Liam’s mother laughed. It was a sweet
laugh that was neither too high nor too low,
and was filled with warmth and depth, like
a hearty bowl of soup.
A few seconds later, the knife fell to the
floor.
“See?” she said. “Useless! A stupid trick!”
Isabella had learned the spell called
Animate. That’s why she could make inani-
mate objects dance or run around if she
wanted to. It only lasted a few seconds, and
the objects never really came to life. It was
more like they were hit by a sudden jolt and
couldn’t help but jiggle around a bit. They
couldn’t talk or think.
Liam’s friend Ethan had his fifteenth
birthday a couple weeks ago. He had chosen
the Cheat spell. Once a day, he can whisper
the words and any answer on any test or
assignment would magically appear on the
page in his own handwriting.“Believe me, Liam,” Ethan had told him,
“you do NOT want to pick that spell.”
Everyone at school knew that Ethan had
learned to cast Cheat. Now, whenever it came
time for a quiz, Mrs. Myrtle would stand
behind his desk to make sure he didn’t actu-
ally use it. It made Liam so nervous to have a
teacher standing and watching the whole time
that he would start coughing for no reason or
break out into a sweat.
“Even the ones I should have gotten
right,” he insisted, “I get wrong now! I just
get so flustered!”
“Yeah,” Liam had said to him, “that’s
tough luck.”
Liam’s parents had both made good
decisions when it came time to pick their
spells. His father had chosen Amor. It wasn’t
a permanent love spell; it would only last
around twenty seconds. It also didn’t really
make anyone fall in love with you. They
just found you slightly more attractive and
slightly more interesting than they did
before. Still, it had been enough. When his
father had asked their mother out on a date,
he had said yes.
Liam’s mother had learned Snapshot.
She could only cast it once a week, but
when she did, it would preserve her
memories of that moment perfectly.
She would always be able to remem-
ber it exactly as it was—the sights,
he sounds, the colors, and even
the feelings she felt at the time.
“I’m saving up Snapshot this
week,” she told him as she scuffedWHO WOULD PICK THE CHEAT
SPELL? MAYBE UGLY BIRD...LET’S ALL BE GLAD
UGLY DOESN’T GET
TO PICK A SPELL!AMOR IS THE
FRENCH WORD
FOR LUVVVVVV...
(WINK WINK)EXCUSEZ MOI!
GOTTA GO!40