The home of Alex and her mother, Karen was beautiful. It was solid, red brick all around and all the way up the three stories. The perfectly groomed ivy vines grew spectacularly, covering the back wall evenly. The French doors opening out to the terrace made sure that sunlight or moonlight always streamed in. The windows were evenly distanced apart around the whole house.

And the yard was the neatest yard you would ever see. Not one twig, leaf, or blade of grass was out of place. The seven, huge oak trees grew perfectly all around the house. In the backyard, the pond was always full of life and beauty. The lovely, hand-carved swing swung gently in the breeze, not making a single creak. The high privacy fence that surrounded the mansion made sure of the family's privacy. No one could ever see anything that wasn't supposed to be seen. You might be thinking "paranoia"? No. In this particular neighborhood, privacy was all around. Each individual home had a privacy fence.

Anyway, the odd thing about this particular home and family was the way they lived. They were not ordinary people and they never could be.

Eleven-year old Alex went to a private school for one purpose: privacy.Her mother, Karen, worked all around the world as an international messenger. This meant she went from country to country, bringing messages from governments to other governments that did not wish to talk to one another.

In fact, this mother and her daughter were witches. No, no, I'm telling the truth. Karen used to be England's Minister of Magic. She was very popular, too. England's people were very disappointed when she resigned before her time was up. It just goes to show how much love truly mattered. You see, Karen fell in love with a muggle. A muggle was a non-magical person. Anyway, she never told this man that she was a witch.

So a year after they were married, and she had given birth to their beautiful new daughter (who was one year old) Karen decided to tell him what she was. She figured he would be less likely to leave her since they had a little girl to look after. Unfortunately, she was very wrong. He packed up and left. He then died a year later in a car crash.

Anyway, Karen and her daughter fell in love with the muggles' way of life. They loved the technology and simplicity of it all. Don't get me wrong, they used magic everyday, but only when necessary. The mother and daughter never truly reentered the magical community.

"Mom! Hey Mom!" screamed the beautiful 11 year old, Alex. She had icy blue eyes that could entrance even the toughest person. Her wavy black hair went down to her waist, and shone in the July sunlight.

She was waving a thick, cream-colored envelope with deep emerald writing on the front. It had a seal on the back with a large H surrounded by a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a serpent. It was addressed :

Miss A. Aarons

3rd Floor Suite

15334 Maple St.

Richmond, VA, USA

"It's here! Come QUICK!" Alex heard no reply. "Mom? Where are you?"

Alex ran from the entryway all the way to the other side of the house and into the large kitchen. Her bright smile faded as she caught sight of her mother lying on the oak wood floor. Her heels clattered on the floor as she ran to her side and shoved the letter in her pocket.

"MOM! Oh my God, please wake up!" she screamed as she shook her mother's limp shoulders. She started crying as she recalled everything she had learned in her first aid courses.

911, she thought frantically. Stupid, stupid, stupid, Alex thought as she jumped up, still staring at her mother. "It's going to be okay, Mom. I'm getting help." With that being said, she raced to her kitchen phone and dialed the emergency number.

"Hello, please state your emergency," said a voice loudly on the other end.

"I…my mom needs help. Please, she won't wake up." Alex was still crying.

"Okay what is your position, please?"

"What the Hell does that have anything to do with it!" Alex screamed into the phone. "I'm in the freaking kitchen!"

"No Miss," replied the woman calmly. She was obviously used to people shouting at her in panic. "Are you at home? What is your address?"

Oh…uhhh, yeah. We're at 15334 Maple St. It's the big red brick one, last on the dead end. Please, come quick," Alex pleaded, trying to dry her teary eyes.

"An ambulance is on the way. Now, were you able to check your mother's pulse? Is she breathing?" the woman asked her calmly.

"Uhhh…hold on," Alex replied in a shaky voice. She ran over to her mother and put her cheek against her mother's mouth. Alex felt faint and shallow breaths on her cheek. Then she tilted her mother's head to the side and felt for a pulse. It was beating way too fast. Then, she jumped up and scrambled back to phone.

"Uhhh…it's really fast, her pulse I mean, and…and she's still breathing, but not well. What do I do?" Alex asked quickly, looking back at her mom.

"Just wait until the ambulance gets there, Miss, and watch to see if her breathing fails. Do you understand?"

"Yeah…oh thank God," Alex said with a sigh of relief. "They're here, thank you so much."

"Of course, Good-bye."

"Bye."

Just as Alex hung up, she heard a loud banging on the front door. She ran through her home, dodging or knocking over anything that was in her way. "I'm coming," she screamed wildly. When she got to the door, she quickly opened it and ushered the paramedics in.

"Where is she?" asked a petite woman. She had a young face filled with laugh lines. She wasn't laughing then.

Alex pointed down the hall to the left and said hurriedly, "At the end of the hall, last door on right."

"Wait here." Alex nodded and sat down while three of the four medics ran through her house with their gurney and equipment. The remaining medic smiled at her in sympathy and sat down on the coffee table in front of her.

"What's your name, Sweetie?" he asked her gently.

Sweetie? she thought with disdain. It sounded like something only her mom should use. It sounded all wrong from this strange man. Then, she said, "Alex…Alexia…Aarons."

"Okay, Alexia," he replied, giving her a small smile. We're going to do everything we can for your mom. Now, can you tell us your mom's name?"

"Of course I can tell you her name." Alex was quickly getting sick of him talking to her like a child. "She's my mom, after all. It's Karen."

"I'm sorry. I know this must be hard but…" he quickly broke off as the others came rushing toward them. Alex saw her mother hooked to an IV and with an air mask on and she burst in to tears all over again. She jumped from her seat and followed the others out side to the ambulance. "Can I ride with?" she pleaded persistently.

The young woman, who seemed to be in charge, nodded. Alex hopped in and they slid her mother in next. Then, two of the paramedics jumped in the back, including the woman. The other ran to the front and started driving with all speed to the hospital.

When they finally arrived at the hospital, Alex was brought to an emergency waiting room and told to wait. She would be informed of all that happened.

After an hour she couldn't wait any longer and went in search of her mother. Didn't take her long. She followed the constant stream of doctors and nurses to Emergency Room 4.

She didn't go in, but watched with wide eyes through the large window. The doctors were yelling and frantically trying to save her mom. Alex finally walked opened the ER door and walked in. It was so much louder in the room. One of the doctors looked up and sighed.

"Would somebody get her out of here?" he shouted to the nurses. One of them ran to her side and tried to lead her out of the room by taking her arm.

"No!" she shouted, ripping her arm from the nurse. "Tell me what's wrong with her.

"Come on, Alexia, let's go get…" but he was cut off as the head doctor shouted, "She's not breathing. We need to tube her. Let's go! Let's go!"

The nurse stepped directly in front of Alex and pushed her through the door toward the waiting room. "Come on."

"No please! Why isn't she breathing ?"

"I'm not sure, but if you can just wait here, I'll go find out. Okay?"

"Fine, just go. Go!" At that he ran back to the ER. She waited for half an hour and the nurse didn't come back. Alex was stating to get angry when the doctor came out and looked around. When he spotted her he started walking to her. Alex's eyes grew wide and she stood up.

"Alexia Aarons?" he asked tiredly. She gave a small, quiet nod. He nodded back and said, "I'm Dr. Edison…let's sit. Okay?" She sat back down.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked her gently as he pulled up a chair to sit in front of her.

"All I want is my mom," she murmured shakily. He nodded and sighed in understanding.

"Your mother suffered a massive stroke," he told her gently. Alex looked up at him with her eyes getting teary again. She was amazed that she had any tears left to cry. "We have her hooked up on life support systems, so she is okay…for now." He paused to look at Alex.

He took a breath and continued when she remained silent, "Alexia, I need to ask you something very important. Are you listening?" She nodded while staring at the floor. "There is almost no chance your mother will ever be able to come off of the life support. Even if she did, she would never fully recover. There would be complete paralysis and severe brain damage."

Alexia started to cry when she realized what was coming. "Alexia…I would like your permission to take your mother off of the life support." He paused for a moment to let what he had said sink in.

"Oh God!" she shouted. "But she's my mom. I need her!" Her face turned red as her tears really let loose.

"I know this is hard, Alexia, but you need to think of what's best for your mother right now."

"Are…are you sure?" she stuttered loudly.

"I'm so sorry, Alexia, but yes."

She nodded as she leaned forward putting her head on his shoulder. She hugged him tightly and said over and over again, "Oh my God! Oh my God!"