a spell that could impress her. I had just the one.

With a wave of my wand, I said Icius Panius causing the snow in front of me to turn into a path of ice. This spell can be used to create ice rinks if you move your wand more, but because I hadn't, it only made a line of ice.

"Wow!" Paige said, walking closer to the path and examining it. She ran her hand over the ice, assuring that it was actually ice.

"Want to see another one?" I asked her.

She nodded her head to which I took my wand out again, this time pointing it to the sky. With a wave of my wand, I said Soprious which made it snow in a little bubble around us.

Paige was left in awe as she danced around in the snow, tripping and landing in the cozy blanket of snow.

As she danced around I looked toward the house to see both of my parents in a window together, looking out at us. I gave them both a small wave before joining Paige as she played around.

Once the two of us started to get cold, we went back into the house where we both ran to our bedroom and prepared to shower. Paige went first and once she was done, I was able to shower.

Once it was late, we both crawled into our beds, our hair still wet from the shower, and said our goodnights.

I feel like I've grown taller since the last time I was home because my feet nearly touched the end of my bed.

"Goodnight Paige," I said, closing my eyes.

"Goodnight Luce," She responded. I opened my eyes in a bit of shock, I haven't heard her or anybody call me that in what feels like forever.

Early in the morning, I was woken up by an aggressive shaking, "Wake up Lucy, wake up,"

I opened my eyes to see Paige shaking me. I got out of bed and followed her downstairs.

"It's Christmas!" She sang, "It's Christmas!"

As we walked into the living room, both of our parents sat looking at the tree with annoyed looks on their faces. I sat beside my mom and held her before realizing what she was upset about.

The tree was empty underneath, there were no presents.

"The mail shipment has been delayed due to a storm to the west, so it's anyone's best guess as to when your presents will be here," My mom said.

I completely understood if I couldn't get my presents but Paige on the other hand was devastated. She tried to be understanding but to her, Christmas wouldn't be complete without presents.

"Its okay mom," Paige said, "We have each other,"

I don't know where she heard that, maybe she's been reading too many inspirational books, but I just went with it.