Fear

1

It's October 17th 1966, and 7 year old Tommy Ferris is sat on the floor in their living room, with his eyes trained on her book about inventions. They was obsessed with knowing how things worked. The science behind it. He loved learning how everything worked together. Even by age 7, she knew that whatever he was gonna be when they grew up, it would have to do with that. Until, of course, one day that dream was crushed like an ant under a foot.

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An accident occurred. Tommy was outside, sitting on the sidewalk in front of her house with a radio he had gotten for his birthday. It was old and broken, and they were delighted by that fact.

He's halfway through fixing it when the boy who lives down the street walked up to him.

"Hiya, Tommy! What'cha doing there?"

Tommy startles before looking up at the source of the squeaky voice. It was Alfie, who always tried to get him to play as Tommy was the only other kid on the block. Alfie also wasn't the nicest (or smartest) and so Tommy usually tried to avoid him. She smiles and says, " I'm fixing this radio I got!"

Confusion clouds Alfie's face, " You were given a broken radio? That's a terrible gift."

Tommy frowns, " No it's not. I like fixing things."

Alfie's face scrunches up, " It is too, that's dumb!"

Tommy cringes back from the yell before standing up, " It is not!"

" Is too!"

" Is not!"

"Yes it is!" Alfie pushes Tommy before stomping over to the half-assembled radio and smashes his foot down on it. Before he can do it again, his leg suddenly turns limp like jelly and he falls.

Alfie yelps, while Tommy jumps back and shrieks (something he wasn't very proud of doing, but understandable). They bolt up and run back inside.
"Mum, Mum! S-something happened! Like something really, really weird!" He stutters out to his mother, who's sitting at the kitchen table reading, before rambling on, "I was fixing the radio you got me, and than Alfie, you know Alfie and how he is, well Alfie came up and asked what I was doing. I told him I was fixing the radio, he said it was stupid, we got into an argument then he stomped on my radio! My birthday gift! So I was about to push him off and away but then his leg turns to, like, jelly and he fell. Then I ran back inside to tell you and now I'm telling you!"

Tommy was currently extremely uncomfortable and scared. What happened, there was no explanation for it, and that scared them. Whatever happened terrified him, because she knew that it happened because of him. They wanted Alfie to stop and then he did, by his leg turning into jelly. Jelly.

His mother looked startled, and she got up with a worried look on her face and rushed over to him. Looking at them sternly, her mother says. "Tommy, look at me."

Tommy turns to his mother, and her terror increases at the look on her face. "Tommy, you're not to tell your father of this. Do you understand me?"
Tommy blinked. He nodded his head.

"Good, now go up to your room, and we'll discuss this later." His mother rushed outside while she turned around. They went up the stairs to his bedroom, and then proceeded to lay down on their bed, staring up at the ceiling before curling up into a ball. She fell asleep like that.

At the age of 7, Tommy had done her first act of magic, and he didn't like it. They didn't know why he was able to do that, and he didn't want to find out. For the first time in her life, Tommy didn't want to understand how something worked. She was instead scared. Scared of himself for what they did. Scared of the reaction their mother had towards it. And scared of it happening again.

Tommy decided then, that whatever had happened, couldn't be good. He had hurt someone. What she did wasn't normal, they knew that it wasn't. And they would do anything to make it go away.