The Potions Master's Daughter (Book One)

Chapter 1

As I ran out of the house after my mother had kicked me out I heard my mother scream, "Get away from here! You are a monster just like your father. He never should have left me with you."

I was left in the driveway with nothing but a small blue duffle bag with a few necessities. Even so I was still glad to get away from the place I had called home for so long. I had grown up in this house and everywhere I looked in it brought back only bad memories for me.

I was surprised that my "Mother" had even said anything about my father. He had left my mother right after I was born so I never knew him. all I knew about him was what little information my "Mother" let slip. Most of it was bad; she called him a monster although I never asked why she hated him. I just assumed it was because he had left her with a child right after I was born.

Without taking one more look at my childhood house I ran across the street and into the woods. The only things on my mind were; now what do I do and what did my father do that was so bad?

Once I reached the forest at the edge of the road I took off in a full on sprint. I held this pace for about 10 minutes. Once I was sure no one could see me from the road and I wasn't in immediate danger I slowed down to a stop. I paused for a minute to catch my breath and gather my thoughts. As I looked up at the sky I realized it was going to rain. I groaned slightly, impressed by just how bad my luck was. I searched my mind trying to figure out what to do. I decided that I should do what I saw people camping on TV do. A large tree caught my eye and within minutes I had scurried up the trunk to the top of the tree to get a look at my surroundings.

About 10 minutes walking distance further into the forest was a small cave that would be perfect to shield me from the rain. There was even a small clearing outside the cave for me to start a fire. It looked small but it was good enough for right now.

I felt a small cool raindrop on my shoulder and I scampered down the tree as fast as my legs would allow me to. I slung my duffle bag over my shoulder and ran to the cave as the rain started to come down faster. I reached the cave with my duffle bag hitting against my shoulder repeatedly. As soon as I was safely inside the cave it started to pour and I was disappointed that I hadn't been able to get dry wood before the rain came.

As I took in my surroundings I couldn't help but be amazed by the natural beauty of it all. We had a cool summer this year and even though it was only the beginning of August the leaves were already changing into the familiar reds and oranges of Fall.

I could only look at the landscape for a few blissful moments before another thought crossed my mind. I turned to the only thing my "Mother" had given me. The duffle bag was an ugly blue color and it had been sewn up in some places. The bag itself was pretty light meaning she hadn't packed much. It was bulky, so my only hope was that she had packed some big things that might help me to survive out here.

I unzipped the bag and rummaged through it. There was my favorite stuffed animal Benny the elephant in there. I was surprised that she had packed it because I didn't know she was aware I had it. I know it's childish to have a stuffed animal but for me it was my safe haven. Whenever I was getting punished for another unexplainable event I would clutch Benny to my chest and he would help me not cry. I wasn't allowed to cry in front of my mother because she saw it as a sign of weakness.

There was also a really small portion of food. There was only one row of crackers and a half finished jar of peanut butter. I quickly tore open the crackers and took one out. Unscrewing the cap on the peanut butter I dipped my finger in and used it to spread on my cracker. I licked the rest off my finger not wanting to waste any and gobbled down the cracker. I was famished after the long run into the forest but I knew I had to ration my food; there was no telling when I would be able to get more food.

The last thing in there was a small piece of paper folded into fourths. I thought it was just something she had forgotten to take out of the bag so I stuffed it back in the bag along with the remainder of the food and Benny. I put it in the far corner of the cave to keep it as dry as possible.

Looking out into the forest I saw that the rain had slowed down to a drizzle. I decided that I would try to find wood to dry off for later tonight. With this in mind I ventured out of the cave to get some kindling and large sticks.

I walked out of the cave to the right. The opposite direction I had come from. I hadn't really been looking but I hadn't seen any good firewood on my way in. I walked for about 10 minutes when the rain finally stopped. At about that same time I came across a large tree that had fallen down.

The wood looked fine to use so I gathered up some large pieces by snapping them off the tree. Once my hands were full I brought it back to the cave. As I walked back to the cave I realized that the wood wasn't super wet. It was damp but it wasn't as wet as I would have expected wood that was in the pouring rain would be. I dropped it in front of the cave in the small clearing and went back to the site of the fallen tree for some medium size sticks and kindling.

I thought back to a survival show I had watched when I was a few years younger. I knew I had enough wood for a sufficient fire but I didn't have rocks to build the base, and I didn't have a match to start the fire. Pushing the second of these worries to the back of my mind I set out to find some rocks for the base of the fire. I came back with enough rocks for a base and set them up in a circle. I then arranged the smaller sticks in a teepee. I put kindling all around the teepee and left the large sticks to the side until alter.

Once that was done I had to get back to the problem I had been putting off. I still needed a match to start the fire. I thought about the notebook I always have with me to write. Taking it out I realized it looked enough like what campers use to start their fire.

I started rubbing it against a rock. After 5 minutes of trying I was ready to give up but a small spark appeared. It caught the small branched and soon the fire was ablaze. I added some of the bigger branched to the fire and it grew into a roaring fire.

It was starting to get dark now. I could see the sun setting off in the distance. Within a half an hour the only light I could see was being emitted from the fire that I kept feeding wood to. I leaned my head against the rock on the cave and within minutes I was asleep.