Chatoyant College Book 8: From the Earth

Chapter 4: Everything is a Metaphor

It took Corrie the whole rest of the class, but she finally figured it out. Her magic didn't move or change; she didn't have to grab hold of it the way she had been. Of course, it took her three tries after she decided to touch it more gently to actually succeed in being gentle—her mental "hands" weren't as easy to control as her real ones. But she finally managed to light the wick and get the candle burning like a normal one, just before class ended.

She walked up to Professor Lal's desk with a big grin, the trash can in her left hand, and the bag of candles in her right. "There's almost as many candles left as there are in the trash," she said proudly. "And I did it."

The professor smiled as she reached for the items. "I knew you could do it. Would you like to hang on to the candles, and practice in your dorm?"

"Could I?"

"Certainly, as long as you're careful. Perhaps have your friends around. But Gilkey is one of the dorms that is up to fire code, and it should be safe."

"Cool, I will, then." Everyone else was piling up their buckets as they had been instructed—Professor Lal had made all the leftover wood burn away to ash—so Corrie hurried to catch up with her friends. She wrapped her arm around Roe's. "Okay," she demanded, "tell me all about it."

"Huh? Uh, I had some trouble, but I did it eventually. I wish we'd brought some marshmallows. But this is going to be useful the next time I go camping."

"What are you talking about?"

"Class. What are you talking about?"

Corrie let go of Roe's arm and punched her lightly as they walked out of the building. "Your vision! You said you'd tell me about it after class!"

"What?" Roe's eyebrows were pushed together in confusion, but then her expression cleared. "Oh. No, I didn't have a vision."

"But you said you did!" Now Corrie was really confused.

"Actually, you came to that conclusion. I never said I had a vision." Roe grinned wickedly. "But I figured if I encouraged it, you'd have more confidence."

Corrie shoved Roe, sending her staggering sideways. "You are so mean!" Roe and Dawn were both laughing.

"Yeah, but it worked, right?" said Dawn.

"I guess. Actually I didn't think about what Roe said that much. I just kept trying to figure out what I was doing wrong." She sighed and shook her head. "Well, I did it, that's what's important. How did it go for you guys?"

"It was harder than I was expecting," said Dawn. "There seemed to be less magic this time. I don't know what that was."

"Really?" Corrie turned to her and frowned. "My magic was exactly the same. What about yours, Roe?"

"The same. Though it was harder to find than I expected. I figured I knew where it was, you know?"

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean," said Dawn. "I guess it's not just a place, it's a mindset."

"It's probably those and some other things," Corrie mused. "I had a harder time finding it, too. Probably everything about it is a metaphor except for actually using it. It's... well, it's magic."

"Exactly," said Roe. She wrinkled her nose, making a disgusted face. "I was really hoping there was something logical and quantifiable. You know, a good way to explain and understand it."

"You don't think practical experience is a good way to understand it?" Dawn asked.

"Oh, I guess it is, but you can't really explain it. Not that I really expected to teach it to any of my friends back home, but maybe I could explain how I did it. Otherwise they'll just think it's a trick."

"What, when you light something on fire just by looking at it, they'll think that's a trick?" Corrie asked.

"Yeah. I don't know, maybe they'll believe me." Roe shrugged, all trace of a grin gone. "Didn't you guys hope you'd be able to amaze your friends with your new magic?"

"Never thought about it," said Corrie. She really didn't have many friends at home—between her frequent moves with her mom, meaning that she'd gone to schools in several different neighborhoods over the years, and the fact that she'd never taken that well to other people, Paul had been her closest friend. Now the only person she kept in touch with was her mom.

"Me neither," said Dawn. "I mean, if I'd really wanted to convince my friends that magic was real, I would have gotten my aunt to demonstrate. We were always close and she knew most of my friends."

"Oh. Well, that's cool." Roe summoned up a smile again. "I just wish there was a book about it or something. Some way to explain it in words."

"Maybe there is," said Corrie. "Just because Professor Lal doesn't use one doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. We should ask Annie and Rico if they're doing anything differently in Professor Rook's class."

"Good idea," said Dawn. "And I'll see what the library has. There is a pretty big magic section. Maybe we can find something for our next book club read."