The Wizard Trio

Kierstyn Budz

The leaves crunch underneath our feet. Their oranges and reds scatter across the sidewalk. Every so often a car passes by on the empty road. Houses fall apart next to freshly built ones. Old ladies sit in rocking chairs sipping tea on their porches. They wave as we pass, their frail fingers putting down knitting needles as we run by. We wave back as we laugh and continue running. Sticks from trees litter the ground. The perfect object. I grab the straightest stick I can find and run my fingertips along the bark. I look to my cousin who follows suit and grabs a stick himself.

My younger cousin finally catches up with us. She is panting and puts her hands on her knees as she hunches over trying to catch her breath. The pigtails on top of her head fall forward and strands stick to the sweat on her forehead. I continue to twirl the stick in my fingers, making sure it is to my liking.

“Alex, what do you think?” I ask my cousin who analyzes the stick he found.

“Looks good. Mine has a bug on it so I’m keeping it,” he responds to me.

I get closer and notice a small pill bug on it. “Oooo rollie pollie.” I smile and look at it.

Morgan stands up straight. “What is it? Can I see?” She tries to hop up to see what Alex and I are looking at.

“No, this is for big kids.” Alex moves so she can’t see.

“Alex! I am big! I’m almost seven!” Morgan continues to try to jump to see the rollie pollie.

“And we’re ten. Double digits only.” Alex takes the rollie pollie in his hand and puts it up on the highest branch he can reach. Morgan pouts and tries to get him to show her the bug.

I zone out as the two siblings bicker while I look at the clouds taking in the breeze. The fall weather in Wisconsin is much better than Chicago’s. I look back down as I hear Morgan crying to see the bug.

Alex points his stick at Morgan and twirls his wrist. “Zip zip, zip your lip.”

Morgan immediately stops crying and pouts at his words.

“Don’t forget that if you break the spell then we take your wizard powers. Now let’s go.” Alex turns and starts heading down the sidewalk again.

We start walking, Morgan’s tears drying as the cool breeze whips past us. The park is not too far from Grandma’s house but far enough to cross busy roads and the bridge over the river. Once we make it past the bridge, the grass gets taller, and the trees grow higher. The woods beckon us with bird calls and the sway of branches in the wind. We continue walking, the park getting closer and closer.

“Kierstyn.” Morgan tugs at the hem of my sweatshirt.

I look back at Morgan and give her a look almost silently telling her she is still under the spell. She pouts but continues to hold onto my sweatshirt. After a few minutes, we make it to the park. It is old and broken down, but we had been walking here for the past few summers and it became our favorite place. There was a lake right next to the park and the shores were filled with people fishing. Our grandpa would take us there every so often and when my cousins would get bored, they would play in the park. I tended to stay by Grandpa and marvel at the fact of catching fish with my Barbie fishing rod.

We walk to our favorite part of the park, the merry-go-round. Alex and I sat down on its red metal and put our sticks in the middle.

“Okay Morgan, we need to charge our wands.” Alex looked at her expectantly.

She nods and grabs a handle of the merry-go-round and starts running to make it spin. Alex and I laugh as we get dizzy. Morgan pouts. Our wands charge.

Winter and Spring come and pass. The summer sun is hot and we’re back in Wisconsin. I sit on my grandma’s couch. We’re watching Jeopardy, her favorite game. I look at the clock, excited that my cousins are coming over. Time goes slowly as I get more and more excited. The front door opens, hugs and hellos are exchanged. The house settles and the four grandchildren sit on the floor playing with their DSs. Morgan sits next to me, watching over my shoulder.

“Hey Kierstyn, wanna go to the park?” Alex asks when we finish a game of Mario Party. I lost.

“Yeah, you ask my mom. If I ask, she’ll say no but if you ask, she’ll say yes.”

He nods at my response and stands up to ask my mom in the kitchen. After a few minutes he comes back with a smile, and I know she said yes. I stand and put my DS on charge.

“Can I come?” Morgan asks as she looks up at us.

“Sure, let’s go,” I say as I head toward the front door.

The summer heat hits us as we open the door and we head down the sidewalk toward the park like we have hundreds of times before. The sound of cicadas fills my ears as we walk. Alex next to me and Morgan follows behind us.

“Hey, wanna go to headquarters?” Alex nudges me with a smile.

I nod, and we take a turn instead of continuing down the sidewalk to the busy streets and across the bridge. A house on the corner is covered in boards with the windows broken in. The side of the house has vines growing up onto the tattered roof. It’s been abandoned, probably for close to a decade. To us, it’s wizard headquarters. We head around the back; the yard is surrounded by tall hedges. We find the small gap between the end of the house and the hedge. It is a tight squeeze, but we make it fine. The backyard’s atmosphere is completely different. A willow tree grows next to a gazebo and provides shade to a majority of the yard. The grass grows tall as it hasn’t been cut in years, but a small pathway was made by the number of times we walked to the gazebo. We make our way over and sit on the old wooden structure. Its white paint chipping to the point it looks more brown than white.

I stand suddenly. “Ah hold on.” I squat down and pull a small box from underneath one of the seats of the gazebo. “Need our stuff.”

I open the box and inside is a book with a purple cover. I grab the book and close the box so I can sit in my spot in the gazebo. I open the book, flipping through its pages. It’s a book I found at the scholastic book fair with the title Book of Spells.

“When can I get my wand?” Morgan asks.

“When you’re level 5. You’re still a 3,” Alex responds.

She crosses her arms. “You two are level 30. You can already cast spells without your wands.”

“We have been wizards a long time. Plus, you keep getting your powers taken away,” I say as I look at Morgan from behind the book’s pages.

She huffs. “Alex keeps telling me to zip my lip when I need to talk. Mom gets mad when I don’t respond.”

Alex chuckles softly, a sinister glimmer behind his eyes. I chuckle a bit; this must be what it’s like to have siblings.

“I just want to be a wizard like you two.” Morgan frowns.

“One day.” I ruffle her hair and strands stick up.

“Anyway, let’s go to the park.” Alex stands up and dusts off the back of his pants.

I nod and stand as well; I close the book and put it back in the box before pushing it back under the seat. Alex gives me a look and I know where his mind has gone. Could have been older cousin telepathy, but most likely it was powerful wizard telepathy.

Alex smirks at Morgan. “Glue glue, glue your feet!” He points his index finger at her and moves it back and forth.

“Alex! Stop it!” Morgan shouts, and she tries to lift her feet but they are stuck to the ground.

“Zip zip, zip your lip!” he yells and her mouth immediately shuts. Alex gives me a look.

We run.

“Hey Morgan, do you remember when we were kids, we were wizards?” I sit on the couch, scrolling through my phone.

“Oh gosh yes. You and Alex were so mean to me!” She laughs from where she sits on the couch next to me.

“Hey, we were like ten.” I nudge her shoulder softly and I smile.

“I never got my wizard powers. Alex always took them away.” She pauses then looks at me sternly. “You know you guys were like level 100 and I never made it past like 3.”

I burst out laughing. “I forgot about that! I’m sorry. We were pretty mean back then. But hey, now we’re besties.” We sit in comfortable silence. My mind wanders a bit and I look back at Morgan, an idea forming.

“What? What did I do?” Morgan looks back at me confused.

“Glue glue, glue your feet!” I stand up from the couch and run away from her.

“Kierstyn!” She gets up and runs after me.

“You broke the spell! You lost your wizard powers!” I laugh.

“I’m eighteen! Come on! Let me be level 5!” She chases me around the house, and I run outside laughing at her pleas.

I stop when we get out to the sidewalk, hunching over to catch my breath. Morgan stops next to me, putting her hands on her knees and trying to catch her breath as well. Strands of her hair stick to the sweat on her forehead. We look at each other and after a few seconds, burst into laughter. A twenty-two and eighteen-year-old running around yelling about being wizards. I stand up straight and take a deep breath.

“Okay, let’s go get you a wand.” I smile and Morgan’s face lights up.

I chuckle and we start walking toward the park.

Kierstyn Budz is a recent graduate of EIU where she received a degree in English and creative writing. She is continuing her education at EIU for her MA in the same field. She has a lifelong passion for storytelling and loves to bring readers into the depths of her imagination. She focuses mainly on sci-fi and fantasy fiction but has a love for playwriting, video games, and painting in her free time. This will be the first time her parents and her cousins' parents find out about the three being wizards 10 years ago.