The Rain On My Parade: Amanda's Story

I hated this.

My hands gripped the steering wheel of my almost stylishly old car, Betsey. Driving through the mountains... to be blunt, it completely sucked. If we were meant to be this high up, we'd have wings.

Well, some people do now. But I don't. I'm quite happy about that, as I hate heights with a burning passion.

I'd been hating a lot since my family moved from Slave Lake, AB here to Kamloops (what kind of town name is that? It sounds like a sort of breakfast cereal), which is in British Columbia. It's a little larger than where I grew up, a lot less flat, and a lot less pleasant. Despite the fact that a forest fire burned down our house, and we couldn't go back, I asked why we had to stay here nearly every day. I hated my school, the mountains, the name of the town, the way the different sort of weather did funny things with my hair.

Speaking of...

I flipped my curly light brown hair out of my eyes. It flopped right back. When I tried it again, it did the same. Sighing, I checked the road to make sure I was staying straight, then bent down and looked for a brush I had thrown onto the passenger side floor the other day. After moving nearly everything and not finding it, I started to look under the seat.

And then the car lurched and sped up.

I straightened and took the wheel, only to see that my car was off the road and plummeting quickly down the side of the mountain, through plants. "Oh god oh god oh god oh god," I repeated, panicked. Despite my agnosticism, I offered up a thousand silent prayers to gods that may or may not be real.

As I tried in vain to break, to make my car stop, I could hear thunder crackling. Just what I needed. As the rain started, it got even harder to maneuver Betsey. I resigned myself to steering away from the trees as best as I could, which was hard as the car was pretty much beyond my control at this point. I was surprised it hadn't flipped over and begun to roll completely. At least I had my life... so far.

Looking at the oncoming dangers, one stood out... a steep drop. "Oh lord," I breathed. I had a sense that if I went over that drop, I wouldn't be surviving it.

I had kept relatively calm up until that point, but I began to cry. "Please! If there's anything, anybody, help me!" I screamed, pushing on the break with a force that slowed the car, but couldn't stop it. My tears kept flowing. I was going to die. It wasn't fair! I was only seventeen! And I wasn't even sick or a bad person or anything. See, this is why I hated mountains!

When the bright light surrounded me, I closed my eyes, ready for any release from this fear. But it didn't come with peace or love or any of the million things my mom says that it will come with. It came with more panic and a complete loss of control. My arms hugged my chest, my head moved slowly upwards, my feet kicked. I could feel something wrapping around me. Something sharp poked its way out of my back, but it felt happy more than it hurt. My eyes still closed, I could feel myself rising. Well, at least I was apparently going to heaven.

Or was I? My hand raised, and I could smell burning. But no... I was rising again. Can whatever this is just decide already? I thought, annoyed. I opened my eyes to glare at the heavens, but ended up looking down, only to see Betsey completely smashed on a small plateau that jetted off the mountain a bit.

Um, what. Wasn't I in there? Except I wasn't. Hadn't I already established I was dead? Looking around, noticing I was hovering in thin air, that was really not that much of a surprise when I thought about that. I mean, I would have thought that the clothes of a ghost would be less sparkly... I was in a dark grey glittering minidress, for crying out loud... but hey, at least it was cute. And even though the whole flying thing was wigging me out a little, it wasn't my full on fear of heights. I mean, if I fell, what was I going to do anyway? Die again?

I laughed, only a little bit hysterically.

Even though I didn't think I could be killed again, I really was getting uncomfortable. Tentatively, I let myself float gently to the road where I had been driving. I worried for a moment that I would go through, but luckily my feet reacted just as they always had with solid surfaces. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Now what?

Well... in movies, the ghost always helps the family or the police find the body. Damn, I wish I had my car, I thought as I began to walk on the side of the road. I could probably just float again, but the more I thought about that idea, the more I disliked it.

It took about an hour before I began to feel really tired and my feet began to ache. "Ugh," I groaned. "I thought the pain of your mortal body went away when you died..."

I sat down and sighed. It was a long walk home already, and it was even longer now that I knew I was going to get tired from it. Plus, I wasn't exactly in the best shape anyway... "chubby" was a kind way of describing it. If you wanted to be extremely generous, you could say I looked like Adele, except I really didn't.

I had rested for about fifteen minutes when a car came up. As it approached me, it got slower and slower. I didn't get my hopes up that they could see me until the car stopped right next to me and the window rolled down. "Need help?" asked a teenage girl with cropped blonde hair and a baseball cap. She was driving. In the passengers' seat, another girl sat, one with dark hair in a bun and a business-like style of dress.

My eyebrows raised. "You see me?" I asked.

The driver copied my movement. "Um, yes?" I noticed she had a slight accent, one that suggested she was from the United States.

I thought. I could be seen... I got tired... I was still on Earth, completely conscious. "I think I'm not dead," I said.

"I think you're not dead too. Need a ride?"

"Yes, please." I was relieved. The girl with the bun opened the back door and I slid in.

"So," said the driver. "How long have you known you were a fairy?"

I blinked. "What?" I asked.

"How long have you known you were a fairy?"

"I'm... I'm not."

"Really." The driver's tone was flat. "Cause you have a sparkly dress, open toe ankle booties, really awesome hair and... oh yeah... wings on your back."

"I WHAT?" I screeched, my head twisted and turned around my shoulder as I tried to get a good look. Sure enough, there were a pair of white translucent wings that looked as if they were made of clouds. "Oh my flipping god."

The dark skinned girl turned in her seat so she could face me. "What's your name? What has happened to you?" She had an accent too, but this one was harder to place.

"I'm Amanda. And I accidentally drove my car off the mountain... but somehow, before it crashed, I ended up floating in midair, and apparently, alive."

"I'm Safeyah, and this is Avalon." Safeyah smiled. "And yes... for some people, Charmix comes out instinctively when they are in need of it."

"Saf and I kinda forced it on ourselves, but we're oddballs," said Avalon.

"You two are fairies?"

"Yeah. We don't normally go around in Charmix like a lot of fairies do, though. It's easier to look human most of the time."

I looked down at my outfit. "So... I can go back?"

"Yeah, just concentrate."

I did. I gripped my hands tight. I closed my eyes. Inside my head, I chanted go back to normal, go back to normal, go back to normal.

When my eyes opened, I looked just the same. "Um..." I pointed out.

"Try harder," Avalon suggested.

I narrowed my eyes, but obliged. When five more minutes hadn't produced any results, I pressed my lips together and tried even harder. But even that didn't work. "Agh!" I shrieked.

"What now?" Safeyah asked.

Avalon did a little puffy thing with her breath. "Um, we could take her back to the hotel and talk to Roxy and Lysis. They might know what to do."

"Hotel? Please tell me it's not one of those murder-movie motels. Because to be honest, I'm already kinda scared of being killed."

"It's just a Holiday Inn. No worries."

Truth be told, I was still worried. I had to get home to my mom and dad and pesky brother... I'd already been gone later than expected. And just because it was a Holiday Inn didn't mean they couldn't murder someone there. Especially if they were magical. One zap, and I'd be finished.

My hesitation must have shown on my face. "We could just take you home like that," Avalon said. "I'm sure you'll pop back to normal eventually."

"No!" I exclaimed. No way could I let my parents see me like this! They'd throw a fit!

Avalon smiled. "Then to the hotel it is."

She drove there carefully, perhaps freaked out by my trip over the mountain. Or maybe she was just a careful driver, though if her driving matched her personality, I doubted that. As she drove, we talked about what was going on... the reemergence of magic, how Safeyah and Avalon found out they were fairies, and their world-wide road trip where they were determined to locate other girls like them... girls like me. Girls with no clue what they could do until the situation demanded them to do it. It was a lot to take in.

We got to the hotel and Avalon handed me a hoodie. "Here, put this on over your wings. It's probably best not to draw attention to the fact that you're a fairy. I obliged, and we got out of the car and walked into the hotel. We headed up to the second floor, them in the lead and me following. Finally, Safeyah stopped in front of a door and pulled out a key, letting herself in.

I followed them in shyly. I was a generally outgoing person, but this was an outstanding circumstance. Looking around Avalon, I could see two girls chatting animatedly. One had blonde hair that fell shoulder length, and wire rimmed glasses. She looked older. The other had pink hair, which was her main distinguishing feature. "Hey, Lysis, Roxy," Avalon greeted. "Mission complete."

The blonde frowned. "We just got here."

"Yeah, and we ran into this girl on accident." She sidestepped, forcing me out in the open. "Her name's Amanda. She accidentally drove her car off a mountain, was facing certain death, and then suddenly transformed. Only one issue. She can't pop back to normal."

"Has she tried concentrating."

"No, that totally wasn't the first thing we thought of." Avalon rolled her eyes.

The girl with pink hair rose from the bed. "I'm Roxy," she introduced. "Let's see what we can do."

She slipped her hand into mine. "Maybe if we converge, we can get you back to a wingless form. Concentrate again, okay?"

I obliged, squeezing her hand and shutting my eyes very tight. I wished to go back to normal, so I could get on with my average life so I could get out of Kamloops and not in a straitjacket.

Nothing happened. This was getting rather predictable.

Roxy rubbed her hand. "It's weird," she said. "I can tell you've got magic, but it's like you're not using it... I know you're trying though... what's going on?"

She looked to Lysis, as if for answers, and the other fairy obliged. "I have a theory. What if Amanda is a fairy... but she hasn't awakened yet."

There was a beat. "She transformed," Avalon pointed out.

"You know, I'm right here, you can stop talking about me as if I'm not," I said, annoyed.

Lysis continued anyway. "She forced herself into transforming, to save her own life. You guys all did the same thing, effectively. Have you noticed that forcing yourself has consequences? Roxy, until recently, had trouble with even the easy spells. Safeyah's magic isn't as strong as most fairies' magic is, except for the first blast she ever shot. Avalon, you get tired when you fly long distances. It's not a natural thing, it's because you forced yourself into it. And it will stop eventually, don't worry."

"So you're saying that since Amanda hadn't awakened yet, she could have trouble switching back and forth between her forms?" Safeyah guessed.

"Precisely."

"So how do I fix this?" I demanded. :"I can't wait forever! I have school! I have parents!"

Lysis frowned. "We need to find a way to force you back."

"I prescribe a horror movie marathon!" Avalon cheered. "The first few times I watched The Ring after discovering I had powers made me transform instinctively several times. If that doesn't scare you into human form, nothing will."

Lysis cracked a smile. "I don't know if that will do it, but it's worth a shot while we try to brainstorm other ideas."

Avalon popped the DVD in and we began to watch the movie. As the memorial scene began, a knock sounded from the door. Safeyah got up to open it. As she did, a man shoved the door open, knocking the dark-skinned fairy to the floor. "Hello, everyone," he said with a grin that made me more scared than the movie ever could. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Nyklus?" Safeyah groaned.

"Close, but no cigar. I don't believe we've met, but I assume you're Miss Safeyah Hafeji." He looked around. "And there is Avalon MacAdams, Lysis Ashman, and Roxy Klaus."

Then his eyes flitted to me. "And who is this? I'd guess she was Kristina Reeds... but Kristina was described to be so much... skinnier."

My eyes narrowed. "Okay, who the hell are you and are you calling me fat?"

"Of course not, dear fairy." But his eyes said otherwise, looking as though he was about to laugh. "And as for your first question... you may call me Killian."

"Are you working with Nyklus?" Roxy asked.

"We're... brothers, I suppose you could say."

Roxy sighed. "Well, at least I don't have to ask if anyone ordered room service and didn't bother to tell the rest of us," she said. Suddenly, four bright lights flared up, blindingly bright. I closed my eyes until the flares died down. When I opened them, all four of the fairies had transformed. "Let's go!" Roxy called.

"Let's go outside," Lysis suggested. "If this room gets messed up, we have to pay for it."

Roxy opened a window and flew out, followed by the other three, trying to get the fight out of the building. They didn't look back, confident Killian would follow them. But he didn't. As soon as they were gone, he closed the window and looked at me. "What fools," he said. "You would think that they'd try to get you out first, if they're trying to protect you from me." He stepped forward slowly, as if not to startle me. The Ring still played in the background.

"What's going on?" I whispered. "Who are you?"

"I told you, I'm Killian. One of the Apprentices of the Black Circle. But the more important question is... who are you? A new fairy. But perhaps something more. There's so much you could be, Miss..."

"Amanda."

"Miss Amanda. You could learn so much about your powers, be whoever you want to be. We can teach you. You can be the fifth apprentice of the Circle. It's not too late for you yet. Don't you want to be magical, charismatic, skinny..."

"Are you calling me fat again?" I snapped, and my hand snapped with me, shooting an energy beam at him.

He fell over onto the floor, but rose quickly. "You've already picked the side of those pathetic fairies, I see. Well, then I just have to change my tactics." Clapping his hands once, he seemed to shake the air. I flew backwards, not of my own will, but because of his power. I hit the wall and slumped down.

"Someday, we'll be stronger than all the fairies once again," Killian warned. "Our fathers got stronger from the magic of fairies. We don't yet... but we will. This is your last chance, Amanda. You can be the first Fairy of the Black Circle. Or you can suffer with your friends."

"Ugh, you're making me angry!" I shouted. I really was. I was so frustrated. As if it was a manifestation of my feelings, a tornado slowly appeared, spiraling toward Killian. As it hit him, knocking him against the wall, then the floor, then picking him up and throwing him against the ceiling, I felt myself relaxing. I looked down to see that somewhere after conjuring a tornado, I had slipped back into my normal form. "Bad timing, much?" I muttered sarcastically.

The tornado disappeared, and Killian gritted his teeth. "Beware, fairy of storms," he said to me. "There's another tornado coming. And this one... you can't control." He snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Just then, the door burst open. "Amanda!" Avalon cried. "Are you okay?"

"More than. I'm back to normal and I drove that creepy guy off."

Avalon fist pumped. "Awesome!"

Lysis smiled. "So, now what?"

"Huh?"

"What do you want to do? Return to your normal life? Or come with us into the world of magic?"

I considered. "Can you call me in eight months, when I turn eighteen? I'd love to come, but no way my parents will let me."

The fairies all smiled. "Deal," Avalon said.

I wished I could go now. If Killian was right... being a fairy was going to be pretty dangerous from now on. I worried about myself... and about my new friends. Hopefully, things would be okay.

But my optimism was crushed when I realized I had to tell my parents about my car.

Author's Note: Amanda is Chibi Horsewoman's character! I hope I did okay!