Clarity
by Peter Ryan
Isabella was pointing her fork directly at
him when she said this. There was still a bit
of pancake stuck between the tines, and it
was dripping with syrup.
“Leave him alone,” Liam’s father said,
without bothering to lower the newspaper
that covered his face. “It’s his decision. Not
yours.”
Liam stared up at the kitchen wallpaper.
It was dark blue like the sea on a stormy
night. What was he going to do? His fifteenth
birthday was only three days away! He needed
to make a decision—and soon.
His mother smiled at him encouragingly
from the counter, but then she turned on the
coffee grinder. GRRRRRRRRZZZZZTTT!“I f y o u a s k me,” Liam’s sister announced,
“you should pick a practical spell. And nothing
dangerous.”
The sound made it suddenly impossible to
think.
Every nonwizard citizen of Ireland, when
they reached fifteen years of age, was allowed
to pick a single line to memorize from
Grayling’s Book of Common Spells. It was said
that one spell was the most that any nonwizard
could ever hope to learn. On the morning
of his fifteenth birthday, Liam would be
driven to the Grand Wizard’s Court. He’d
be allowed to glance through the book for
no more than five minutes before making
his decision. Of course, the problem was that
there were thousands of spells to choose from.
How was he possibly going to decide?
“KAPLAR FALLOW SQUEAK!” Isabella
shouted. Instantly her knife grew arms and
legs and began running frantically in circles
around the table.Illustrated by Vivien Mildenberger
text © 2019 by Peter Ryan, art © 2019 by Vivien MildenbergerBUT JUST
ONE!
HOW TO
CHOOSE...WHAT A
GREAT
TRADITION!
PICK A
SPELL, ANY
SPELL.39