The first question young Dillon Allaway could remember asking to his single mother was, "Who is my dad?" to which she would always reply, "It does not matter who your father is. You have me, and I have the love of a hundred parents!" She would always follow that up with a giant hug and maybe a rather large helping of ice cream. Around age 8, Dillon came to realize that maybe his loving mother did not know who his father was. He barely understood what that might mean, and just shrugged and moved on with life. He had never had a father, nor needed one. His mother had always provided everything he needed in life. She did not need a partner to raise him.
Colleen Allaway loved her son. Anyone that knew her could tell you this on a heartbeat. Dillon came first in her life. Colleen ran a successful in home business as a photographer, and that provided enough income to support her and her son. As well, it ensured she could always be near her Dillon.
Dillon was 11 now, and could not be happier. He had a wonderful mother, and the best friends a boy could ask for. But for now, it was the weekend, and he was alone at home for the time being while he mother was out getting groceries. Colleen had only recently let Dillon stay home alone while she went shopping. He hated having to be dragged along with his mother every time she had to go somewhere. He was a big kid, he could stay home on his own without mucking the house up. Dillon repeated this to himself as he quickly tried scrubbing up the bit of Popsicle he let fall onto the kitchen tiles. He thanked the Gods when finally the red spot was gone. That little obstacle taken care of, he sank onto the couch and flipped on the television.
These times when he was alone, without his mother around, is when Dillon would give in to thinking about his unknown father. Dillon looked around the walls, at all the family pictures of him with his mom, grandparents, and cousins. He looked nothing like any of them, and he knew it had to be because of his father. Everyone on his moms side of the family had dark hair and usually brown eyes. Dillon stood out like the sun in the pictures, with his pale, freckled skin, bright red hair, and brilliant blue eyes. Dillon liked being different from everyone else in his family. It was a constant reminder that somewhere, he might possibly have an entire other family, and that thought excited him. He never let his mother know these thoughts though. As much as he loved the idea of someday finding the other half of his family, he was perfectly content and happy with his life as it was. He wouldn't change a thing.
The front door banged open, signaling the return of Dillon's mother. Dillon hopped off the sofa to help her bring in the groceries.
"Check the mail while you are out there would you Dillon?" Colleen asked of her son as she passed him on the way to the kitchen. Dillon made a noise that Colleen knew meant he heard her.
Dillon glanced in the trunk of his mother's car, and only saw 3 more bags. His mom could get those, if he went and got the mail. And the mail would weigh much less, so he left the last few bags to his mother and went down the driveway to the mail box instead. Dillon flipped through the mail, the majority of it being for his mother. Dillon did get random mail once in a while. Most was from the couple of magazines he was subscribed to, so he did not give much thought to the 2 things in the mail for him. He did not get a chance look at them right away because his mother made him help put the groceries she had just bought away. As soon as that was done, both mother and son sat down at the kitchen table to go through their mail.
Dillon set aside his magazine he had just gotten and picked up the other piece of mail addressed to him. He now appreciated how odd it was. The thick envelope was addressed to him in swishy writing in green ink. On the back, it was sealed with a weird wax symbol. Who still used those? Curious, he broke the seal and tore it open. 2 pieces of thick, yellowish parchment came out, written in the same swishy green ink. Dillon read through it, eyebrows raised, then snorted.
Colleen heard her son snort and looked up from a piece of her own mail. "What is it?" she asked.
"This, have any idea what it is?" Dillon asked handing her the sheets of parchment. Colleen read through them, her eyebrows doing the same thing Dillons had done a few moments before.
"Not a clue. Must be one of your friends," Colleen suggested, "they are the only ones that would know our address,"
"Yeah, but none of them have this nice of handwriting. And where would they get this weird paper?" Dillon said, looking at the second sheet of paper. "No way any of them are this creative anyways,"
"Well, I don't see any other explanation," Colleen gathered her mail up and stood up from the table, "What do you want for lunch?"
Dillon's mind was still on the strange letter in front of him and he mumbled, "don't care," as he too gathered up his mail and went up to his room. As much as he thought about how amazing it would be if this letter was real, how could it be? Witches and Wizards, really cool, but completely ridiculous. Even Dillon, with his slightly over active imagination, knew it was all make-believe. None the less, Dillon kept the strange letter, putting it in a shoe box that he kept every letter he had ever received.
The next morning, Dillon had put the strange letter completely out of his mind, instead thinking about his mother's birthday, which was that day. Dillon had set his alarm clock to 7AM, much earlier than he normally awoke. He quietly made his way downstairs into the kitchen and gathered ingredients to make his annual pancake breakfast for his amazing mother. Dillon was a pretty good cook, for being so young, and enjoyed it. He hummed happily to himself as he mixed up the batter, a special mix his Grandma Karen had taught him that his mother loved, and poured it onto the large pan. He grabbed one of the nicest plate and cleanest glass he could find and set everything he had made, plus a glass of orange juice, onto a tray and carefully carried the whole setup up the stairs to his mother's room. Without knocking, he slowly opened the door to his mom's room, and stood next to the bed.
"Mum," Dillon whispered, smiling. No response. "Mum!" He said a slightly louder, kicking the bed a little bit. Colleen mumbled and rolled over, opening her eyes and smiling up at her son. "Happy Birthday Mum!" Dillon beamed down at his mother, who rubbed her eyes and tried in vain to tame her wild bed head. She sat up and allowed Dillon to place the tray on her lap.
"Thank you sweeheart!" Colleen grinned, hugging her sun and placing a loving kiss on his cheek.
"No problem," Dillon grinned. He loved doing things for his mother, making her happy. "you enjoy this, and I'm going to go clean up my mess downstairs," Colleen smiled and gave Dillon another kiss before he departed.
Dillon was in the middle of scraping a pan clean when he heard a light tapping. He paused and lifted his heard, trying to pinpoint the noise. It didn't stop. He set the pan in the soapy water and dried his hands, turning to try and find the source of the tapping. He walked into the living room and found the strangest site he had ever seen; a small brown owl was at the window, pecking at the glass with it's beak. Confused, Dillon walked over to the window and opened it. The bird flew in and landed on the back of the sofa, holding out it's leg, where he saw was an envelope identical to one he had received yesterday. He cautiously untied it. As soon as he did, the owl flew away through the still open window.
Dillon stared at the letter in his hands. He tore it open only to discover it merely repeated what was in the previous letter. He heard his mother coming downstairs and quickly shoved the letter into his pocket and hurried back into the kitchen.
"That was wonderful Dillon, thank you!" Colleen gave her son another peck on the cheek and set the tray on the counter, "don't worry about that, I'll get it later," she added, stretching and heading towards the living room to no doubt watch the morning news. Dillon followed her.
"Why is the window open?" she asked after a gust of warm morning wind blew in.
"Oh, sorry, I'll close it," Dillon hastily went over and shut the window.
"Why did you open it?"
Dillon mumbled a response that his mother did not understand and asked him to repeat it.
"Sorry, did you say owl?" Colleen asked unsure she heard her son right.
"Yeah, you know, those big birds that fly around at night," Dillon flapped his arms like wings, immediately stopping at realizing how silly he must look.
"But what does that have to do with opening the window?"
"Well, it wanted it in,"
"An owl...wanted in? How do you know?"
"Well, it was tapping the window,"
"And you let it in?"
"Yeah, it had a letter,"
"A letter?"
Dillon nodded and pulled out the crumpled letter in his pocket, handing it to his mother.
"Quit being silly, this is just the one you got yesterday," Colleen laughed, thinking her son was just playing around with her.
"Yeah, I know! Weird right? I still have the other one upstairs," Dillon stuck is thumb up at the ceiling.
"You mean this is a new one?" Colleen asked throughly confused, "And it came by an owl?"
Dillon nodded enthusiastically "And I'm not sick mum!" he added, reading his mothers thoughts. But Colleen seemed to be deep in thought and not listening to her son. Dillon stood in front of her and looked her in they eyes. "You okay mum?"
Colleen seemed to snap back to the current moment and said, "Oh yes! I'm fine dear, I was just thinking about something,"
"Thinking about what?" Dillon asked curious.
Colleen sighed and looked at her son closely with loving eyes. "Sit down," she instructed. When Dillon did so, she took a deep breathe, "I think it's time to tell you what little I know about your father," Dillions eyes lit up and Colleen knew he had a load of questions forming in his might but she put a finger up to stop them from spilling forth, "Shh, I don't know much, I'm sorry. I don't even know his name, to be honest. I was young, and wondering around London for the first time on my own. I was trying to get somewhere, I don't even remember where anymore, so I walked into this tavern, The Leaky something. When I walked in there, well I wish I hadn't, they had the weirdest sorts of people there. I didn't get a good look, just then a young man stepped in front of me, but I could still feel many pairs of eyes on me still.
" 'Can I help you?' he asked, leading me quickly out the door back into the street. I told him I was trying to get where ever it was I was trying to get to. He smiled and told me that he knew the way, and if I would like company, he could escort me. I told him that would be lovely. I couldn't say no to those eyes, and that smile. Your eyes, and your smile. You look just like him, you know?
"Well, we had a very pleasant conversation walking through London. By the time I knew where I was and where I needed ago, it was dinner time and I heard his stomach make this terrible noise. We were standing right next to this nice little deli, so I asked him if he would like to join me for a bite to eat. He agreed. We had a lovely dinner. And well, things led from there, things you are to young to hear about," Dillon made a face and Colleen just smiled, moving on with the story, "Well we spent the night at a hotel, oh yes! That's where I was trying to go, my hotel. Anyways, the next morning I was awoken by a light tapping on the window. Your father got up and opened the window and an owl flew in! I thought I was dreaming. He took a rolled up piece of paper from it's leg and it flew off. He read it quickly and then apologized over and over again, saying he had to leave and that it was an emergency. And with that, he was gone, and I never saw him again,"
Dillon stared at his mother, mouth slightly open, "That's all you know?" he asked, not bothering to hide his slight disappointment. Colleen smiled sadly and patted his head saying,
"Afraid so. But you see, I never gave much thought to the owl showing up that morning, I was so shocked and confused by his sudden departure. That was, till just now, when you mentioned an owl brought you this letter. Call me foolish, but," she hesitated, debating whether she really wanted to say what was on her mind.
"Go on Mum," Dillon encouraged.
"Well, I always kind of thought the entire situation was a bit magical, that he was a bit magical. And now you get this letter, talking about a magic school..." She drifted off, letting her words sink into her son who looked so very much like his unknown father.
"You, you think it could be real?" Dillon asked glancing at the letter once more.
"The world is full of things we don't understand," Colleen said softly, "no one can know all of the world secrets. What right do we have to say something does not exist?" Dillon just shrugged his shoulders.
"How are we suppose to reply?" he asked looking for a return address somewhere within the letter, the thought that his mother was crazy not even crossing his mind.
Before Colleen could reply there was a light tapping noise at the window once more. Both people looked up to see the same owl that had delivered the owl standing their eying them curiously. Dillon instantly went to let it in, smiling widely. "I guess, this is how we reply," Colleen nodded in a sort of finality to the situation.
"Go get me a piece of paper and a pen," Colleen asked Dillon who rushed off to do so. He returned seconds later with the asked of items. Colleen quickly scribbled a not and then attatched it to the owls leg, who held it out obediently. The moment the paper was tied, the owl flew off with a hoot.
"What did you write?" Dillon asked
"Just said okay, and any assistance would be helpful...do you think it's real Dil?" Colleen asked in a tone that clearly thought she just might off gone off her rocker.
"Yeah" Dillion responded with a brilliant smile, "I think it's all fantastic! It has to be true. No other way to explain the owls is it?"
Colleen smiled, wondering what this could possibly mean for their future.
