Paraworld Zero (22 page)

    Thorn’s squeaky voice broke into the conversation. “I’m sure whatever you’re
talking about is interesting and all, but when are we going to get to the actual magic?”

    “Patience, young one,” Tonya said in a condescending tone. “Patience.”

    Thorn pursed his lips together and squared his shoulders. “Who ya calling
young? I just turned thirteen today!”

    “Well, I’m fourteen and that makes me the oldest, so there.”

    The little Pud snickered. “It doesn’t make you the smartest.”

    “Maybe not, but it does give me more experience. I’ve seen things your
scientists can only dream of… and I’m the only one here who knows about magic, so be quiet and
listen.”

    Simon grabbed an apple from his fanny pack and took a big bite while Tonya
continued her lesson.

    “Magic,” she said, “is produced by the E.M. waves—or the lack of E.M. waves
in your case, Simon—but it must be harnessed by a person. As you summon the energy, it enters
your body and then is released when you cast your spell. Most people as they start learning magic
use something or other to focus that energy. I like to use a wand, but you can use whatever you
want: a staff, a ring, a bracelet, or anything.”

    “How about a rock?” asked Thorn.

    “Yeah, you could use a rock.”

    “How about a hat?”

    “You could use a hat.”

    “What about a book?”

    “Look, you could use a handful of dog poop if you wanted to. The point is
that whatever you use, it’ll help you to channel that built-up energy so you can cast your
spell.” She glanced at Simon as he opened his mouth to take another bite. “Let me see that apple,
Simon.”

    He handed it over reluctantly, and she placed it on a flat rock nearby.

    “Okay, Thorny, flick the wand at the apple and say:
Voluminous
. When you do it, imagine in your mind that the apple is getting bigger. Can you
do that, or do I need to paint a picture for you?”

    “
Voluminous!
” Thorn said, ignoring her insult. He flicked the wand with every syllable,
“Vo-lu-mi-nous,” but the apple didn’t budge. “Voluminous—Voluminous…
VO-LUMINOUS!
” He looked like he was conducting an orchestra.

    “All right!” snapped Tonya. She grabbed the wand from his hand. “Yelling at
it isn’t gonna make it grow.” She flicked the wand nonchalantly at the red fruit and said calmly,
“
Voluminous
. That’s how you do it. Here, Simon, you try.”

    Tonya handed the wand to Simon. It was black with a white tip—similar to what
a magician would use at a party. He inspected the smooth, waxy surface and realized that some of
the paint had chipped off.

    The image of the beautiful young woman from his dreams entered his mind.
Who is she?
he wondered.
She didn’t start coming into my dreams until I got to this planet
…
Is she giving me these powers, or am I really special like Tonya says I am?

    Simon had never thought he could be
special
. Special was a word used for someone great—someone with fantastic skills or
attributes… surely not someone like himself: a sickly young boy too small for his age with big
ears, unruly hair, and glasses.

    “We’re waiting, Simon.” Tonya interrupted his thoughts.

    “Oh, sorry.” He held the wand tightly and flicked it at the apple. “
Voluminous.
”

    The apple began to tremble. Then it shook so violently, it hopped off the
rock and rolled to the edge of the steep cliff. It started to grow… and grow… and grow! Soon, it
grew taller than Tonya. The red skin stretched like a balloon being filled with air. Even the
place where Simon had previously taken a bite expanded. When the apple stopped growing, it was
easily ten feet tall.

    Bewildered by the strange sight, Thorn exclaimed, “
Wow!
That was stupendous! I can’t believe you did that!”

    “I can’t believe I did, either,” Simon said, completely dumbfounded. He moved
his hover chair to get a closer look. The giant fruit leaned partially over the cliff.

    Thorn yanked off a small chunk of the apple and popped it in his mouth.
“Tastes great,” he announced. “It’s nice and firm—just like a normal apple.” He smacked the juicy
flesh of the oversized fruit as he talked.

    Just then, the crunching of rocks sounded in their ears. The apple teetered
backwards.

    “Stop it before it goes over,” Simon yelled. He grabbed the torn skin at the
edge of the huge bite mark and tried to stop the apple from falling off the cliff. “If this goes
over, someone below might get killed!”

    Tonya and Thorn grabbed the apple as well, which stabilized it for the
moment. “We can’t hold this forever!” Tonya cried.

    A faint grumbling sound resonated from within the apple. Thorn pressed his
ear to the side of the fruit, and a troubled look appeared on his face. “Guys, do you hear
that?”

    “Yeah, that’s my heart racing,” Tonya shouted, readjusting her grip.

    “No, there’s something else.”

    “I think I do hear something,” Simon said as the grumbling became
louder.

    Suddenly, the side of the apple exploded outward, and the head of a giant
worm emerged. The strange snakelike creature had two sharp horns on the top of its green head as
well as two beady little eyes. Its massive jaws opened wide, and it gave out a loud screech that
shocked Thorn so badly, he lost his grip and fell backwards. Seeing the helpless boy lying on the
ground, the worm lunged towards him with its mouth gaped open. But just before it reached Thorn,
the apple rolled over and fell off the cliff—taking the huge worm with it.

    Simon still held a flap of red skin in his hands. He watched helplessly as
the apple descended the tall mountain. Thorn scurried to the edge of the cliff and looked
down.

    “Well, Simon,” he noted, “there goes your lunch.”

    
SMASH!
The apple splattered on the ground below, causing pieces of fruit to mushroom out
into the field. Giant Puds dodged as parts of the juicy apple rocketed through the tall shocks of
wheat. Although some of the workers had gotten messy, no one was seriously injured—that is, no
one except the worm, which now lay dead.

    “Sorry!” Simon yelled, but he was too far away for any of the Puds below to
hear his apology.

    “Wow, Simon, that was pretty impressive, but for the next spell maybe we
should try something simpler… and less dangerous,” Tonya said. She looked around for a tiny rock
or twig they could practice on. “There we go,” she said, pointing to a weed that resembled a
pussy willow but had a thick, cylindrical end like a cattail. She snatched her wand from Simon
and demonstrated the next spell they were to perform. “
Foonati,
” she intoned, waving the wand over the peculiar weed.

    “What does it do?” asked Simon.

    “Sometimes you can’t quite reach something, so you cast a moving spell.
Foonati
is the most minor moving spell of all. Really, about the only thing it’s good for
is flipping switches. So with your hyperactive abilities, you’ll probably snap that weed in half,
but other than that, I can’t imagine anything horrible could happen.”

    “Let me try first.” Thorn begged like a little kid.

    “Okay,” Tonya said, handing him the wand with reservation. “Just wave the
wand
slowly
from right to left and say the magic word.”

    “What’s the magic word?”

    “Foonati.”

    “Oh, of course.” He waved the wand slowly from right to left with an
exaggerated motion. “
Foonati.
”

    Nothing happened.

    “All right. Simon’s turn,” Tonya said bluntly.

    “
FOONATI!
” Thorn yelled. He cut the air with the wand so that it made a swooshing sound as
it passed over the strange weed. “
FOONATI! FOONATI!
” Finally, he got so frustrated, he sliced the weed in half with the
wand. “There! That moved it.”

    Tonya grabbed the wand from Thorn and gave it to Simon. “All right, that does
it! You’ve lost your wand privileges,” she growled.

    Thorn demonstrated his skill of annoyance by picking up the severed weed and
handling it as if it were a sword. “Oh, lighten up, Butblacruze. I’m just having some fun.” He
pretended to fight an imaginary person. “Why don’t you teach us some fighting magic?” He swung
the weed so close to Tonya’s face that it almost nicked her nose.

    “I’ll show you fighting magic!”

    Streaks of red swam down her waist-length hair as she lunged after the little
Pud. She chased him around the hill, but he was too quick for her.

    Meanwhile, Simon gazed lazily at the long row of furry weeds in front of him.
He took the black wand and brought it as far back as he could. Tonya yelled loudly as she chased
after Thorn. Simon paid little attention to his friends; his focus was centered on the strange
weed at his feet. He felt a cool breeze brush against his face, and for a moment everything
became silent.

    “
Foonati,
” he said, waving the wand through the air like a scythe.

    Immediately, the weed trembled and jerked, but something stopped it from
launching into the air. The dirt where it stood broke apart. A thick root suddenly burst out of
the ground, allowing Simon to see that the weeds actually sprouted from the same source.

    Each weed, in turn, moved out of place as the root buckled under the soil. It
flailed about wildly like a power line that had just been cut. Oblivious to what was happening,
Tonya and Thorn were both thrown to the ground as the grassy carpet underneath them yanked away.
A large crack ran down the hill, causing an upheaval of rocks and grass to form on each side. Two
more cracks ripped through the soft dirt and headed towards the base of a large tree that was
covered with the same pussy-willow weeds.

    Similar to giant tendrils, the roots sprang upwards and twisted around the
tree furiously. A chill ran down Simon’s spine when he heard the painful crack of the tree being
split in half by its own roots. As if that weren’t enough, the possessed roots continued to
spread throughout the entire forest like a pernicious virus, attacking the rest of the
pussy-willow trees.

    Within moments, Simon realized that all of the willow trees were
interconnected by the same root system. Perhaps the strange trees were actually one organism
whose appendages expanded throughout the whole forest. Needless to say, no other type of tree was
harmed, and when the scene of destruction was over, not a single pussy-willow tree remained
standing.

    From where Simon sat, he could see the winding pathways that had been cut
throughout the forest from the carnage that had just taken place. The forest now looked like a
huge maze.

    “That was some spell!” Thorn gasped as he walked towards Simon. “You really
gave that weed a
nudge
, didn’t you? I’d hate to see what a
major
moving spell would do!”

    Simon stared at the fallen trees in disbelief, his mouth hanging open. “I
think that’s enough magic for today,” he mumbled.

    “We’re just getting started!” Thorn exclaimed.

    “No, maybe we should go home now. I think I’ve done enough damage
already.”

    “We can’t go home or we’ll get in trouble for playing hooky,” Tonya
countered. “Besides, after what you just did, the forest will be crawling with adults. I doubt
they’ll find us up here.”

    “That’s right,” Thorn said. “Let’s see how big you can make a banana grow.”
The little boy unzipped Simon’s fanny pack, and out popped two peaches and a banana. He threw a
peach to Tonya who, after catching it, scanned the surface closely for worm holes. “Oh! Oh! Here
we go!” Thorn squealed, bringing out Simon’s video game machine.

    Simon frowned. “You want me to make my video games grow?”

    “No, silly, I want you to make them work.”

    His face brightened. “Oh, I was kinda hoping Tonya would show me how to
recharge the batteries. That’s why I brought it with me in the first place. It was going to be a
surprise for your birthday.”

    Tonya reacted quickly, “Oh, no-no-no-no-no! I wouldn’t do that if I were you.
That would be
way
too complicated. You might not use enough wattage or you might use too much voltage.
Spells like that are just so intricate you’d have to be a professional to be able to do it.
Besides, you’d probably fry the—”

    
POOF!
A thin stream of white smoke came out of the colorful screen, and
mechanical-sounding music filled the air.

    “…circuits,” Tonya said, finishing her sentence.

    “You did it!” Thorn yelled. “Now you have to show me how to get past level
ten. Tell me, when you’re fighting the end boss, do you use the flame-thrower or the grenade
launcher?”

    “Oh, no,” Tonya moaned. “I wish you hadn’t done that.”

    But it was too late; Simon and Thorn were instantly and completely enthralled
with the video game. Playing it brought back many happy memories of Earth that Simon had
forgotten. The boy hadn’t realized until now how much he really did miss his home. He missed the
food. He missed the interaction with normal children. He even missed being awakened by Dimitri
every morning.

    Tonya sat away from the boys and made comments such as, “Don’t you think we
should go now?” and “How much longer are you guys gonna be?” and “You guys are pathetic.”

    Annoyed and upset, Tonya rested on her back and stared at the clouds
overhead. She picked out the especially long blades of grass around her and ate them one by one,
imagining they were French fries.