"I guess I’ve been seeing things since last Christmas. I thought it was just snow, but it didn't go away in the spring. Mom took me to a bunch of eye doctors, but they didn't find anything wrong, so I've been pretending it's gone," said Kayla, sitting back down at the table. "She has enough to worry about, between my growth spurt and getting in trouble at school. I didn't want her to think I'm sick too.

"Why have you been getting in trouble?" asked Sarah.

"Nothing, just sometimes I talk too much, or I don't pay enough attention, and I keep forgetting my homework."

Sarah said, "I started seeing the fog when I was nine. I told my mom, I got dragged to the doctor too. Only after the eye doctors didn't see anything, I got to go to brain doctors, cancer doctors, and crazy-people doctors. I spent most of a year in one place or another before I realized I should just stop talking about it. You're a lot smarter than me, to realize that so much faster."

"Wow, how many doctors?" asked Kayla.

"Lots. And lots. And lots of tests too," said Sarah. "But I'd honestly rather just forget all that. The point is, be careful talking about any of this, or people will think you're crazy. And who knows what will happen if people find out what you can do, so be careful or they'll notice.

"We each use the fog a bit differently, right? It's not painting, not really. Don't do anything with the fog yourself, but look at this," said Sarah, laying her left hand out on the table. Cuddles let go of his tail and uncurled out onto the table. With a soft rattle, he slithered across the table in a big circle before wrapping himself back around Sarah's wrist.

Kayla's eyes were wide, "I can do that?"

"No, I'm sorry," whispered Sarah. Then in a stronger voice, she said, "Listen, please, I'm going to talk about this stuff, stay calm, don't think about the fog, and don't try to move it at all, really. Just, just listen. Ok? I put blue light into things. I don't think I can touch the red or green light, or if I can I have no idea how to even go about doing it. All my magic is just blue. Now, if I try to use the blue light differently it doesn't work, or I hurt myself. Like, it hurts if I put the light into myself, and I can't just let it hang in the air either. I take it and I have to use it right away.

"Alexa, the friend that I came here with, she can use the green fog, and she puts it into herself. It makes her strong, makes her body better. But she's got the same deal, if she uses it differently, it either doesn't work or she gets hurt. Now, for you, please don't do this right now, but you use red, and our friend that uses red moves his light through the air. And when he does it wrong, the same thing happens to him that happened to you today. He can't put it into himself, and he passes out whenever he tries to put it into something else. Like how you passed out before.

"When Finn, my friend, uses his red light, he makes lightning, or fire, or bright light. Which is why I don't want you to do it now. Better to not throw lightning inside, you know? The first couple of times he did it were dramatic, and he even started a fire in the hospital when he first tried it out."

"I'm a wizard?" breathed Kayla.

"Um, no," said Sarah. "Well, I don't know, actually. You're exactly the third person I've ever met who can see or use the fog at all. And you're the second who uses the red. So sure, you can call yourself a wizard."

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Cool," said Kayla. "I really want to go try this out."

"Fine, just not now, ok?" cautioned Sarah. "And don't talk about this to people, ok? Maybe if you see someone else doing it."

"Ok," said Kayla, slumping in her chair.

Sarah swallowed, pulled a piece of the onion off the skewer, chewed, and swallowed again. She asked, "Tucson, huh? That's in New Mexico, right? When do you go home?"

"Tucson is in Ar-i-zo-na," said Kayla, sounding out each syllable of Arizona. "And we're leaving tomorrow morning to fly home."

"I'm sorry," said Sarah with a sigh. "I can't help you right now, not with everyone around, and not with you going home tomorrow. But you'll be ok if you're careful. Just, when you do try to use your red light, try to find somewhere you won't break anything, ok? And somewhere you won't start a fire. And try to use as little as you can to start out. Smaller amounts make less lightning and fire."

Kayla nodded.

"Good. You know what, just a sec," said Sarah. She looked around and found a Post-it note and pen on the counter next to a bunch of other papers. She wrote her name and her phone number on it and gave it to Kayla. "Call me if you need something, ok? I don't know for sure what I'd be able to do from here, but I can probably help."

Kayla put the note in her pocket, perking up a bit. "Thank you. Do you think I can go outside now?"

"I don't know, I'm not your mom," laughed Sarah. "But I should go, Alexa and I were supposed to take Bri out tonight."

"Oh, she was so angry she couldn't spend the day at the party, she wouldn't even eat the chicken, and that's her favorite," said Kayla with a knowing nod. "I'd like to go to the party too, I'm going to go ask."

Sarah could only blink as Kayla hopped up again, dashing through the sliding glass door into the warm night. She hoped Kayla wouldn't cause problems for her, but it did seem like she already knew to keep what she could see to herself. Sarah finished her skewer, ate a deviled egg in a single bite, took a piece of fried chicken, and followed Kayla back out into the night.

Kayla was arguing with her mom, but Sarah ignored her and found Alexa and Bri. They were lurking in a corner of the yard, away from any of the adults in the yard. Alexa had a clear plastic cup of something red in her hands, and Bri kept glancing at the fence gate while they talked.

"How did it go?" asked Alexa.

"Fine, I think," said Sarah. "Good as can be expected, really."

"Well, she seemed like she was in a good mood when she came running out," said Bri.

"Yeah, she wants to come with us to the party," said Sarah. "She was pretty bugged about being stuck inside."

"Fat chance," muttered Bri. "I almost couldn't leave. No way they're going to let the kid go. Especially with all the trouble she's been causing lately."

Sure enough, Kayla was stomping her feet, and Sarah could hear the little girl's voice getting louder as she demanded to go out with her cousin. With a jerk of her head, Alexa led the three of them out of the backyard. Bri ducked back inside the house through the front door, grabbing a pair of sandals, and then they were off.

"Bri, I never asked," said Sarah as they walked back to Alexa's car. "What did happen with you and Finn? He was kinda vague about the whole thing."

"Oh, him? He's cute and tall, but he's crazy boring," said Bri. "So yeah, he was fun for a bit, but there's only so much I can talk about football, you know? I totally get why you're not interested."

"He talks about music sometimes too," said Sarah. She had a strange feeling that she should be defending Finn.

"Yeah, but he doesn't have any actual opinions about it! It's just great, or awesome, or pretty, or something. It doesn't matter what song, he just says he likes it!" exclaimed Bri. "Who does that? And I can't even get him to tell me why he likes something. Yeesh. I'm glad he took you to prom. I might have felt bad if he ended up alone that night."

"Oh, he probably would have been fine going stag," said Alexa. "But you know what, no more boy talk tonight. Bri, you and I are going to college, even if I'm sticking at the state school. And Sarah here is a big ol' senior now. So let's go have fun, see who gets tossed in the pool last, or spill some punch on someone."

"Right," said Bri and Sarah together. Sarah was excited to go back, even if Bri was louder about saying so.