Excerpts – S.N.Arly

Accidental Magic – Sneaking Off – Part 2

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The cabin had been quiet for a long time. Laura pulled on the dark clothes she’d stuffed under her pillow before going to bed. She pushed aside her blankets and slipped off her bunk. She crouched there, her bare feet sticking to the floor and her shoulder level with her mattress, and listened. Over the pounding of her heart, she could hear the three younger girls breathing, but that was all. She reached under the bed for her shoes and socks, but carried them as she took baby steps toward the door.

She made it to the hallway without bumping into anything. She took a slow breath and tried to relax. She’d never woken anyone up while going to the bathroom. Why was she worried about it now? And why did everything seem so loud? She crept to the couch. Kaveh looked like he was asleep, and she was half tempted to go back to bed and forget about the whole thing. She could say she’d fallen asleep. But then he would think she was a wimp. Besides, how else would she find out what happened at magic camp? As she reached for his shoulder, he rolled over and looked up at her.

Accidental Magic – Sneaking Off – Part 1

This is also available on Curious Fictions, if that platform is preferred for longer works.

The gravel crunched under Laura’s feet as she crossed the road to the old logging trail. Faint shadows of mist clung to the low spots. The trees were spread out, so there was plenty of light, and the area had been logged out in the past, so there were no enormous trees. Her passage startled a Broken Window bird, who crashed and clinked at her as it sought a higher branch. The grass was long and thick, and Laura’s canvas sneakers were quickly soaked.

Before swapping charms yesterday, Laura and Kaveh found a spot in the woods, where they could practice without being seen. He’d said they should practice magic in preparation for school, but it was such a secret she suspected they weren’t supposed to be doing it by themselves. Instead of deterring her, it made their trade more exciting.

A Gift of Sky (teaser)

“Do you want to play with us?” Rellin asked, his voice gentle and slow, as if he thought Shya might not be able to understand him. An eager wind pulled at the long white fringe dangling from his coat sleeves and pants, fanning it out behind him.

Though she would have loved to join the other children, she shook her head and looked away from the pity on his face. The branches below her were full and lush, and only a few patches of ground were visible through the gaps when the boughs danced with the weather.

“Leave her alone, Rellin,” Bexa chastised, her blonde curls bouncing in a playful breeze. She was Shya’s sister and protector, although all her siblings watched out for her. It was utterly humiliating that Shya’s staunchest defender was two full years younger. “You know she doesn’t fly well.”

Shya turned her back on them, in part so she wouldn’t hear the rest of the conversation, but also so she wouldn’t have to see them soar easily into the sky, where a group of children waited. Unlike the birds, sky folk didn’t need wings to fly.

She made slow but steady progress along the wide branch, toward the three-level tree house where she’d been born. It was a cool day, which meant she wouldn’t be able to save herself if she fell, but she’d lived all of her thirteen years with the same danger. She had fallen out of trees more than once, and still, she liked heights. If she could fly, she wouldn’t be afraid of going up higher than the birds did. If she could fly.

“Shya Skychild, what are you doing out there?” a woman demanded, her voice issuing through an open kitchen window. “Come in here this instant.”

Shya sighed as she felt gentle breezes nudging her toward the door. “I’m coming.” If her mother had her way, Shya would never leave the safety of the house. The door blew open before she could reach for the handle. She took her time hanging her coat on its peg, hoping she might be able to sneak through the kitchen without a reprimand. Her soft leather boots made no sound as she crossed the hardwood floor, and for a moment she thought she might make it.

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