Never Trust A Spell

• Isabelle Menzies, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2017

You won't believe what happened yesterday. I was on my way to school when this creepy old man that I thought looked very much like a wizard, offered one wish. Cool! I thought. I told him I've always wanted super powers, and he just walked away. To be honest I felt kind of stupid, but when I woke up the next morning everything changed. I saw that I had overslept and knew I was going to be late... Again. I got ready pretty fast, and to my surprise when I started running, whoosh, I watched in amazement as the familiar town zoomed past me. Soon I was sitting in my usual spot with everyone staring at me. The teacher gave a suspicious glare then turned away. Wow! That 'wizard' was serious, I do have super powers! At recess I saw two teachers struggling to carry a huge speaker, supposedly to the stadium for the singing competition. I offered to help since I had nothing else to do. But they said they were fine, I ignored that and went ahead and helped. I lifted the speaker above my head, and the teachers stared in amazement. I decided to act cool. I casually ran like lightning to the stadium. Wow I have super strength! I hooked all the wires up, seems I'm smart now too. When I got home all of my energy was zapped away. What had happened? I had so much energy before! I got to sleep easily and when I woke up the next morning, I had all my strength back. I looked at the clock, I had overslept. Now that I can run like lightning, I can take my time getting ready. My mum kept lecturing me about how being late makes a bad impression, but I knew I was going to get there in time. While I was running at the speed of light, I thought I saw that old 'wizard' again. I stopped and walked towards him, no need to run, got plenty of time. "You really are the real deal!" I said. But he just walked past and muttered something about being careful because the spell wasn't complete. I cringed. Whatever, I thought. I ran to school and sat down at my desk. Then I had a thought, if I can run super fast, be strong and smart, why wouldn't I be able to fly? At recess I jumped off a bench, but the result was a teacher telling me off. After school I got onto the roof of our house. There was a swimming pool right next to the house so I wouldn't get hurt if I didn't fly. Now that I write this down it seems weird. I jump, expecting to be a big splash as I fail to fly. Surprisingly, up I went. Oh no, I feel my powers starting to fade, suddenly splash! I fell into the pool. Then I realised what the 'wizard' meant. Careful, the spell isn't complete.