Night Light

Episode 25: A Little Conflicted

"Lily?" Luz's small voice piped from the floor. The elder woman turned her face down to look at the preschooler.

"Yeah?"

"Why am I not wike the utter kids?"

Lilith's face visibly contorted into sadness, catching the child off guard.

"What do you mean? You're as normal as any kids around. In fact, you're normaler than normal, you're-"

"I tan't do magic" Luz stated sadly, sitting at Lilith's feet. "Not with my finger."

Luz decided to demonstrate, twirling her finger in the air and sighing when nothing happened.

"Oh, maybe you should... ask somebody else. I'm not the person you should be asking."

Luz titled her head and sighed, standing up. She made way for the steps, not offering Lilith anymore glances.

The toddler made her way to her room, where King was sleeping. She stood in the doorway for a few long seconds and watched him sleep.

"King?" Luz piped up, titling her head once again. The small demon stirred before waking, yawning and stretching.

"Yeah?" King asked, smacking his lips and shielding his half-lidded eyes from the light. "What is it?"

"Why tan't I do magic with my finger?" Luz asked again, twirling her finger to no avail.

"Oh, cause you're a human."

"Hoo-man?"

"Human, yeah. Humans just aren't as special as witches, I guess." And with that, King yawned and curled back into a ball, wrapping his fluffy tail around himself.

Luz's shoulders dropped at that. It was just as she expected. She wasn't special, not like Amity or Willow or Augustus. Not like any of her classmates, and certainly not like her amazing caretaker, Eda the Owl Lady.

But giving herself the benefit of a doubt, Luz wonders off to find Eda, to ask her and get her opinion.

Upon finding her, Luz asked the same question she had asked Lilith and King.

"Why tan't I do magic with my finger?"

"Oh! Uhhh, well..." Eda hummed as she stared down at the toddler's expectant eyes, sadness growing behind them. "well... um..."

"King said its cause I'm a, um... hooman. Whatever that is."

"No!" Eda involuntarily shouted, putting her hands up. "King is wrong. You aren't a human. You're a witch! Yep."

"I am?"

"Yeah, sure you are. A human just means you're... sad."

"So... I tan't do magic cause I'm sad?"

"Right. Get happy and believe you can, and you're halfway there."

"I think I am happy, though..."

"Nope. You keep sulking about not being able to do magic like your classmates. You gotta be happy and believe in yourself."

Now, Luz was young, for sure – but she wasn't stupid. She knew there had to be a deeper meaning. Sure, she believed that human meant sad, who was to say otherwise? but what she didn't believe was that was the reason she couldn't do magic. So she knew then and there she would have to find her own answers, one way or another.

Anything to help her fit in with her friends and classmates.

.

.