Post by dragonfan on Jul 12, 2006 19:12:15 GMT -5
Title: Little Witch (Please review and give me ideas for a better title, I’m completely blank)
Author: Dragonfan
Summary: A sixteen year old witch is drawn away from home by her magic. These are her adventures, so to speak.
Warnings: None really. If you see something, review and I’ll add it here.
Rating: K+
It’s a good thing that animals aren’t as chatty as humans, she thought, especially at night. Sarah lay down in her sleeping bag in a little hidden section of Central Park in New York City. She had placed her wards, magical crystals at each of the directions around her tiny camp to prevent any human from finding her. She felt sorry for the other street kids. She slept out of doors because she wanted to, not because she had to. Her parents understood that her magic was driving her across the country rather than any typical teen angst or abuse story and they supported her as they could. She had a bank card where she could get cash and a credit card for emergencies, although unlike most sixteen year old girls she really did know what an emergency was. She had grown up as the daughter of a farming community’s only vet and as such had plenty of experience with real emergencies. That was another reason why she slept out of doors when she could. She was safe as long as she kept to within her wards, unlike the other people who had to live on the street.
Her parents understood what was happening to her not because of any strange mystical reason, rather they understood because they had experienced it for themselves. They had grown up in a small valley in the Rocky Mountains that was officially a small ski town. Unofficially it was the last place in America where true witches and warlocks lived somewhat openly. During the winter tourist season, all of the shops and stores switched from their normal magical and rather simple wares to the tourist ski wares. Nothing of a magical nature was allowed to be visible to the outsiders. The town council was very strict about enforcing that town regulation. They were all descendants of the true witches who had fled during the time of the Salem Witch Trials, which meant that was a part of American History that every child who grew up in the valley had learned in excruciating detail. Even though she had grown up outside the valley, her parents had not neglected that part of her education and she too, had grown up with a deep fear of letting outsiders see her work her magic. Animals of course were an exception. One of her magical abilities was the ability to communicate with animals. She never had to hide her magic from them. In fact, she was often accompanied for a short time on her journey by an animal and tonight she was cuddled up with a barely weaned kitten.
The next morning she could feel the tug of her magic once again. She had gotten used to the feeling enough by now to know that it wanted her to go somewhere close by. She sighed; she wished it would make up its mind, if it even had a mind. She packed up her camp and told the kitten that she had to leave but he was welcome to come with her if he wanted. “Ok slow feet. I hope there are some fat mice where you are going, I’m hungry.” She petted the kitten and walked on, her camping gear on her back a sure sign of her homelessness. After all, you didn’t see many hikers in full camping gear in downtown New York City. The pull led her to one of the stables kept by the owners of the horses who pulled carriages around the city. Most of them were basically small business owners, so she was sure she could get a day job mucking out stalls and the like.
“Hello!” She called out at the door to one of the stables.
“Yes, what can I do for you?” A small, rather sad man came out of the box stall turned office.
“My name is Sarah and I was hoping I could get some work mucking stalls for a few days? I’m willing to do just about anything honest.” Sarah had started adding the last part after one man had thought she was a hooker. She had also found that as long as she was willing to actually put in a hard days work, most people would find something for her to do. The work was often unpleasant, but as she had helped her dad palpate cows before, unpleasant didn’t bother her. It was hard to top putting your hand up a cow’s backside.
Tony Farrettii looked the young girl over. She was about sixteen years old, about five feet four inches tall and her clothes were worn but clean. She had a backpack on her back, but it was one of those hiking packs rather than a day pack and there was a tent and a sleeping bag strapped to it. He took a closer look at her face; this was not a drug addict, he decided. She had none of the gauntness or glazed look they had. She was clean and her hair was neatly braided into two long braids that hung over her shoulders. A new homeless kid, he decided. “If you are willing to get your hands dirty, I’ve got some work for you. My name is Tony Farretti.” He waved her into the stable. He could at least make sure that she had a safe place to sleep for a few days if she worked out. “You can put your things in the tack room, and you can start by helping me get Buttercup ready. After I take her out, you can clean her stall. Once that is done you can clean out the other three stalls as well. After that you can have most of the day to do whatever you like, but be back here by five and help me clean her and her stable mates up and get them back into their stalls. For that, you can sleep here tonight and I’ll feed you dinner and breakfast tomorrow. If that works out we can arrange something a bit more, how does that sound?”
“That sounds fine Mr. Farrettii.” Sarah said. She set her pack down in the tack room and got to work. She gave Buttercup a once over, making sure that the areas covered by her harness were free of injuries and abscesses. Her father would never put an injured horse to work and neither would she. “Are you hurting anywhere Buttercup? Does your stomach ache or anything?” Mr. Farrettii wouldn’t hear Buttercup, but she could and she would just let him think that she was talking out loud rather than really talking to the horse.
“No, dear, Tony takes real good care of me. He’s a real mother hen that one is. Of course losing his little colt hasn’t helped him any.” Buttercup said as Sarah ran her hands down each of her legs.
Tony looked on while she examined his horse. This was a girl who knew horses. Maybe she’d last longer than a few days. He sighed as his heart squeezed in pain. His son had loved Buttercup. He had often done all of the work involved with working that horse. In fact he had named her. Losing him had been so hard on both him and his wife. He finished hooking Buttercup up to the carriage and set off for his usual place to wait for passengers.
Sarah shut the stable door and got to work on cleaning out Buttercup’s stall. “Hey, slow feet! This place is great! There are lots of mice here and I caught two!” The kitten jumped up on a bale of hay and proudly showed off his hunting prowess.
“That’s very good.” Sarah reached down and petted the kitten. “You know, if you really do like this place, I don’t think the human would mind you living here as long as you keep hunting those mice.”
“Maybe I will. It sure would beat living in that dumpster. I think the rats were bigger than I am. Do you have any ideas on how to get the slow one here to not chase me off?” The kitten asked, seriously thinking about staying here. It was paradise compared to where he had been living.
“Oh, that’s simple. Just show the human your kills before you eat them like you just did for me. That way you will be showing him that you can take care of yourself and the stable. Having your own territory is a lot simpler if the human in charge of the other humans in the area doesn’t chase you.” Sarah finished mucking out the stall and took the muck to the pile, the kitten having told her where it was. She sighed and wished once more that she knew what her magic wanted from her. This sort of work she could be doing at home. She went back into the stable and checked out the other stalls. There wasn’t that much work to be done, Mr. Farrettii was obviously very good with his horses, but she set to work willingly. The magic would hopefully tell her what it wanted her here for eventually, even though it hadn’t so far. She was getting kind of tired of living on the streets, although some of the things she saw and the people she met were very interesting.
Once the work was done, she set off to find herself something to eat.
Author: Dragonfan
Summary: A sixteen year old witch is drawn away from home by her magic. These are her adventures, so to speak.
Warnings: None really. If you see something, review and I’ll add it here.
Rating: K+
It’s a good thing that animals aren’t as chatty as humans, she thought, especially at night. Sarah lay down in her sleeping bag in a little hidden section of Central Park in New York City. She had placed her wards, magical crystals at each of the directions around her tiny camp to prevent any human from finding her. She felt sorry for the other street kids. She slept out of doors because she wanted to, not because she had to. Her parents understood that her magic was driving her across the country rather than any typical teen angst or abuse story and they supported her as they could. She had a bank card where she could get cash and a credit card for emergencies, although unlike most sixteen year old girls she really did know what an emergency was. She had grown up as the daughter of a farming community’s only vet and as such had plenty of experience with real emergencies. That was another reason why she slept out of doors when she could. She was safe as long as she kept to within her wards, unlike the other people who had to live on the street.
Her parents understood what was happening to her not because of any strange mystical reason, rather they understood because they had experienced it for themselves. They had grown up in a small valley in the Rocky Mountains that was officially a small ski town. Unofficially it was the last place in America where true witches and warlocks lived somewhat openly. During the winter tourist season, all of the shops and stores switched from their normal magical and rather simple wares to the tourist ski wares. Nothing of a magical nature was allowed to be visible to the outsiders. The town council was very strict about enforcing that town regulation. They were all descendants of the true witches who had fled during the time of the Salem Witch Trials, which meant that was a part of American History that every child who grew up in the valley had learned in excruciating detail. Even though she had grown up outside the valley, her parents had not neglected that part of her education and she too, had grown up with a deep fear of letting outsiders see her work her magic. Animals of course were an exception. One of her magical abilities was the ability to communicate with animals. She never had to hide her magic from them. In fact, she was often accompanied for a short time on her journey by an animal and tonight she was cuddled up with a barely weaned kitten.
The next morning she could feel the tug of her magic once again. She had gotten used to the feeling enough by now to know that it wanted her to go somewhere close by. She sighed; she wished it would make up its mind, if it even had a mind. She packed up her camp and told the kitten that she had to leave but he was welcome to come with her if he wanted. “Ok slow feet. I hope there are some fat mice where you are going, I’m hungry.” She petted the kitten and walked on, her camping gear on her back a sure sign of her homelessness. After all, you didn’t see many hikers in full camping gear in downtown New York City. The pull led her to one of the stables kept by the owners of the horses who pulled carriages around the city. Most of them were basically small business owners, so she was sure she could get a day job mucking out stalls and the like.
“Hello!” She called out at the door to one of the stables.
“Yes, what can I do for you?” A small, rather sad man came out of the box stall turned office.
“My name is Sarah and I was hoping I could get some work mucking stalls for a few days? I’m willing to do just about anything honest.” Sarah had started adding the last part after one man had thought she was a hooker. She had also found that as long as she was willing to actually put in a hard days work, most people would find something for her to do. The work was often unpleasant, but as she had helped her dad palpate cows before, unpleasant didn’t bother her. It was hard to top putting your hand up a cow’s backside.
Tony Farrettii looked the young girl over. She was about sixteen years old, about five feet four inches tall and her clothes were worn but clean. She had a backpack on her back, but it was one of those hiking packs rather than a day pack and there was a tent and a sleeping bag strapped to it. He took a closer look at her face; this was not a drug addict, he decided. She had none of the gauntness or glazed look they had. She was clean and her hair was neatly braided into two long braids that hung over her shoulders. A new homeless kid, he decided. “If you are willing to get your hands dirty, I’ve got some work for you. My name is Tony Farretti.” He waved her into the stable. He could at least make sure that she had a safe place to sleep for a few days if she worked out. “You can put your things in the tack room, and you can start by helping me get Buttercup ready. After I take her out, you can clean her stall. Once that is done you can clean out the other three stalls as well. After that you can have most of the day to do whatever you like, but be back here by five and help me clean her and her stable mates up and get them back into their stalls. For that, you can sleep here tonight and I’ll feed you dinner and breakfast tomorrow. If that works out we can arrange something a bit more, how does that sound?”
“That sounds fine Mr. Farrettii.” Sarah said. She set her pack down in the tack room and got to work. She gave Buttercup a once over, making sure that the areas covered by her harness were free of injuries and abscesses. Her father would never put an injured horse to work and neither would she. “Are you hurting anywhere Buttercup? Does your stomach ache or anything?” Mr. Farrettii wouldn’t hear Buttercup, but she could and she would just let him think that she was talking out loud rather than really talking to the horse.
“No, dear, Tony takes real good care of me. He’s a real mother hen that one is. Of course losing his little colt hasn’t helped him any.” Buttercup said as Sarah ran her hands down each of her legs.
Tony looked on while she examined his horse. This was a girl who knew horses. Maybe she’d last longer than a few days. He sighed as his heart squeezed in pain. His son had loved Buttercup. He had often done all of the work involved with working that horse. In fact he had named her. Losing him had been so hard on both him and his wife. He finished hooking Buttercup up to the carriage and set off for his usual place to wait for passengers.
Sarah shut the stable door and got to work on cleaning out Buttercup’s stall. “Hey, slow feet! This place is great! There are lots of mice here and I caught two!” The kitten jumped up on a bale of hay and proudly showed off his hunting prowess.
“That’s very good.” Sarah reached down and petted the kitten. “You know, if you really do like this place, I don’t think the human would mind you living here as long as you keep hunting those mice.”
“Maybe I will. It sure would beat living in that dumpster. I think the rats were bigger than I am. Do you have any ideas on how to get the slow one here to not chase me off?” The kitten asked, seriously thinking about staying here. It was paradise compared to where he had been living.
“Oh, that’s simple. Just show the human your kills before you eat them like you just did for me. That way you will be showing him that you can take care of yourself and the stable. Having your own territory is a lot simpler if the human in charge of the other humans in the area doesn’t chase you.” Sarah finished mucking out the stall and took the muck to the pile, the kitten having told her where it was. She sighed and wished once more that she knew what her magic wanted from her. This sort of work she could be doing at home. She went back into the stable and checked out the other stalls. There wasn’t that much work to be done, Mr. Farrettii was obviously very good with his horses, but she set to work willingly. The magic would hopefully tell her what it wanted her here for eventually, even though it hadn’t so far. She was getting kind of tired of living on the streets, although some of the things she saw and the people she met were very interesting.
Once the work was done, she set off to find herself something to eat.