Daniel's Early Days: A Young Wizard's Story

Ch 35 Mirage-Before Daniel became a powerful Mage, he was just a boy. Follow Daniel from the beginning as he receives his powers, embarks on many adventures, and learns what true power really is.

The expansive entryway in the front room was the same, and yet it was not. Everything looked a bit hazy, like when the hot sun steams off the pavement creating a mirage of images. The banister that ran along the second floor looked swollen; the carved spindles looked like bloated figurines holding the inflated railing up. All the furniture in the room had been pushed to the side of the room, and it also had that hazy, swollen look to it.

The normally clean lines of the wooden stairs curving up the side wall now appeared soft and puffy. Daniel stood there for a minute, head cocked to the side, trying to decide what magic was at work here when his grandmother slid up to the edge of the very top stair. Looking down at him she called out, “Just in time! Come in, come in.”

When he stepped into the room, he almost lost his balance. The floor was squishy like a marshmallow, yet springy like a trampoline. Gingerly, he stepped out onto the floor, testing its stability. His feet sunk in a fraction, but he also bounced gently. He flung his arms out to steady himself and grabbed the doorway. His fingers sunk into the door jamb as if the once supportive wood was nothing more than soft, yielding foam.

Pearl jumped down from his shoulder, and softly landed on the floor next to him. She took a few tentative steps raising her legs up high between each step as if her feet were unsure if they were comfortable touching this unusual floor. Daniel watched in amusement, and stifled a giggle at the sight of her slow, jerky trotting.

His grandmother cleared her throat catching Daniel’s eye. She was holding a hand over her mouth trying to cover her amusement. Daniel jumped around the room exuberantly, while his grandmother glided down the stairs, her skirt dragging along the steps behind her while her feet never even touched a step.

“This is very cool,” Daniel cried as he bounced around.

“What, this?” she asked waving a hand around. “This is just the setup. Wait until you see what I’ve got in store for you.”

            Daniel froze mid bounce, and landed on his butt. His grandmother grinned from ear to ear like the Cheshire cat, while Daniel bounced a couple times and then skidded to a stop. “What is it?” he asked peering over his shoulder at his grandma as she floated over.

            “Drink this,” his grandmother demanded holding out a glass of purple liquid that trailed a wisp of smoke. Where she procured the glass from when she hadn’t been holding it before, Daniel didn’t know. But he was too curious about the drink’s contents to inquire of the drink’s origin.

Daniel steadied himself, and stood up to get a better look at the glass. There was something strange about the liquid, besides the ribbon of smoke curling from its surface. Leaning forward, Daniel peered at his grandmother’s offering. The liquid he mistook for purple was actually tiny individual layers of pink and blue swirling around each other but not mixing; like those oil and water science experiment he did with his parents.

“So what is it?”

“It’s a surprise,” she said stubbornly. The corners of her lip twitched into a small smile. “However, I will give you a hint,” she said with a twinkle in her green eyes. She reached into the folds of her skirt and pulled out a small white card. She handed it over to Daniel, and he flipped it over expecting some kind of riddle. His grandmother loved riddles. “Drink Me” was all it said. Daniel squinted his eyes and cocked his head at his grandmother in confusion.

“These look like directions, not a clue,” he complained.

“No, correction: they are both directions and a clue as to what is contained in this glass. If it helps I will give you a nudge in the right direction,” she tapped her fingers on her lips and looked thoughtful like she was searching for the perfect clue but all she said was, “Library.”

“Library,” Daniel murmured a little perplexed. He glanced down at the card and then over to Pearl. Pearl just shook her head. Daniel didn’t know if she didn’t know or if she just wanted him to work it out on his own.

Daniel thought about the library. What was in the library, book of course. So, his grandmother was alluding to one of the many books in the family library, but which book. Obviously, it had to be a book Daniel knew well or else the clue wouldn’t be a clue at all.

Daniel looked at the card again and noticed the card wasn’t a perfect rectangle. Two corners on one end were snipped off and there was a tiny hole in that end like a piece of string should be threaded through. A slow smile spread across Daniel’s face as understanding dawned on him. “The white rabbit,” he whispered. He grabbed the small glass of liquid and gulped it down.