Free Goodbye Normal by Lily N Anderson Page B

were pointed, hands were clapped, and even some tears were dropped with both joy and fear. 
     Zoe felt her strength leave her body. Her eyes closed and her shoulders dropped. She twined her elbows to her knees and dug her fingers into her thick hair. She could hear at a far distance her name being called out, but her body was too weak to respond. All her mind could think about was waking up from a bad dream. This is the time when I should bang my head or something. A phone call should wake me. Please let me wake up from this nightmare , she prayed.
    Her lashes opened hastily, not wanting to but having to.
    Liz’s face wasn’t helping, she had gone whiter. She looked at Zoe like she was seeing a ghost. Given their current situation she was not sure if she wasn’t one. She could hear her shouting or maybe rumbling, she wasn’t sure either. Nothing was certain anymore.
    “No…noo it’s not possible, this is ridiculous you are wrong, you should do it again…please don’t take my friend nooo. It’s a mistake” Liz cried, Zoe could feel the apprehension in her voice, which wasn’t helping either.
    Liz’s hand was clenching her neck protecting her from whatever her obscure fate was. She understood her feelings that scary moment; the mix was a fuzzy one.
    “Thank you girls for you corporation you may remove my cloaks now.” Maydith requested.
    When she saw that the other girls had complied with her wishes. She looked at them, her hand crossed neatly on her chest.
    “The rest of you are dismissed.” Maydith ordered, thereafter her eyes fell specifically on Zoe.
    With that simple order every one vanished in thin air. Just a blink and everyone was gone.  Zoe gasped! Fear, realization and anticipation kicked into her system at once. She stood up and looked around her. She was left all alone, in a world she was sure she did not belong. But they were certain she belonged.

4. DENIAL
     
     Her eyes enlarged with horrific agitation, where had they all gone to? Where was Liz? Where were all those familiar faces? Her face hardened with each passing thought.
    “This is a historic day for all of Doomsberg.” A familiar voice bellowed. It was Mr. Longwood. She blinked.  Her blue eyes sparkled in the candle light. They made her fear which had transformed to anger vivid to her audience. A warm hand clenched her arm. She jerked away from the friendly gesture, and then shot an accusing glare at the owner. It was Gigi Turnpod; her mellow voice cut short the silence.
    “It’s okay Zoe, you have the right to feel what you are feeling.” Zoe watched her with bewilderment.
    “We are not bad people. In time you will understand that we only mean good. As a matter of fact, we fight for the good. That is the reason you are here in the first place.”
    Zoe eyes narrowed and Gigi understood her disarray.
    “Don’t worry about that for now.” Gigi said “but it’s undeniable that there are people with our kind of power who are destroying the essence and reason for our existence. They do it by provoking evil but they are also the ones we are fighting against. Regardless, we are special people who have accepted our gifts, and are putting them into practice without harming innocent people.”
    Zoe rolled her eyes, her amazement left her lips slightly apart.
    “So you call depriving people of their sleep, taking them magically without their consent and robbing them of their rights, containing them with fear and agitation, reaping away their freedom of choice and forcing them of some absurd witchcraft title is what? You showing of how special you are without hurting anybody?” Zoe mixed her sarcasm with a chuckle but the voice turned livid.  
    “Can’t you see you are hurting me, I am not a witch, I cannot turn a fly into a flower, or pull a chair without holding it. For God sake just let me go. Or better yet let me demonstrate how ungifted I am.” Zoe cried.
    She held out her hand to a chair, closed her eyes then forced her