head.
“Yeah,” I whisper back looking up at him. From behind, the sun is glowing and it looks as if he has a halo around his head. I tilt my head back and watch as his face lowers to mine. His lips softly kiss mine. My brain screaming for him to kiss me as though it were our last kiss, my logic telling me it isn’t the right time or place. It couldn’t have lasted more than five seconds, but my heart beat a thousand times.
“Ready?” Caleb asks.
“Let’s do this,” I reply. We walk in; I half expected Dark Ones to be hidden in every corner. Instead of dark and dreary, it is bright and cheerful. The brightly lit room is much brighter than I remembered. We are energetically greeted by the youngest, hippest librarian that I’ve ever seen. Not a dowdy elderly lady, this librarian is actually pretty and inviting. People are everywhere, stacks of books, mothers with e-readers and children jabbering about books. A few teens are playing MTG, I don’t understand the whole Magic The Gathering game at all. I never understood Pokeman either for that matter.
“I haven’t been in here since middle school,” Caleb said jarring me out of my trance.
“I know right. I don’t remember the place being so, you know, so…perky,” I reply. “I guess we’ll walk around and try to blend in. There’s a room in the back, lets go up there and wait for him.”
I hear someone complaining about their laptop shutting down, possibly doing a system update. Another person is frantically pushing buttons on their Nook. It’s then that I realize a lot of people are messing with their electronics. Hmmm, that’s interesting.
There in the back room, my dad is sitting with his head in a book. Not any book, the dictionary. What a dork , I think to myself with humor. “Daddy?”
“Baby, you made it,” he says as he sets the book down. He walks over and pulls me in for a hug. Letting me go, he looks over at Caleb. “Young man,” he says in the … I’m sizing you up voice.
Caleb, not missing a beat, replies to my dad. “I’m Caleb Baldwin.”
“Baldwin, good strong name son. Both of you, sit, I need to tell you some things very quickly, I can’t stay long,” dad said and sits down at the round table.
Dad, please don’t embarrass me. Will Caleb hold my hand in front of my dad? I hope not, my dad will probably freak out. Crap, shhhh stop thinking where he can hear you. Damn.
“It isn’t safe for you to be seen with me. You’re a sovereign tamer, with a hidden ability, you can chazzle,” he leans in and whispers the last part.
“Chazzle, what in the heck is that? The ability to dazzle someone with chatter?” I ask, half kidding.
“Always the witty one, I guess you get it naturally. Caleb, do you know what chazzling is?”
Caleb gave him a quizzical look. “No sir, I can’t say I’ve heard that expression before,” he replies.
“Jessie, you can stop time for thirty seconds, only for you and whomever you are touching.”
Both Caleb and I look at each other with amazement. “What the…holy cow!” I say. “No way.”
“Way, I’ve seen you do it. Not as much as seen, as I’ve been part of it. When you were a baby I noticed it. There’s always been rumors of people in our family having the ability, but I’ve never seen it.” Dad scans the room, as if he expects something to pop out of nowhere.
“Thirty seconds, how?” I ask.
“It is a fifteen back and fifteen forward. That can mean the world to you, especially when it is a life or death situation,” dad says and sets a bottle of water on the table. Look at this bottle of water. I’m going to take the lid off of it and knock it over; I want you to think about the bottle not falling over. As soon as the bottle starts to tilt, concentrate with all your might, reach over and stop me from ever taking off the lid. Got it?”
“No,” I said but not soon enough. In a
“Yeah,” I whisper back looking up at him. From behind, the sun is glowing and it looks as if he has a halo around his head. I tilt my head back and watch as his face lowers to mine. His lips softly kiss mine. My brain screaming for him to kiss me as though it were our last kiss, my logic telling me it isn’t the right time or place. It couldn’t have lasted more than five seconds, but my heart beat a thousand times.
“Ready?” Caleb asks.
“Let’s do this,” I reply. We walk in; I half expected Dark Ones to be hidden in every corner. Instead of dark and dreary, it is bright and cheerful. The brightly lit room is much brighter than I remembered. We are energetically greeted by the youngest, hippest librarian that I’ve ever seen. Not a dowdy elderly lady, this librarian is actually pretty and inviting. People are everywhere, stacks of books, mothers with e-readers and children jabbering about books. A few teens are playing MTG, I don’t understand the whole Magic The Gathering game at all. I never understood Pokeman either for that matter.
“I haven’t been in here since middle school,” Caleb said jarring me out of my trance.
“I know right. I don’t remember the place being so, you know, so…perky,” I reply. “I guess we’ll walk around and try to blend in. There’s a room in the back, lets go up there and wait for him.”
I hear someone complaining about their laptop shutting down, possibly doing a system update. Another person is frantically pushing buttons on their Nook. It’s then that I realize a lot of people are messing with their electronics. Hmmm, that’s interesting.
There in the back room, my dad is sitting with his head in a book. Not any book, the dictionary. What a dork , I think to myself with humor. “Daddy?”
“Baby, you made it,” he says as he sets the book down. He walks over and pulls me in for a hug. Letting me go, he looks over at Caleb. “Young man,” he says in the … I’m sizing you up voice.
Caleb, not missing a beat, replies to my dad. “I’m Caleb Baldwin.”
“Baldwin, good strong name son. Both of you, sit, I need to tell you some things very quickly, I can’t stay long,” dad said and sits down at the round table.
Dad, please don’t embarrass me. Will Caleb hold my hand in front of my dad? I hope not, my dad will probably freak out. Crap, shhhh stop thinking where he can hear you. Damn.
“It isn’t safe for you to be seen with me. You’re a sovereign tamer, with a hidden ability, you can chazzle,” he leans in and whispers the last part.
“Chazzle, what in the heck is that? The ability to dazzle someone with chatter?” I ask, half kidding.
“Always the witty one, I guess you get it naturally. Caleb, do you know what chazzling is?”
Caleb gave him a quizzical look. “No sir, I can’t say I’ve heard that expression before,” he replies.
“Jessie, you can stop time for thirty seconds, only for you and whomever you are touching.”
Both Caleb and I look at each other with amazement. “What the…holy cow!” I say. “No way.”
“Way, I’ve seen you do it. Not as much as seen, as I’ve been part of it. When you were a baby I noticed it. There’s always been rumors of people in our family having the ability, but I’ve never seen it.” Dad scans the room, as if he expects something to pop out of nowhere.
“Thirty seconds, how?” I ask.
“It is a fifteen back and fifteen forward. That can mean the world to you, especially when it is a life or death situation,” dad says and sets a bottle of water on the table. Look at this bottle of water. I’m going to take the lid off of it and knock it over; I want you to think about the bottle not falling over. As soon as the bottle starts to tilt, concentrate with all your might, reach over and stop me from ever taking off the lid. Got it?”
“No,” I said but not soon enough. In a
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