Threads by Erin Latimer (book recommendations for teens TXT) 📖

woman shrugged apologetically. “Magic.”
“Oh.” Alice closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay, give me a minute.” Did she really want to see these people? It sounded terrifying.
“This is why I have the store closed right now,” Azura said gently, “Because I don’t want you meeting any of them yet.”
“Are they dangerous?” Alice pictured packs of slathering Werewolves coming in to buy magic hats and pencils.
“Not usually,” Azura said. “And each city has leaders that oversee each type of creature, councils that keep their kind accountable. There are always reports of a rogue or two within every species, but they mostly try to stay civil. If they didn’t, there wouldn’t be much chance of staying a secret.”
“Why do they have to stay secret?”
“Because if we didn’t, the hunts would start all over again. Nobody wants that.”
“But what if a rogue comes into the shop?” Alice frowned.
“Do you see how many threads of magic there are here?” Azura asked.
Alice looked up at the threads floating in large colourful bunches in the air around them.
“Much of this is raw magic, which I will show you how to use, but the patterns you see on the walls and ceilings as well as all the furniture, those are spells. They protect us while we’re in the shop.”
“Oh…” Alice trailed off, still worried. What about outside the shop? Discovering a magical world was great. Discovering you could get eaten by a hungry Werewolf any minute, not so great.
Azura was tapping her chin again, something she seemed to do every time she was thinking. “I think we should test you out a bit, just to satisfy my curiosity.”
“Test me?” Alice repeated nervously, “How do you mean?”
“See that pattern of threads just above your head? Try to touch that.”
Alice stood up slowly. All the threads seemed to float just above their heads, close enough to reach, but not to get tangled in their hair. The pattern that Azura had pointed out was made of several different shades of red. She was supposed to just reach up and touch it?
“Are they solid?”
“Not for most people,” Azura said, “if they were at our height we could walk through them as if they were as insubstantial as smoke. But if you concentrate you should be able to touch one. Just try, not to worry if you don’t get it on the first attempt. It’s a difficult thing to learn when you’ve never done it before.”
The threads that Azura had pointed out stretched from the wall of the shop and disappeared in the brickwork of the fireplace. She hesitated, and then reached out with one shaking hand, bracing herself. Her fingers passed through it as if there were nothing there at all. She stared down at her hand. Did that mean she wasn’t magic? Now Azura would send her home because she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t run the shop if she couldn’t even touch magic. She felt her stomach turn leaden with disappointment. Suddenly being an English Teacher didn’t sound so great. “I don’t think I can do this.” Why had she expected to be able to do it on the first try? Perhaps Aunt Ruby had been mistaken and she didn’t have any magic at all.
Azura smiled encouragingly, “Try again, and this time really concentrates on making it substantial. Picture it in your mind as solid. Will it to happen. You have the ability to touch it. You only need to command it to respond to your touch.”
Alice frowned. Use your force of will, that’s what Azura was saying. She had never been strong willed. She wasn’t a stubborn or forceful person. Maybe she wasn’t meant to do this. A mean little voice spoke up in her head, that’s right, because you’re not really good at anything, are you? You’re just average. Alice gritted her teeth and reached with all her might. She demanded the threads be solid. She concentrated so hard her head hurt. And she touched it. “Ah!” She shrieked and pulled her hand back, her fingers tingling. “It shocked me.”
Azura looked surprised, “look at the fire.”
Her mouth dropped open as she saw that the fire had been snuffed out. The logs were smoking, as if someone had poured a bucket of water over them. “Did I do that?”
Azura looked delighted, “You did! Goodness, Ruby was certainly right about you. That’s amazing considering that was only your second try.” Alice glowed at the praise, startled to feel the prickle of tears behind her eyes as the relief nearly overwhelmed her. “So,” she changed the subject, determined not to show how silly and emotional she was, ‘That’s a spell on the fireplace?”
“Smart girl,” Azura rose gracefully to her feet and reached for the threads, she wrapped her thin fingers around the pattern and it glowed brightly. Alice sat up, startled, as the fire re-lit itself with a loud “WOOF”.
“Now,” Azura said, “You should run back home and start packing. I imagine that you’ll want to take some time to explain to your parents that you’re moving out. I’ll be here waiting to help you get settled in.”
“They’ll be happy,” Alice said distractedly, “They knew how miserable I was about Jason and all our plans…“She stopped, feeling embarrassed to have blurted that out. It wasn’t like Azura knew who Jason was, or cared.
“Ah,” Azura nodded. “I see.”
“This is all really crazy, “she looked around the shop again, “but it really is perfect timing.”
“You have a new life now.”
“A new world.”
Azura stood up, “Ah yes, but I think you will find that this one is far more interesting.”
Alice stood as well, grabbing her bag from where she had dropped it on the floor, “I don’t doubt it for a minute.”
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Publication Date: 02-04-2012

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