Magic in the Mist

Chapter Two

          Hazel woke up to the sound of her alarm blaring in her ear, along with Bri tweeting madly inside her cage.

'I'm awake, I'm awake.' Hazel said groggily, turning off her alarm and climbing out of her bed, changing into school clothes; a white shirt halfway tucked in with tan, baggy pants and blue-checkered jacket that went down to Hazel's mid-thighs.

She then walked over to her dresser, brushing her hair as Bri sang in her cage. Putting her hair back in a half-ponytail, she opened Bri's cage and filled up her food and water bowl. Bri flew to Hazel's backpack, and Hazel smiled, walking over to the cockatiel and stroking her gently before picking up her bag with Bri still sitting atop it. Hazel walked out of her room, leaving the door open as she climbed down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, that was left of the stairs, and placed her bag on the floor next to the fridge.

Hazel turned around to the toaster, grabbing a piece of bread that was sitting beside it and placing it into the toaster, pulling the knob down and leaning against the island that sat in the middle of the kitchen as she waited for her food to cook. Bri flew up to Hazel, settling on her left hand.

'You need to put that bird away in your room before you leave,' her dad said, coming down the stairs.

'I will,' Hazel assured him, sighing dejectedly as she stroked Bri with her free hand. The toaster dinged, and a piece of toast popped up.

Setting Bri down, Hazel grabbed a plate and placed the toast on it, buttering it with a butterknife and a warm stick of butter that was placed right next to the bread. Hazel put her breakfast on the island and picked Bri back up, walking up the stairs and letting her go free in Hazel's room.

'You have to stay here,' Hazel whispered, closing the door behind her and racing back down the stairs where she went to the front door to put on her boots, buckling them up before she turned back around to grab her backpack and piece of toast, leaving the plate on the island.

'Have a good day at school!' Hazel's dad called after her as she walked out of the house, leaving the door slightly open as she speed-walked down the driveway to where a school bus was waiting.

Shoving the last of the toast in her mouth, Hazel climbed aboard the bus, nodding to the driver and sitting down near the front of the bus, which was deserted except for a few students who were staring at their phones. Hazel put her backpack beside her, shielding her from the view of the rest of the students. Hazel looked down at her hands, which were sitting in her lap, and forced a tiny spark of bright orange magic out of them, but it quickly faded.

Looking out of the window, Hazel could see a flock of birds flying high in the sky that looked suspiciously like a herd of pegasi. Hazel leaned against the window, gazing up at the bright blue sky as clouds lazily floated by as they drove towards Hazel's school.

When they finally stopped in front of the school, Hazel picked up her bag and climbed off of the bus, walking into the school doors where students bustled to their classes, talking to friends as they found where they were supposed to go. Hazel went straight to her locker, opening it easily and putting the things she would need for her first class in her backpack, which was biology.

The day went by like a blur; her next class was carpentry where Hazel had the pleasure of sitting next to another sophomore, who asked her on a date, which she declined. Third period was world literature, boring as usual. Fourth was algebra II; the teacher who taught it was chill, so that class was always fun. Then came lunch, and then her fifth period, which was world history, then foreign language, and then the day was done.

When the bell rang to go home, Hazel lazily put her books in her bag and got up, walking straight out of the school without even stopping by her locker. She was supposed to take the bus home, but she decided to walk. Her house was a mile away from the school, but she didn't care. The neighborhood was quiet, and it was sort of therapeutic to Hazel as she walked in the spring weather. Hazel got home at about three twenty, even though her school ended at three exactly.

'Where were you?' Hazel's dad said angrily when she walked inside. 'You're twenty minutes late! Do you know how worried I was?'

'I walked home,' Hazel said lazily as she slipped off her boots and started to walk upstairs.

'Next time tell me!' he called after her as Hazel walked up the stairs, two stairs at a time. The moment she opened the door, Bri zoomed out, settling on Hazel's shoulder and singing happily.

'I missed you too,' Hazel said, smiling as she dropped her backpack at the foot of her bed.

Hazel pulled out her ponytail as she walked over to her dresser, picking up Bri and placing her on the top of the bird's cage as Hazel brushed through her dirty blonde hair. When she was done, she changed her school clothes into more casual clothing; a simple red shirt with spaghetti straps and deep V-neck and a pair of dark navy-blue shorts. Hazel turned back to her mirror, quickly putting her hair up in a bun and picking Bri back up, placing her on Hazel's bare shoulder and walking back down the stairs.

'Go change into something else,' her dad said the moment he saw her. 'That's too revealing.'

'I can wear what I want,' Hazel snapped back, glaring at him as she walked past her dad and emerged into the living room and sat down on the couch.

Bri fluttered off of Hazel's shoulder, settling on her thigh. Hazel smiled, conjuring a bout of blue magic, matching her bird's feather color, and Bri flew up, tweeting happily as she flew through the blue light.

Just then, a huge CRASH sounded above them, shaking the house.

'What was that?' Hazel said, rising up the stairs and opening the attic door that was built into the ceiling above the hallway.

Climbing carefully up the stairs, Hazel and her dad walked up into the attic. Hazel gasped when she saw what had made the sound; a huge pegasus with heavily feathered hooves, white legs with spots on the top, silver base with flea-bitten colored fur and a face blaze was lying on the attic floor, huge rain drops landing on the pegasus's huge, silver wings from where the animal had made a hole in the ceiling.

'Woah,' Hazel whispered, carefully walking up to the animal.

Her dad was too stunned to stop her. She crouched down at the massive pegasus's head, stroking it gently. The pegasus nickered softly, moving its head so the animal could see Hazel. Hazel scanned the pegasus's body to see a bunch of scars staining their pelt.

Must have been from crashing into the roof, Hazel thought.

She didn't know what to do; her father couldn't see the mythical creature, so he couldn't help, plus, Hazel didn't know how to care for a pegasus. All she knew was that she was going to do all in her power to protect and heal this amazing creature. . . no matter the cost.