Introduction - Aiden
The only time I've gotten to get close to an animal was at our small town zoo in the second grade on a day so hot that the animals hardly did anything anyways. Even then, I couldn't get any closer than however far away my mom held me back. I still feel her nails, digging into my shoulders like knives, as if at a moment's notice I would run for the "danger" posed by a caged animal that was too lazy to even open it's eyes. I can't say I blame her, though. I probably would've done exactly that if I wasn't afraid of her tearing off my skin with her razor nails. My mom's always been scared of the possibility of me having animal allergies. She's also scared of needles and blood draws, which are the only two reasons why I've never been tested for allergies, even though I really should've been by now.
Basically, my life has been playing with stuffed animals in my room, deprived of the actually living ones just outside my house. I've been imagining scaly dragons, fluffy panthers, feathery griffins soaring in the air, and so many more animals since I was little. Of course, I played with the normal stuffed animals too. Cats and dogs clutter my room even to this day. I've always wanted a pet. It's really not a realistic goal for me though, all things considered. My mother, well, I've told you about her reasons for not letting me within five feet of an animal, and my father... my father's dying. He looks perfectly fine, but I've been told he has this disease- Alzheimer's, to be exact- that only affects you on the inside. It takes your memories, your brain. It's weird though; even though he's forgotten my mom, my cousins, and his mom and dad, he's never forgotten me. I suppose it's only a matter of time, but still it makes me feel special.
My mom's name is Lydia, and my dad's name is Alex. They like to be called by their names, and not by Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy, or even mom and dad. Then there's me. My name is Aiden James McCarthy, though no one calls me by my full name unless they're my parents and I'm in trouble. So for your purposes my name is Aiden, and I'm just average. Not tall, not short, not skinny, not fat. Perfectly, horribly average. Not that average is bad or anything, it's just not a favorite of mine. Average brown hair that shags just above my hazel eyes, add an average size nose with an average size set of ears, hands, fingers, feet, toes, and all of the other etceteras a person can have on the body, and you have one nondescript person named Aiden. I wish, sometimes, that I could be more than nondescript. It doesn't suit me, really. Honestly, it hardly ever suits anyone.
Actually, though... when I think about it, if I could have a wish, any wish, I wish I could make wishes come true. My dad always told me wishing on stars could make anything happen. Then he got sick. I wished and wished for him to get better, begging flicking balls of gas and fire for help. Needless to say, I soon grew out of my wishing phase. I don't give up on him, though. I can't give up on him. Even if I could find one way to make my dad better, it would be enough. So I'll never give up.
The reason you're reading this isn't because of me, though; not really. You're reading it for Mia, the girl who can make paper dragons breath fire and burn to ash. The girl who can make clay talk and figurines move. That's who you're reading for. Readers want magic; they want powers and amazement, not some average kid talking about his average life. Except, my life isn't average. The one thing I love about my life is it's difference from my averageness. I have to thank Mia, though. Mia is the one who changed it.
