Amber Lynn [Lynn - Simply Enchanting

Magic.

I pause on that single word not because Im stuck trying to come up with something to say. My hesitation to continue stems from the fact that there is so much I can say about the subject. Rambling through exactly what I mean by that would confuse rather than educate, so lets think about what the word means.

Magic means different things to different people.

Clearly, this train of thought may not be any less rambling but hear me out. The word itself is so cool that people have taken to calling themselves it. There are games and bands and movies and TV shows that Im sure all use that single amazing word to sum up what they are.

In the general sense, I think we can all agree that magic is the use of supernatural forces to do something. Whether it be controlling the weather or flipping on and off light switches, magic does stuff. I hate that word stuff but it does a good job of taking the place of the millions of possibilities.

So now that were on the same page as far as what magic is, and how vast that word really is, maybe you can understand why its hard for me to come up with the right flow to start this story. Or maybe you still dont understand what Im talking about.

That makes sense. Very few people live, eat and breathe magic the way I do. Im not a novice human practitioner thats the nice way us enchanters describe humans who dabble with things they dont understand. Thats right. I said enchanters, not witches, warlocks, wizards, sorcerers or sorceresses.

Enchanters.

One might ask what the difference is between all those labels, other than of course the obvious gender differences. The simple fact is that the list of labels are made-up words to try to describe who I am, and enchanter is the real deal. That would be the singular form of the word for all you keeping track.

I should have probably mentioned at the very beginning of this that I have been told Im an acquired taste. So, if youre already trying to figure out where this story is going and how long youre going to have to listen to me, youre going to have to wait a little longer on the former, and for the latter, youre totally stuck with me since Im the narrator.

Why am I writing anything at all? Thats a great question.

You see, Ive been forced into therapy by the Grand Council, and my therapist thinks I should start a journal of sorts. With very little guidance on what exactly that means, youre currently reading my first entry.

Lucky you. I cant promise theyre going to get any better.

I suppose it wouldve been smart to start with who I am, rather than jumping right into magic and what it means to me. Do you need to know who I am, though? Do you need to know any of this at all?

If I havent scared you off already, Im going to say yes.

My name is Periwinkle Jasmine Rose Lavender Tulip Murphy. Im sure you can tell just by that why Im in therapy. Who in their right mind names their daughter after five flowers?

My mom. Thats who.

I dont know if she thought naming me that craziness would make me soft and delicate or what, but Im sure shes been greatly disappointed if thats the case. Having a daughter who is going through her fifth Council-appointed therapy session in two hundred years isnt what any enchanter mother wants. Thats not even getting into the fact that Im two-hundred-years old and Im stuck in the body of a seventeen-year-old.

I imagine by revealing that information some people wonder if Im some sort of vampire. I only use that word because I assume its one most people know. Im not a freaking bloodsucker, so dont even go down that road. Yes, bloodsucker is the accurate word, if you ask me. Other people probably have a nicer word for it.

The people Ive come across equate never-aging to bloodsuckers. I can see why, with the million different books and movies and such about them, but they arent the only ones who can have a little trouble in the aging department.

Enchanters, generally, will age until they look like theyre in their late twenties, maybe early thirties if life has been rough. They can use their magic to compensate and look other ages if they want, but most dont.

Im cursed to not only never age to my perfect, roughly thirty-year-old self, but I also cant mask my age with a spell. A logical person would explain now why in the world I was cursed, but weve already gone over the fact that Ive been disciplined by the Council five times, so I dont think we need to get into specifics right now. Plus, I think you need to know a little more about me and my life before we get personal.

The fact that I look seventeen isnt essential to this story. As far as anyone out there needs to know, Im two hundred and thirty-three years old.

Impressed? I didnt think so. I wouldnt be impressed either. I know people who are almost a millennium old, so not even hitting two-fifty seems weak.

Im currently stuck living in a dinky town in northern Michigan called Newberry. Stuck probably isnt the right word, but my mom decided people were getting too suspicious of our never-aging appearances after spending the last five years in another equally tiny town in Arizona. The schedule is consistent, so Im used to moving. I just wish for once we could move to a city with more than a couple thousand people in it.

Other enchanters do it, but other enchanters havent been cursed to be a teenager forever. The curse is the only reason Im still living with my mother. Its bad enough that I cant age. The stupid curse also makes it so I cant be more than five miles from my mom. Talk about complete torture.

Sure, I could live in a house across town. Weve tried that before, and we used to get away with it, but in the present days of the village raising the child, it doesnt work so great. Multiple times Ive been told I need to move to a group home. The humans dont think I look old enough to be living by myself. With no fancy paperwork saying otherwise, we tend to move the next day.

Ive tried to produce birth certificates with fake ages, but the curse is a tightly-woven headache that doesnt even allow that. Itd be great if I was one of those seventeen-year-olds who can pass for twenty, but Im not. I was a lanky child growing up, and evidently, I will continue to be the skinny redhead who barely has any boobs for the rest of my life.

Obviously, I really pissed someone off. Ive spent over two hundred years trying to make it up to her and get my freedom back, but weve already touched on my winning personality, which has made my shackles only squeeze tighter around my ankles.