Chapter 1: Moving Day

"Good bye," I heard a little voice behind me and whirled around. Sammy, a four year old boy smiled up at me.

"Bye," I pulled him into a hug and squatted down so I'm on his level. "I'll come back and visit you, ok?"

"Ok," he nodded excitedly. I turned and jumped into the side seat of the moving truck, waving out the window at my friends.

Nine hours later

I popped my head out the small window and look around. It was mid afternoon so the sun was streaming through the trees at just the perfect angle and the breeze was playing with my hair, throwing it ever direction. I open the door and jump out, realizing with a start the ground was farther away than I thought it was.

“Hey,” I turned around, wriggling my legs, trying to get some feeling back into them. There was a boy standing there, maybe a little taller than me. He had brown colored hair with brown eyes and freckles. He smiled.

“Hey,” I nodded. He stuck his hand out and I shook it. “I’m Nora.”

“I’m Ajax,” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m your next door neighbor, so if you ever want to hang out….”

“Sure,” I’d cut him off. “I’ve gotta help Dad unload the truck.”

“I’ll help,” he said.

“Fine,” I sighed. “Dad! I need the keys.” Dad threw me the keys and I caught them. I walked around to the back and unlocked the doors. I grabbed a box and handed it to Ajax.

“There ya go,” I grabbed another one and headed for the door.

“Do you have a Mom?” Ajax broke the silence as I unlocked the door.

“No,” I answered. “She died when I was seven.” I pushed the door open and sat my box down in the living room.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he apologized. “Do you have any siblings?”

“Nope,” I headed back to the truck for another box. “Just me.” I grabbed my box and headed back for the house.

“Ok,” he sat his box down and looked at me. “I’m an only child too.”

“Huh,” I wasn’t trying to be rude or anything, it was just hard. I had just moved, leaving everything I had every known or cared about behind, maybe to never be seen again.

“Oh,” Dad looked at me smiling. “You already have a new friend.”

“Yeah,” I smile back.

“I think I can handle it from here,” he nodded at me. “Go have some fun.”

“Yes, sir,” I handed him the keys and looked around our yard. “What’s that?” I pointed to a tree over on the hill above our house.

“Oh,” Ajax squinted. “That tree has been here for as long as I can remember.”

“Let’s check it out,” I looked at Dad and he nodded. I headed over to the tree.

“What type is it?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” He answered. “I never really thought to look it up.”

As I got closer to the tree I realized something was wrong. The grass didn’t touch within a five foot radius of the tree. But, when I looked closer, I realized that nothing did. There were no leaves on the tree, no buds, no flowers, nothing.

“What is this?” I looked at Ajax.

“Magic,” he answered. “Just magic.”

He stepped across the line.

“Don’t,” It whispered.

And then he reached for the tree.