Kerlak Enterprises - Reading Room

"Clean Up Aisle 7" by Lori Ratti
   There is something magical about turning ten. It is that strange age that leaves you still a child but now you have left single digits behind and achieved the mystical plateau of double digits. It is the last time in your life you can hold up your hands to tell someone how old you are. Of course, it is a very long time before you can move from double digits to triple. For fraternal twins, Emily and Jasper, turning ten is even more magical because today is the day they receive their birthright.
   They could hear their mother on the other side of the closed door. She seemed either excited or upset about something. Her voice kept rising and falling but the voice of their grandmother stayed steady. If they had been at home they would have already wandered off to amuse themselves but here, they dared not move from the ancient bench where they had been placed. Even their new portable video games sat next to them untouched. Not even the slight stiffness of their new clothes could move them. One did not wander around this house. When Grandma Prudy said sit, you sat.
   Both Emily and Jasper could sense the ornate door would be opening soon. They could just do things like that, sense that things were going to happen. Mom always told them that everyone did that but because they were twins they could do it twice as good. They did not really believe her. Mom was easy to predict. Grandma Prudy was a whole different story. They could not tell anything about what she was going to do. As a matter of fact, she usually caught them trying to catch her. That just made them more determined.
   The door finally opened. Both their mother and grandmother smiled at them but they could tell that Grandma Prudy certainly seemed happier than Mom.
   Mom spoke first, "Your grandmother has something for you two today."
   "Something very special." Grandma Prudy added.
   "I am going to leave you two with Grandma Prudy for the afternoon. Behave yourselves and I'll see you later." Mom kissed them both on the forehead then picked up her purse and walked down the hall towards the front door. Their eyes only glanced down the hall before targeting back on their grandmother. Grandma Prudy's eyes absolutely gleamed with a secret. With anyone else, Emily and Jasper would have joined hands and been able to guess the secret. That trick never worked on Grandma Prudy.
   "Come in here with me before the two bust." Grandma Prudy teased.
   "Yes ma'am." They both chorused then obediently stood up and followed her into her study. They had never been allowed in here before. The room reminded them of their grandmother, clean and well organized if just a little overstuffed.
   Two smaller chairs had been obviously set out for Emily and Jasper. A larger chair sat by closely. Grandma Prudy motioned towards the chairs and the children took their seats. The air absolutely crackled with expectation.
   "So the two of you are ten today."
   They both just nodded then fidgeted a bit. Grandma Prudy pulled her chair close. She looked each of them directly in the eye in turn. They looked so much alike but Emily had the darker complexion while Jasper had the curls. The children looked so innocent that there could be no doubt that they had done it, whatever it was. Both sets of eyes gleamed up at her.
   "Oh yes, just as I thought. It is time we had a little talk about the family secret." Grandma Prudy leaned in even closer. "Tell me the truth now. Just what little tricks do you two already know how to do?"
   "What do you mean by tricks, Grandma?" Emily asked guiltily.
   "Oh my dears, you can't fool me. I know much more about the two of you than you do."
   "We just kinda know stuff." Jasper confessed just before Emily did.
   Grandma Prudy smiled broadly and knowingly nodded her head. "What happens when you two join hands?"
   Emily grinned. "It gets easier. One time this dog kept barking at me and wouldn't go away. Jasper helped me tell it to go home and it ran away."
   Jasper nodded in agreement. "We just thought about real hard."
   "Would you like to know why that happened?"
   "Uhh huh," in unison.
   "It is because I am a witch and you sweet Emily are going to grow up a witch just like me." Emily's cherubic face absolutely lit up. She could not help shooting her brother that I have something you don't look.
   "Well, that's not fair," sulked Jasper.
   Grandma Prudy smiled sweetly and turned slightly to look him straight in the face. "My dear Jasper, you can't be a witch, you're a boy. Boy witches are called wizards. So here we sit, one old witch, one young witch and a precious little wizard."
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