Consequences Read Free

impossible, and yet it had all happened. No wonder he’d been having trouble finding the words to tell Molly. It was a delicate situation to explain. Tim tried it out loud. “I know you think you know me, but you don’t, because I hardly know myself.” He shook his head. That wasn’t something a girl would like to hear. Yes , he thought, the words have to be just right.
    You make the choice to believe in magic , Tim mused. To be magic. To live in a magic world. But nothing turns out the way you expect. And you’ve got no one to turn to, no one to show you. No teacher. No parent. No one but yourself to count on—unless you tell Molly.
    Tim pulled up short. Was he being selfish in wanting to tell her? Was his real reason so that there would be somebody he could share this burdensome gift with? He knew Molly couldn’t show him the ropes; he’d need someone magic to do that. Someone like the magician Zatanna or John Constantine of the Trenchcoat Brigade. But neither of them had offered to be his magic tutor. He had this weird feeling, though, that he and Molly could figure it out together. But was that fair? He seemed to be continually risking death whenever he encountered a magic world, creature, or adventure. Did he have the right to drag her into danger, too?
    Tim snorted. He could just hear Molly. “That’s for me to decide, isn’t it, Hunter? Just give me the facts and I’ll make up my own mind.” She’d be a lot angrier if she found out he’d been keeping something this big from her, never mind the danger involved.
    â€œOkay, so today’s the day,” Tim muttered. “You’ve been working up the courage since this whole thing started. Now do it!”
    He rolled past her door one more time. He wanted to be sure he could explain it so that she wouldn’t question his sanity. He wanted her to know from the very beginning that what he was saying was true. But how could he do that?
    â€œEvidence!” Tim declared, rolling to a stop. “I should figure out some kind of magic to do to prove to Molly that it’s all true. That way she’ll know I haven’t gone ’round the bend.” Just one problem , he reminded himself. You don’t really have a clue about what you’re doing. If I could just get in some practice time , he thought. But where I can I do that kind of homework?
    Then it came to him. The abandoned lot. It had been his favorite place to think when he was a little kid. No one ever went there. He’d be alone, and he was pretty sure there wouldn’t be anything there that he could blow up or break. It was the perfect place to work on magic. He needed toknow how to direct this overwhelming power so that he controlled it rather than the other way around. And then he could come up with something really snazzy to show Molly.
    He checked his watch. I still have some time before meeting Molly , he decided, then skated the few blocks over to the vacant lot. It was overgrown with weeds, but the big spreading oak tree still loomed as large as a castle. Pieces of junk—rusting car parts, a bicycle wheel, a shoe—peeked up out of the tall grass and litter.
    It looked a lot worse than he’d remembered. Everything changes , he noted, especially childhood hideaways .
    â€œAll right, Tim,” he muttered to himself. “So it was dumb coming here.” He sat down on his board and rested his elbows on his knees. When he was a kid, he had really believed this was the best and safest place to be. He had even had a group of little imaginary friends he’d hang out with here.
    â€œIt really bites,” he grumbled. “You stop believing in safe places about the time you start to need them.”
    â€œHey there, Hunter,” a boy called. “I’d stay clear of that lot if I were you, chap.”
    Tim turned around and saw Scott Whitman, a fellow skater, kick his board up neatly to catch