When Adam Stephens was five years old, he made a mistake.
"Give it back, Tabitha!" Adam shouted as he jumped up from the table and dashed after his nine year old sister.
He had been sitting at the patio table in the backyard making mommy a picture to put on the refrigerator. Adam had been quite happy with his work- the sun and rainbow were the best he could remember drawing, and he was pretty sure that his mom would be pleased.
Unfortunately, his solace had been interrupted by the arrival of his big sister (who had just returned from a visit with Grandmamma) and he had not been happy when Tabitha had snatched his masterpiece away from him.
"If you want it back, then you'll have to come and get it." His sister said with a playful grin as she ducked behind the sandbox. Adam ran towards her, thinking for a moment that he might actually be able to tackle her to the ground but, much to his annoyance, she magically popped across the yard before he could reach her.
He was disoriented after her sudden disappearance, but after a frantic glance around the yard he could see her sitting smugly up in the tree house, the picture still in hand.
"Tabitha!" He shouted again, glaring up at her. "You know what mom and dad say about magic! You can't use it. It's not fair!"
Tabitha shrugged nonchalantly. Unlike her brother, she had always used as much magic as she could get away with- and the older she got, the more she liked to test their parents' limits.
"Whatever." She called back, still smiling in that evil way that only big sisters can manage. "And of course it is fair- you're a warlock, and you can pop up here and catch me if you want. It is an equal playing field."
Despite himself, Adam felt a surge of anger well up inside of him. He had grown to hate the "w" word, and he especially hated it when Tabitha insisted on using it.
"I am not!" the boy shouted, taking a few angry steps towards the tree house. "I'm normal! Like daddy!"
His sister scoffed. "Yeah, right." She muttered. "Tell you what- I'll give you back your picture if you do a spell- any spell. I swear I'll leave you alone for the whole day if you do."
He could feel his cheeks turning red, and he clenched his small fists. He could feel something brewing inside of him, but he did his best to ignore it.
Tabitha always knew how to push his buttons.
"No way."
"Fine then, I guess you don't want the picture." She retorted. "Grandmama is right, you are so brainwashed."
The anger surged again. "I am NOT." He shot back. "Now come down and give it to me!"
Something within him exploded and, despite his efforts to stop it, Adam could feel a surge of power rushing towards the tree. He had lost control.
Tabitha opened her mouth to reply but, before she could come up with a snarky comeback, the loud sound of rattling branches distracted her from the fight. "What-?" Her eyes widened in shock as two of the large branches magically shot towards her and, in the blink of an eye, wrapped themselves around her like two pythons.
Adam could only watch, in a combination of shock and satisfaction, as the two branches that had enveloped his sister lowered her towards the ground until her feet were almost touching the grass. Amazingly, the hand which held the picture had been spared from the branches' wrath, and his shocked sister was now holding the piece of paper within his reach. Shaking, the boy took a step forward, and gingerly plucked the desired item from her outstretched hand.
"Way to prove that you're not a warlock." His sister muttered.
