"Since top scientist Blu Bawls discovered tangible magic on Thursday, world leaders have been scrambling to keep everyone under control as…"
"Will you turn that off?" My mom growled at my dad, who was lounging on the couch, watching the news. "You need to drive Leo to school."
"I can walk," I insisted. I'd already eaten breakfast and had my backpack ready. I stood up from where I'd been waiting on the couch, hoping that I could use my dad as an excuse to be late.
"Fine." Mom returned to the kitchen to make sure my little sister ate, and I quickly left the house.
I sprinted down the sidewalk, and once I was a good distance away from my house, I texted my friend Marcy to come and pick me up. She rolled up in the snazzy new convertible her parents had bought her for her 18th birthday.
"Wasn't this car red yesterday?" I pointed out, hopping into the passenger seat.
"Yeah. I wanted a change." She sped off in the now black car once I was buckled.
"How'd you do it?"
"I was looking at that new magic wiki online. A lot of stuff people have been adding is bullshit but I found something to change the color of objects. I wanna test out simple stuff before we go crazy. You packed your stuff, right?"
"Yeah." I patted my backpack. It was filled with personal items. We weren't on our way to class, and probably never were again. It was nearly the end of senior year, and magic had just been confirmed to be real. We were free to do whatever we wanted.
"Where to first then?" Marcy asked.
"I want to go to a pet store," I decided. My parents never let me have a pet, even after I turned 18. 'Not under my roof' is what they said about any animal I suggested.
"Sounds like a plan." She punched local shops into her GPS and we were on our way.
Once we were outside the pet store, she asked, "What are you looking to get?"
"Not sure yet." I wasn't. I'd done research on so many animals, hoping one day to have my very own companion.
"Fair enough." We headed into the store.
Despite what the media wanted you to believe, the whole world has not descended into chaos. At least not quite yet. Or at least, not around here. The store was operating normally. Or as normally as a pet store could.
There were plenty of animals displayed in too-small enclosures with ill-informed plaques spreading lies about their proper care. The question was this - what creature could I bring with me on my adventure that wouldn’t require a proper set up? One that could just vibe in the car with me and could easily be taken care of. Being in charge of an animal is no simple endeavor, regardless of species.
“Leo? Leo you good?” Marcy shook my shoulder.
“Yeah. Just thinking.” I realized we’d wandered into the rodent section. “How about a mouse?”
“Alrighty.”
A few moments later, we were back in the car with some food, a well-furnished tank, and most importantly, a mouse. Carefully, we secured the animal in the enclosure in the backseat of the car.
“Where to next?” I buckled myself into the passenger seat.
“Hang on.” Marcy had out her phone and a notebook. She was scribbling something down on the paper. When she was done, she ripped out the page, and slapped it on top of the tank in the back, before buckling herself in.
“What did you do?” I glanced back at the mouse as the car lurched forward.
“That’s what I’d like to know as well.” A tiny voice echoed in my mind.
Marcy grinned, speeding out of the parking lot.
It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. “Did you give the mouse telepathy?”
“All thanks to the wiki, baby.” Marcy was focused on the road. We’d agreed that our goal was to get as far away from our hometown as possible, but she seemed to want to get a speeding ticket.
“Can someone explain to me what is going on?” the mouse asked, sounding a bit scared.
“Well. Um.” I started, then realized something. “Could you tell me your name first?”
“Nib,” answered the mouse.
“Well, Nib, I just got you out of the pet store you were living in. You probably figured this out already, but that’s a place where us humans put little animals like you to be taken away by other humans to be their little companions. I guess I took you away because I’d like you to be my little companion. My name is Leo, by the way.” I felt weird talking to the mouse.
“This doesn’t explain why I can finally understand your noises.” The mouse sounded no less scared and confused.
“Well that’s because my friend Marcy here,” I gestured towards Marcy, “Used this thing called magic to alter you so that you could communicate with us.”
“What’s that?” Nib now sounded more curious than scared.
“Not really sure,” I admitted. “It’s kind of a new thing. We’re still in the process of figuring it out. Basically, it’s like this abstract thing that can be used to make impossible things happen.” I felt embarrassed at my explanation.
“I have another question,” Nib said.
“Yes?”
“Do I have to be in here? Can I be in the front with you?”
“Sure.” I unbuckled, turned around and reached back into the tank to gently pick Nib up.
