Short stories

Funeral

"Wake up, please!" Lucy cried and sobbed uncontrollably. 

"Sweetie, Grandma Martha is gone. I know this is hard for you but-" the mom tried to calm down her inconsolable daughter.

"No! No, she's not, Mom!" looking back toward the casket, Lucy speaks louder "Grandma, please wake up!"

Before Lucy's mom and dad could quiet her down, the lights went out and Lucy's eyes and palms glowed blue with magic. The lights flickered back on, and an audible gasp for air came from the deceased woman. Grandma Martha sat up, and the room went quiet except for Lucy who ran towards her grandmother. 

"Grandma, I missed you so much!" Lucy climbed onto her lap.

"Oh sugar, I missed you too! I'm so proud of you!"

Wiping her watery eyes, the little girl was confused. "Why?"

Lifting Lucy out of the casket and onto the floor, the dad crouched down to get to Lucy's level "You raised grandman from the dead, Luce."

Climbing out of her casket, Martha stood up straight and stretched. "Good thing you did, too! As much as I love a good nap, a dirt nap is not what I need."

"What's a dirt nap?"

"Mom, I think it's time to explain something to Lucy. She deserves to know" the mom said looking at her mom.

"Explain what?" Lucy exclaimed in exasperation. "Someone please tell me!"

"Your powers. Everyone on your mother's side of the family has some kind of power, and today you got yours." 

"Cool!... What are they?"  

"She's taking this better than I thought she would." Lucy's dad muttered under his breath.

"Necromancy." the mom said frankly but quickly elaborated because most 8-year-olds don't know what that is "It means you can bring people who have died back to life. That's why the lights went out and you started glowing."

Lucy turned to her mom and asked "What are your powers, Mom?" 

"I can freeze things into ice." 

"That explains why your hands are always cold," Lucy stated with honesty and straightforwardness only little kids could get away with.

"So what are yours, grandma?" 

"I can move things with my mind by thinking about it, which is called telekinesis." Martha showed off her powers by levitating a chair with someone still in it. 

The funeral turned into a celebration of Lucy's new powers, and Lucy went around asking all of her family what powers they had, her eyes lighting up as her aunts, uncles, and cousins showed her their powers.