Lilly Griffin and the Dragon Masters

Chapter One: The Floating Water

      It all started in the little town of Ruperton. A small-town of 1000 people. Many feared the town of Ruperton, for Luna, usually known as the great Lady Waterwill, lived within it. The great Lady Waterwill was an old, pale woman with, at first glance, the strange appearance of an overgrown goat standing on its hind legs. She lived in a small hut made of maple leaves, yellow hay, mud, and large jagged stones.  A small wooden fence around her hut made it look like she had built her home in the middle of a pasture; though it appeared so run down and broken that it was no longer a complete barrier around the home.  Rotted wood plagued the fence and fungus grew from the broken and decaying logs.

      A young girl was constantly seen in the yard inside the fence, attempting to avoid making a mess of the yard.  When her straight auburn hair flitted in the passing wind, she would meticulously straighten her hair with a comb she kept hidden in a pocket sewn into the loose shirt she wore over black leggings.  That young girl was Lady Waterwill’s granddaughter, Lilly Griffin—the only person who knew, though some neighbors suspected, that the Lady Waterwill was a witch.
Lilly had found out that her grandmother was a witch when Mrs. High, a tall, tough woman with short dirty-blonde hair, refused to give Luna some water from her well. Lilly had been walking around the exterior of the home, looking for Luna, but what she found was the water from the well flowing from the well, through the air, and straight through the open living-room window of her grandmother’s hut. The water kept coming and coming, and as Lilly moved around the corner of the hut to investigate the strange
phenomenon, she saw her grandmother waiving a cherrywood baton like she was conducting a choir, but instead the water moved with the swishes of her baton.

      Mrs. High was on the ground unconscious, but it looked like there was no damage done to her physically. It was only when Luna lowered her baton that she noticed her granddaughter standing there in shock at what she had just witnessed. 

      “Oops! You weren’t supposed to see that.” said Luna. 

      “Y-you” stuttered Lilly. She did not know what to say. She looked down at Mrs. High who stirred a little. Lilly looked up, expecting to see her grandmother, but she had vanished. 
“Oh goodness!” exclaimed Lilly as she helped Mrs. High back to her feet.

      “Wha-what in the name of Rupert was that, girl?” Mrs. High yelled at Lilly in an irritated but nervous voice. 

      “I have no clue!” replied Lilly, “honestly!” 
She went back to look in the well expecting to see a significant difference in the water level, but to her great astonishment, nothing had changed. 

      “What did you see girl?” Mrs. High yelled. 

      “Well . . .” Lilly paused. 

      Should I tell Mrs. High everything I saw and risk exposing something that needs to stay secret? If no one ever knew about water moving, or whatever that was, I suppose it needs to stay hidden. 

      Before Lilly finished thinking, Mrs. High snapped, “Well what happened girl! How many times must I ask you!” 

      Mrs. High was obviously angry, probably because she was just unconscious, and had no idea how she had gotten into that state.

      “Excuse my attitude, but I have a name you know. I’m Lilly Griffin and I have no clue how you ended up on the ground.” 

      Mrs. High was angrier than Lilly had ever seen her before, which isn’t saying much, seeing that they just met, but Lilly could tell that she was extremely upset. 

      Well, someone doesn’t just magically become unconscious, seeing that magic doesn’t exist. If you can’t help me, I will simply ask someone else,” stated Mrs. High nonsensically as she stormed off, clearly unimpressed by Lilly’s lack of information.
Lilly couldn’t help but wonder who else Mrs. High expected to ask, seeing as there wasn’t anyone else around.

      Lilly started home, pondering what Mrs. High had said. “Magic doesn’t exist.”  It was a stupid thing for Mrs. High to say because everyone knew that magic didn’t exist, but what she had seen didn’t make any natural sense at all. She replayed the last 30 minutes’ events over in her head. Her grandmother was using a baton to conduct water into her house, the well was completely full as if nothing had happened, and Mrs. high was unconscious with no physical harm. 
Something clicked inside Lilly’s head. 
Magic exists! The baton grandma was using; that’s a magic wand! She must have used a spell to make Mrs. High go unconscious, and to lift the water into her hut!

      “Tomorrow, I’m going to talk to grandma. She must be hiding something, and I need to know what!” Lilly muttered to herself. 

      She went back to her house and dreamed of all sorts of things. Birds made of candy, toy trains that moved by themselves, potions that turn dogs into cats, and all sorts of other strange things. She dreamed of being a witch and having other magical friends. She slept well that night, dreaming of the most absurd things, and knowing somehow, that her dreams would become reality.