Raised Stakes

1

Impatient foot tapping hit the hard wooden floor, coming from an agitated looking teenager holding an antique looking broomstick.
The boom had long, yellow bristles at the end that fanned out in a way that was similar to the dress the girl was wearing. Her dress was a soft grey, despite Dorthy Garland's preferences toward a more lively color on this exciting occasion.

Today was her fifteenth birthday, an age where Dorthy was promised she could drive. It should have happened last year, but with her two younger siblings growing into milestones of their own and the move to the new house, time couldn't be found for it.

That was, until now. Today was the day.

"Mom!" She called into the airy abode. "Get over here, I'm ready!"

There was a loud pop from one of the upstairs rooms (no doubt the potion room) and a bespectacled man, Mr. Timon Garland, with more salt-than-pepper streaks in his wispy, mad scientist hair came clambering down the staircase. There was soot and smoke coming off of him, the source likely from the loud pop she heard before his appearance.

"What's this about my children being ready-and already at that?"

His eyes and smile widened at the sight of his daughter and he pat her on the head.
"Why, Dorthy it's you being ready for something today-"

He nodded at the broom she was holding.
"And what a thing to be ready for. That's a fine broom you've chosen, by the way. My daughter! Being ready for things..."
He frowned.

"Oh...already? Then again you are small aren't you? Very small still, to me." He shook his head,"But bother! Small things can be ready for things, can't they?" Her dad, Ward, spoke in a quick chattering way, that stopped and continued like the curves of a wave, which made it hard for her to get a word in when he got excited. He forgot about the ash all over his clothes in his excitement too, because the in next moment she was pressed against it as he wrapped her in a bear hug and yelled; "Wife! The strangest thing has been set upon us, our girl is growing up! Come look!"

"Mm?" Came Scarlet Garland, Dorthy's mom, from the hallway by the stairs that connected into the living room.

Her footsteps were less bounding, and more clear and concise than her husband's, whom took to the more clumsy, loud style of doing things. Scarlet's violet eyes looked just like her daughter's.

"Dorthy," she said appraisingly when she entered the room. Her long, charcoal-colored witch hat was placed in a uniform-like way, which crisply folded over in the back where it barely touched the hat rim; this was the hat she wore to formal occasions.
The dark sturdy tunic with light grey pants and work boots were a normal thing she would wear for flying. "Your not bothering my dear husband with this growing up business are you?" Her studious look was betrayed by a wicked smile.

Dorthy made a dignified grunt-sound against her father's all-encompassing hug.

"Hmm. Well, we can't have that, now can we?"
Scarlet held out a cupped hand to the side of her and light sparked, twisted inside her palm, the light elongated into a pole shape, and then became her own broom. Scarlet's broomstick was an old practical looking one, the bristles all yellowed but also sleeked back like a paintbrush.

"You ready?"

"Mh-hhm," Dorthy said, still all smushed up against her mad-scientist dad.

"Oh!" The wiry father said, letting go of her. "You sure you two don't want any weather protection potions before you go? There are a few clouds out there, even if the weather feels nice right now it's never wrong to be careful...".

Scarlet waved it off with her free hand. "don't worry about it, I fared well on my first day flying without any potions, and I know we've raised a capable daughter. Besides, we've made you wait longer than was due for this moment, hmm Dorthy?"