Different Kinds of Magic

This is where I meddle

Leaves crackle beneath their feet. A breeze hinting of a cold night ahead rifles through Aidan’s ponytail and lifts the ends of Celia’s raven hair. Walking behind her, Aidan watches the strands dance with each other. Occasionally a gust tosses Celia’s hair across Jason’s broad back. Of course, they walk together like honeymooners, close, in time, hands clasped.

Aidan and Corey can let a whole other person walk between them the space is so wide. Aidan shoves her hands in the depths of her pockets, fingers playing with the keychain her mother is no longer using. Her fingertips slide over and around the silver symbol warmed by her touch.

(To Aidan, Celia and Jason leading the way seem to meander. A few nudges from me here and there take them to the two-mile strip filled with quaint little shops overlooking the river. I personally love this street, have watched it grow and change over the years…but lately my little town council has placed rules…)

They turn onto the street overlooking the river. It is quaint, filled with shops in refurbished buildings built at the turn of the 20th century. The city even springs for the landscapers that keep the flowers blooming, the trees healthy and the cobblestones neat. It is one of Aidan’s favorite places, mainly because the stores may look ancient on the outside and the real wood floors may creak beneath her feet, but they have free wifi and the best of everything.

She looks at the back of Celia’s head, hears the low voices between her cousin and Jason, waits for the giggle, and wonders what she should say to Corey. They have been silent since they left the house. Walking through the strip is a very good date for couples who have been together long enough to have things to talk about. Aidan would have preferred a dark movie theater for a first date. No topic pressure. Dinner afterwards filled with critique.

Now, doubts dribble through her.

(I flit into Corey’s head.

Interesting. I’ll have to examine the boy closer later. Have I checked him out? Is he good for her? Nope, been a little busy. He’s just a kid. I’m not in his head long enough to peruse.

I just place a suggestion or two.)

“Did you get to the books?” he asks.

“A couple of them. I thought I’d check out the jewelry store here this weekend. See what I can remember about stones.”

“They probably only have high end stuff.”

“Actually, no.” She looks at him. His hair flicks over his face. “You haven’t ever been down here have you?”

Jason and Celia walk as if they have a purpose, making plans for getting something to eat and maybe hitting the coffee shop for desert. Aidan and Corey stroll behind letting them get a bit further ahead.

He takes a breath. “Honestly? Nope. Never come to this part of town.”

“Even during the Festivals?” Her voice went higher than she intended.

“Nope.”

“How long have you lived in Port Azil?”

“Not long enough to know that there are festivals…”

This starts a conversation about being the son of an Air Force Captain and moving every few years, the only stability being summers in South Dakota with his mother’s family.

Aidan almost runs into Jason and Celia stopped at the only empty shop on the strip. At first, she thinks they are reading the advertisement for tonight’s performance at the tiny open-air theater further down. But Celia’s eyes peer through the window into the store.