A Rational Magic || ONC2022

Four || Explorations

When we stay with Aunt Jessica, we're usually in the house the whole time. But we usually only spend a week here, so that's not possible this time around. We've got to 'socialise', in the words of Sara, and 'it isn't healthy' according to Aunt Jessica.

And besides, Terrenfell is safe (which is currently questionable), so why can't we go outside?

But yeah, it's safe, so why not trust two twelve year olds and one eleven year old to wander round by themselves after said twelve year olds got involved in the attempted kidnapping of another boy? Who, let it be said, is also here for the summer.

Yeah.

That sounds like a great idea.

Weirdly enough, it's Anya who's all 'let's go' about it. Little Miss 'I'd Rather Sit Inside and Read'... wanting to go outside. Every single time we've been here, and I've brought up the idea of asking if we could go outside, Anya is never eager to do so.

But here we are.

Terrenfell is a seaside town with little going for it. It's not got much of anything, really. Just streets and some shops, and a beach.

There is a primary school, we know that much, but for any secondary students a bus trip is necessary. Or the train, since the next town over is where the nearest high school is.

I imagine that must be a nightmare.

The thing is, there's nothing to do. Aside from a half-built children's playground we discover near the primary school, which is a no-go because it's half-built. So we're left to just walk around and talk.

Which, since Soren is here, is extremely difficult.

He tries.

That's the issue.

I'm not sure if Anya feels the same way, but it feels like an invasion. And so it's easier to pretend he's not there.

"I'm going to die of boredom here," I groan, glancing at the nearest building for something to look at. "What the... who named that?"

"Hm?"

"Gay Woods Cottage?" I read, trying to keep a straight face.

"It means happy, idiot," Anya sighs. "In that context. It's like, an old usage, it's probably an old couple who live there. You alright, Soren?"

"So... Happy Woods. Doesn't look much like a forest to me."

Soren fidgets, looking uncomfortable. "I'm okay. Um, there is a forest, actually. Not, like... not here, but there is. There is one."

Anya gives me a look, as if to say 'I told you so'. She's got no reason to do it, though, so I'm not really sure what she means by it.

We don't say much for a while after that. I'm mostly embarrassed about what I said, especially considering... well, Aunt Jessica's surprise, and as much as I don't really want Soren here, I'd rather not appear to being rude about his mum.

Soren just looks like he knows that he doesn't belong.

And Anya looks kinda mad. Probably at me.

There's several other houses with names, all much less of an issue, and Anya falls into a quiet discussion with Soren about it when I pull ahead. It's... I don't know if I like it.

Well, I do.

I don't like it.

But I'm not just going to... like, I won't just come out and say it.

So, again, I think. And I invent, because there is one thing going for Terrenfell.

It's the perfect setting for a great story.

~|•

We manage to find three places that capture our interests, eventually. One is a sort of knick-knack shop, I believe Anya called the stuff inside bric-à-brac. Pretty sure it's all the same stuff, though.

But it's full of all sorts of things that, again, would be right at home in a story.

I file the place away for later: when there's more time to look around, and the chance to do it alone, I'll think about it.

The second place is, unsurprisingly, a bookstore. Anya spends much longer than needed looking around, eventually conceding that there was very little that she'd actually read.

Still, it's the sort of mysterious place where anything can happen. Especially magic.

I don't exactly plan to come back, but the shop next door is much more interesting.

It's a stationer's. And this is one of the key places where we differ, Anya and I.

Here's the thing. Anya is, through and through, like a stick of rock, a reader. She's content to do no more than listen to my stories, and never shows a wish to invent her own.

And yes, while I read, I like the imagination side of being a writer. Sometimes I feel like my head will explode with ideas.

And I write them down.

Don't get me wrong on this, I don't tell Anya that I'll sit up for hours after telling her a story at night to write it up, when she's long asleep. I don't want to forget them. People and places and tales that stick are hard to come by from other writers, but when you create them, they're anything but forgettable.

Once you actually write them down, of course.

We don't actually go into the stationer's, but it joins another mental note. I know well enough that I brought more than enough with me to write down anything, after all. There's just... I don't know, a certain sort of charm to a place like this one.

Anya pulls her sandals off as we turn back towards the house, grimacing at the redness above her heel. "Should have brought some plasters."

"You can walk barefoot."

"Oh, I intend to!"

And she does. It earns her an odd look from a man we pass as we walk, but she doesn't notice.

Neither does Soren.

He gave us all an odd look, now that I think about it. But mostly Anya, and me.

It's probably nothing. Terrenfell is a small town, and we're quite obviously newcomers. Maybe he's just curious.

Maybe it is sinister.

Maybe he's some kind of spy, and he's just taking in information about the residents.

I watch people all the time, maybe it's just that.

I hope it's just that.