When I woke up, Cora's head was resting on my shoulder. I smiled, still feeling our kiss on my lips. Suddenly, I realized how hungry I was.
When Cora wakes up, she might be hungry too. I carefully moved Cora's head off of my shoulder and laid it gently on the ground. I took off my coat and made a pillow-type thing for her to rest her head on. I lifted her head up and put it underneath it. Then I gently let her down and then go to the entrance and examine it.
It was snowed in really good. I punched it. Barely made a dent. I sighed. I only had one option. I sighed and flicked my wrist. A ball of fire appeared in my hand. I bore it into the snow, which immediately gave away. I saw the sky, which was just a white sheet.
I couldn't ever use magic without thinking about my dad...
"Alright, Aidan. You think you got it?" he said. "Yeah, I think I do." I flicked my wrist, just for practice.
More steps. Less snow. My concentration wavered and the fire went out. I shifted my concentration back to the fire. It flickered back into my hand.
I looked at my mother with her doubtful look. "I can do it." I said, firmly. I've been practicing for a long time. She turned to my father who was still setting up the target, "Are you sure he's ready?"
My hand clenched into a fist. The fire blazed brightly. I almost lost control of it. I breathed out a sigh. The fire dulled again.
"Mary, he's been practicing. Besides, he's 9 years old. He's a pro." My father gave me an encouraging smile. "Nine? Really?" I glared at my mother, but I didn't say a word.
My mother hadn't been there that much when my father was alive. Now she was around much less since he died.
"No, he's not ready." My mother said. "Yes, Mary. He's ready." "He's going to fail, and when he does..." My mom didn't finish her sentence, but she gave my father a frown before she went inside.
Before I knew it, I had almost ran onto the tree that I was looking for. It had markings that I made, before I followed Cora into the forest. Other trees like it make a trail back to the beginning of the forest.
"I'll go inside and talk to her." My dad muttered, frowning himself, "Just make sure you are absolutely ready." I nodded. He went back inside.
I should probably go back to get Cora. First, I needed to rest. I sat down and closed my eyes. Only for a little while...
I finished warming up and turned around to see where dad and mom was. I saw them inside, talking or yelling, I wasn't sure. So, I walked over to them to see what was taking so long. Mom was yelling, "Fine, then leave!" Just as I opened the door and stepped in. I stood there in shock. "Aidan!" Dad exclaimed. "Didn't your father tell you to wait outside?" Mom said. I blinked back tears. "All I wanted to do was practice magic." I said this multiple times. I felt the dummy light on fire outside. I got scared and stopped, but it was too late. The house started to go up in flames, the fire quickly eating everything. "Mommy! Daddy!" I screamed through my streaming tears. The flames jumped at me, and I flinched, but it didn't hurt me. I blinked, and everything was faded after that. I just remember waking up in a hospital, wondering where my dad was. The doctor said, "I'm sorry. Your father is in a better place now."
I opened my eyes, realizing that I had fallen asleep. I got up and quickly headed back to the cave. When I got there, Cora was awake, leaning against the cave wall. "Hi." she said. "Hey." I replied, sitting next to her.
After a moment, she asks, "Are you okay?" "Er, yeah." I said. "Come on, really?" she asks. Then she put her hand in my hand.
I sighed, "Okay, so when I was little, my dad taught me magic. I was pretty good at it, but I let my emotions get the best of me, and accidentally... I accidentally set the house on fire. My dad... didn't make it."
"Wow..." We were silent for a moment. I'm pretty sure Cora didn't know how to respond to this. "You're okay now, right?" she asks.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, are you over it? Because one of the worst things that could happen to you is that you aren't able to get over it." "Yeah." I lied. I looked at her, and she looked at me.
"Hey," she said, "I'm really sorry about your dad." "Me too." She came closer to me, our arms were touching. "I lost a brother once." she said.
"Oh. Well, I'm sorry." I really didn't know what else to say. Repeating what Cora said, probably wasn't very intelligent. She smiled though. I smiled back. Then I remembered the path that I had made. I stood up, taking my jacket, "I made a path, want to check it out?" "Sure." she said, standing up too. After
When we got to the road, I saw it was already plowed so I said, "Your house is closer, so I'll walk you home, if that's okay." Cora nodded, "That'd be nice."
* * * * * *
"Here it is." Cora said. I nodded, and she rang the doorbell. A man opened the door. His eyes widened, "Cora!" At that, 3 people appeared behind him, two small, and a college aged guy.
"Hey dad." Cora said, smiling. "Thank goodness you're safe." he said, then he looked at me, "You two should come in." Me too? "Yeah, I kind of have to get back home." I said. "Well, come in to warm up and let me drive you home at least."
"Okay." I said, stepping inside after Cora.
