Kendra's POV: This time I kept my attention on the stone. It rose slowly, higher and higher, until it was about level with my waist. I carefully moved my hand to the side, and the stone followed. "I'm moving it." "Good," Mom said. "Now bring it back down." I slowly lowered my hand. The stone descended until it gently touched the floor. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. "That felt easier." Mom nodded. "Because you weren't fighting the magic. You were guiding it." I looked at her. "How did you learn?" For a moment, she became quiet. "I made plenty of mistakes." Dad smiled. "More than a few." Mom gave him a look. "Thank you for that." "You're welcome." I laughed. Mom picked up the feather and held it out to me. "One last exercise." "What do I have to do?" "Keep the feather in the air." I looked at the tiny feather. "That's all?" "That's all." I reached toward it, and the feather slowly rose from Mom's hand. I smiled as it hovered in front of me. Then I tried to move it in a circle. It spun once, twice, and then suddenly shot across the room. "Oh!" I watched as it flew toward Dad. He caught it before it reached his face. "Your aim needs work," he said. "I wasn't aiming at you!" "I'm relieved." I giggled, and Mom shook her head with an amused smile. "We'll work on that tomorrow." I looked around the room at all the objects we'd practiced with. A few books were still scattered across the table, the wooden box was sitting crookedly where I'd accidentally sent it earlier, and Dad still had the feather in his hand. It wasn't perfect. I wasn't perfect. But for the first time, that didn't bother me. Mom walked over and put an arm around my shoulders. "You're learning quickly." I looked up at her. "Really?" "Really." I smiled. "Do you think I'll ever be as good at magic as you?" Mom paused for a moment before answering. "You don't need to be as good as me." She gently tapped my shoulder. "You need to learn how to be good at being you." I smiled at that. Maybe magic wasn't something I had to be afraid of. Maybe it was just another part of me that I had to learn about, one lesson at a time. And judging by the feather that suddenly floated out of Dad's hand and landed on Mom's hat, I still had quite a lot to learn.
Kendra Thropp is my original character! All other characters, locations, and the Wicked universe belong entirely to their respective rights holders. Chapter 40: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1386664278/
