The Sorcerer's Shadow

I find myself retelling this story in the quiet of the night, blanketed by darkness. I know I shouldn’t be able to, but somehow the days come back to me in bits and pieces. I can feel the shadows humming around me, aiding me in my storytelling. 

It all started on a pleasant late-July day. I had decided to be proactive and begin my mile-long summer reading list, when my mom stormed into my room and insisted that it “wasn’t normal for growing boys to spend their summer vacation inside reading” as if it wasn’t good enough that I was doing homework barely a month after school let out. After releasing an earth-shattering groan, I closed my book and stumbled into the sunlit kitchen. 

My dad grins at me from the stove, his polo shirt rippling in the wind being let in by the open window. “Hey kiddo! Good to see you out of that bed of yours!” 

“Geez, is everyone following my daily schedule this summer?” I reply, laying the teenage angst on thick. 

“Well then, sorry for caring about what my kid is up to during his summer vacation! I’m the worst dad in the world!” he says with mock disdain. “But anyway since you’re up, why don’t you go for a walk? I need you to deliver a letter to Ms. Foster down the block that accidentally got delivered to our house.” 

I sigh again. “Why can’t you get Agnes to do it? She’s the one you really should be yelling at for not leaving her room after all.” 

“Atlas, you know your sister is preparing for her college applications. This is a stressful time in any adolescent’s life, we need to give her all the space we can.” 

Stupid Agnes using college as an excuse to stay holed up inside. I think to myself. She’s not even a senior yet! What kind of teenager begins their college applications this early? 

I look up at my dad. “Fine. But next time the mail man screws up, Agnes has to be the messenger.” 

“I suppose that’s fair. Now get a move on! It’s already noon and Ms. Foster has bingo games every day at one-thirty.”

“SInce when do you know the schedule of the old lady who lives down the street?” I ask. 

“Since she made me drive her everywhere last winter when a tree fell on her car.” I laugh as I walk towards the front door. I would pay a large sum of money to see my dad, grumpy, driving Ms. Foster to her bingo game while she complains about “kids these days”. 

I step out onto the stoop and glance down at myself. I probably should have changed before I decided to go out in public, since my scholastic team t-shirt is wrinkled and my green sweatpants look (and smell) as if I have been wearing them for multiple days. Which I have.  

After sulking for an entire block about how I would much rather be in my room with the door closed, I start to look around and notice everything happening around me on this bright summer day. The birds are chirping, the dogs around the corner are barking with glee, and the air feels crisp and fresh. Hmmm, I guess this isn’t so bad after all. 

I start to walk with a little bit more spring in my step, and even wave to a person I see resting under a willow tree with their head hung low. They wave back wearily, as if their day has been exhausting and they have finally sat down to rest. 

My interaction with Ms. Foster was tolerable at best, I stepped onto her porch and gave her the letter, to which she replied, “With everyone emailing and texting these days, I’m not surprised they can’t even get basic snail mail done right!” I just shrugged and continued my walk.  
I decide to take a bit of a longer route and go through the loop that leads through the town’s community garden, which is alive with fragrant flowers and buzzing bees. But after walking for what seemed like at least an hour, I find myself coming back around to my house. Passing the town carpenter’s house, passing the house that always has at least three cats in the yard (I saw four), and finally up to where my family’s prized hydrangeas are. Or, should be. 

I start to walk right up past them, but am almost shook out of my skin by the sound of a lawn mower. The neighbor’s lawnmower. I stumble back from the lawn that should be mine, but isn’t. 

Right where my house should be, I see the house after mine. Which then leads on to the rest of the street.  My house is gone. I think, panic rippling through my head. My house, the house that we bought five years ago and have been living in ever since, is gone. That can’t be right. 

After glancing back and forth from the ground to where my house should be for an embarrassing amount of time, I finally decide that it must be a side effect of not going outside for days. I start slowly walking down the street again, the same way I did before. Maybe if I just walk around the loop one more time, my house will be there when I get back. 

Hopefully.

Walking at a moderate pace, I take a few deep breaths that shake as they escape my throat. Have I gone crazy? Is this the moment that reading all those fantasy novels instead of playing sports has led to? 

At last I march back to where I stood before, and nothing has changed. Nothing. The cats are still in the same position, seemingly unblinking, the lawnmower is still idling in the driveway a couple yards away, and I still stand with the same flabbergasted expression on my face. 

This time, I run. I run with every ounce of unused strength in my body. Hoping that the fast movement will somehow shake the fog out of my brain and bring my house back. Except, I can’t run for very long. A given, since the last time I played sports was third grade little league. I stop to catch my breath next to the willow tree I admired on my first loop. 

“Trust me, running won’t help either. I’ve tried.” 

I jump. “Who said that?” 

“Who do you think? The only other person who knows what is happening to you.” says the voice again, getting closer this time. 

I turn in a slow circle, trying to find where the voice is coming from. “N-nothing is happening to me. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh please. I’ve now seen you walking this loop three times. Let me guess, can’t find your house?”

“How did you know about that?” 

“Because it’s happening to me too.” a person dressed in an aqua hoodie, pale orange leggings, and worn cowboy boots steps out from behind a nearby bush. 

“One week ago, I went for a run around this neighborhood. I took the same path you did, through the garden. When I got to my driveway, it led not to my house, but to my next door neighbor’s. I’ve tried every day since then to get it back.”

My shock excels to a whole new level. I’m not crazy? This is happening to another person? 

A single word escapes my mouth as I wrap my head around what they just said. “Why?”

They dawn a smug expression. “Why what? Why are our houses gone? How should I know? I’ve been sitting here under this willow tree for the past forty-eight hours trying to escape the idea that I don’t know what to do next.” they look away. I see a tear escape their emerald-green eyes. After a moment, they perk up again and pretend as if nothing happened. “But anyway, now we can work together! Four hands are better than two!” 

I have a harder time sharing their enthusiasm. “But, what are we going to do? I don’t even know your name!”

“Calliope.” they say without hesitation. “And yours?”

“Uh, Atlas.” 

“Nice to meet you Atlas! You seem a little tired after running and walking for so long, you might need to sit down.” they pat the ground next to them. 

I collapse on the ground. “Yeah that feels better.” 

Calliope starts to respond, but I’m asleep before they can finish. 

I am awoken by singing. Soft, but beautiful none the less. I lift my head and see Calliope re-lacing their boots. She’s singing as she works, a soft melody that I recognize, but can’t place. 

It takes me a minute to remember the events of the day before. Once I do, a familiar sense of dread falls over me. I don’t know how to get my house back. Great. 

I look up at the sky and let out a loud yawn. My eyes stay on the sky a little longer though, as I notice that the sun has not moved. 

“I noticed that too.” muses Calliope, obviously seeing the way I am looking up at the sky with a puzzled expression. “It appears that time has stopped as well. Just a cherry on top of our confusion sundae.” 

I sit up and lean my back against the rough bark of the willow tree. “That’s weird. Although, I did notice some things on my walks yesterday that could correlate with that.” I tell Calliope about the cats that didn’t blink and the lawnmower that stayed in the same spot. They agree that it is worth looking into. 

“You know what?” they start, “I think it’s time I walked the loop again and really looked at the neighborhood. Why don’t we go together!” I pretend to think about it for a minute. “Well, I was going to go on a food tour of Italy, but my bus got cancelled. So I am free…..” 

They laugh. “Humor is the perfect coping mechanism.” 

We spend the next couple of hours walking around and around the loop, searching in every shadow for some sort of anomaly that would explain what had happened. It wasn’t until our sixteenth time around that we noticed something odd around the outskirts of the property in the place where my house should be. 

“Did you see that?” Calliope announces, turning toward me. 

“See what?” I reply, glancing around looking for something out of the ordinary. 

“This might sound weird, but I think that shadow just moved.” they point to a corner of the house. There is silence for a moment as we both stare intently at the shadow. Just before I’m about to declare that there is nothing there, I notice a flicker in the shadow. I gasp quietly and take a step forward. So does Calliope. We stare a little longer, but it appears that whatever was making that shadow seemingly move noticed us staring and stopped. 

“I’m not crazy right?” starts Calliope, breaking the spell that seemed to fall on us. “You saw it too?” 

I nod. “For sure.”

“We should stay and watch this area tonight.” they say as they begin to survey the area. 

“Won’t people think it’s weird that two teenagers are sitting in the middle of the road watching the shadows around some house?” I ask. 

Calliope shrugs. “I’ve gathered that whatever street we’re stuck in is not the street that everyone else lives on. As I said before, I think time is going on without us.”

This sparks a new wave of underlying fear and panic. I try to push it out of my mind. We are going to get out of this. 

“Well then, I suppose there is nothing stopping us.” 

Calliope smirks. “Now you’re getting it.”

We camp out that night in front of the house where we found the moving shadow. We try to stay awake all night, but end up drifting off around eleven. 

Falling asleep outside among the starts is unlike anything I have ever experienced. The birdsong is a vibrant melody making the dark night seem a little less daunting, and the steady glow of street lights adds to the effect. I fall asleep as a warm summer breeze brushes my hair away.

“Atlas! Atlas wake up!” Calliope shakes my shoulders. “I saw them! The person who is causing the weird shadows!” 

Immediately I am awake. I jolt up onto my feet, only to find Calliope pushing me back down. “Shhh! You saw what happened yesterday when we moved toward it! We have to be careful.” they whisper. 

I lower myself back to the ground. “Right, sorry. I-whoa.” my attention is grabbed by a figure just feet away. They seem to be doing something to the shadows with their hands, moving in a rhythmic way that draws me and Calliope’s eyes toward them. Although Calliope seems to have recovered faster than me because she calls out to the stranger: “Hey you! Show yourself! We see you there in the shadows!” 

The figure freezes. They start to walk away from us, but this time I stop them 

“Come back! Are you the one keeping us trapped in this loop?” this turns them in their tracks. They turn and instead begin to walk toward us. 

“What have you seen?” they murmur, still in the shadows. 

“How about you let us even look at you before we start to spill all of our secrets!” Calliope interrupts, clearly fed up with all this hiding in the shadows business. 

To my surprise, the figure steps underneath the nearest streetlight and pulls back their leather hood.  They wear all lunar colors, purples and silvers bringing out the darkness in their skin. In fact, it appears that their entire body is buzzing with shadows, underneath their skin and seeping  from their fingernails. They appear to be a woman, but in the harsh streetlight glow it is hard to tell. 

“Ok fine. At least you have some thoughtfulness. My name is Celeste. Now as I said before, what have you seen?” Celeste’s voice is whispery and harsh, as if she hasn’t spoken in days. 

“Hello Celeste,” I begin. “My name is Atlas, and this is my companion Calliope. We have been stuck in our neighborhood loop and were hoping to figure out why. We noticed something odd about those shadows you were handling and decided to investigate. If you have any knowledge about why or how we got stuck, we would be overjoyed.” 

Calliope nods along as I talk, watching Celeste from the corner of their eye. Celeste on the other hand looks away and mumbles something to herself. She turns to us. “It’s spreading. I thought I had it contained but I guess some of it escaped.”

“Some of what?” Calliope demands.

“Magic.” 

Celeste must see the blank looks on our faces, because she begins a more detailed explanation. “I am a sorcerer sent by my community to rein a guild of magic that had escaped our shield that separates our world from yours. it seems that the hub of the escaped magic is you and your judgmental friend’s homes” Calliope scoffs. “ I was trying to contain the magic using the shadows, but I had to use an ancient spell since the shadows were weaker than I expected. That is why you saw me moving my arms in such a way. I was hoping no one had noticed anything out of the ordinary so I could do my job in peace, but I suppose not. If I had known that our magic was endangering the lives of humans, I would have alerted my Headmistress and come sooner. I am sorry that we have done such a thing to your home.” 

Calliope and I take a minute to process what Celeste has explained. After entangling the million thoughts in my head, I draw an alarming conclusion:  My house is full of magic. 

“Thank you.” Calliope says quietly.”I have been practically going insane this past week trying to figure out what I had done to be locked out of my house in such  a radical way. Thank you for reassuring me that there is nothing I could have done to return to my home. I myself will do anything you need to repair this shield and get  you back to where you belong.” 

I steady my feet and look the sorcerer in her eyes. “I as well. And I'm sorry too. I'm sorry you had to leave your home and come fix this problem our houses are causing.”

Celeste shakes her head. “No. It is not your fault. Our people must do better. In fact, you should know nothing of this. But if you are willing to help as much as you say, there is one final ancient spell I need to perform in order to get your homes back. But I need another person, which is why it is the final spell. I had no idea what to do when I got to this point. But thank The Runes that you two are here. We can get your houses back.” 

Celeste turns to the corner she was hiding in earlier and directs for us to follow. She motions for the three of us to join hands. “I need you both to prepare yourselves. The magic will call to your inner mental strength to activate it. It will feel excruciating but I promise the pain is merely mental.” 

I turn to Calliope. “I’m ready. They can speak for themself.” 

Calliope laughs lightly. “C’mon, you think I would let you do this all by yourself? Do you take me as the kind of person to let others have all the fun?” 

I smile and squeeze their hand lightly. “Of course not.” 

Celeste takes a deep breath. “Alright then.” she begins to murmur an unintelligible language. Slowly at first, then progressively faster. 

As Celeste continues, the world around us begins to spin until all I can see is a blur of blues and greens. Eventually, the pressure gets too great that my eyes force themselves closed.  A veil of peace falls on our trio. It feels a lot like what I would imagine an eye of a hurricane is like.

 Mere moments after the peace arrives, it vanishes. In it’s place is pain. Pain like nothing I have ever experienced. It sucks everything I have out of me and still yearns for more. 

After what feels like an eternity and a single second simultaneously, it stops. Celeste finishes, and we return to the present moment. 

Celeste is the first to speak. “I told you it would be ruthless. Are you okay?” 

Calliope and I breathe heavily but nod.

I look up. “Guys, it worked. There’s my house.” 

The world fades away around me as I step up to my house. We did it. I’m finally back home! 

I reach for the door handle, but turn back around instead. Celeste and Calliope stand to the side of my driveway, admiring their handiwork. I walk toward them.

“Thank you. I couldn’t be standing here without you two. Celeste, I hope you make it back to your world well. Calliope, I have enjoyed having your company. I’m glad we met, even in less than ideal circumstances.” I hug each of them in turn.

Celeste stops me as I turn to go. “Atlas, wait. I am honored that you were willing to aid me in my problems. But, there is something I must do before I leave. You see, humans are not supposed to know about my kind in any means, so I am afraid I must erase yours and Calliope’s memories of the past hours.” 

For a moment, I am angered that she would even suggest such a thing, but then, I realize that in order to keep her safe and myself from going mad pondering what had actually happened these past couple of minutes, this is what must happen. 

I thread my fingers through Calliope’s as we share a final look. “Do it.” 

Celeste presses her fingers to my temples.”Goodbye Calliope. Goodbye Atlas.”