The Midnight Magic Club

"Sam! Oud! We need to get to the barn!" I shouted.

Finally, Sam and Oud ran out of the house, fully dressed in costumes. Sam was in his grass-stained firefighter costume, and Oud wore his cowboy costume with the boots that didn't fit his feet.

"Ollie, where is your magician costume?" Sam asked.

"I left it at the barn. Come on, let's go, or we'll be late."

"Oud, did you bring the salt?" I asked as we started walking towards the forest.

Oud nodded and pulled out a plastic bag filled with salt. It sparkled like sugar in the sunset.

We darted across the backyard through the monstrous dinosaur-like trees to the abandoned barn. The outside was worn out, leaving remnants of a once bright red.

It was our safe place—a place where we enter endless adventures, read books about magic, and daydream about our wildest fantasies.

"1, 2, 3! Pull!" We shouted together to open the massive barn doors.

It started to slowly creak open, allowing us to catch a glimpse of the inside. There were stacks of hay bales all over the barn, wooden floors with planks that weren't nailed on properly, holes in the roof that allowed natural light to illuminate the barn, one lightbulb that was on its last leg, and a ladder that led to a second level where we keep our books and costumes.

The barn needs a lot of repairs, but that's no job for kids like us. Our parents don't know we come out to this barn to play. They just think that we are in the forest running around.

For some reason, they think that's better.

The three of us made a pact that when we are old enough to handle such a task, we will restore the barn together to continue our adventures!

We immediately started our designated tasks.

Oud starts sprinkling the salt in the formation of our protection circle.

Sam danced around the barn, spraying our magic moon water all around the air.

I climbed up the steps to the second level of the barn to turn on the light and throw on my magician costume that had some holes in it.

"Is everyone ready? We have exactly 3 minutes before the full moon rises." I yelled below.

Sam and Oud jumped up and down with excitement because tonight was our first ever full moon ceremony.

Excitement is buzzing even the air feels different, like it's a holiday!

We're doing a luscious locks spell to give me hair.

I have a condition called Alopecia which doesn't allow me to grow hair. There is nothing I wouldn't do to be like everyone else.

There is very little I can do, but Sam, Oud, and I have been researching moon phases, sacred chants, and ceremonies for our magic tonight.

I am confident tonight is the night, and tonight is the night where I finally won't be made fun of by other kids at school about my appearance.

I run down the stairs, and I jump right into the heart of the protection circle. We start to see the full moon come into view from a large hole in the roof.

"Okay, let's begin!" I say as I clap my hands.

Sam and Oud ran around the salt protection circle holding hands and giggling, creating a happy atmosphere. I waved my wand around and started chanting.

"luscious locks, luscious locks, my hair will regrow into luscious locks!"

We laughed till our bones hurt because we had so much fun together on this magical night.

Finally, after we couldn't chant or laugh anymore. We completed the hair ceremony and fell right into the bales of hay.

We looked directly at the glowing moon, and we couldn't help but grab each other's hands and smile that we finally accomplished our first ceremony.

"We did it, guys! We finally did it!" Sam shouted towards the night sky.

"So what happens now?" Oud asked.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I think by the time I wake up in the morning, my hair should have grown back in."

"I'm not sure if we can even sleep tonight because we are so excited for you, Ollie!" Sam exclaimed.

We closed up the barn together and held hands through the forest all the way back to our house. We changed out of our costumes, hopped into our sleeping bags, and waited for the magic to happen while we slept.

My eyes started to slowly crack open thanks to the sunrise peeking through the window. I was too eager to wait for Sam and Oud. I ran to the bathroom and stepped on the stool to see myself in the mirror.

Nothing happened.

My hair looks the same as yesterday. What did we do wrong? I ran back into the room and saw Sam and Oud sitting up in anticipation, waiting to see the ceremony results.

I plopped down on my sleeping bag and tried to hide my disappointment, but I guess the look on my face and lack of hair on my head gave it all away.

Sam and Oud crowded around me and asked me what had happened. I wish I knew the answer to that.

Suddenly, a light of inspiration hit me, and I explained that maybe we had to do the ceremony a couple of more times during the full moon cycle for it to work. Sam and Oud lit up with excitement because they were excited to participate again in the ceremony.

I hope I'm right about this.

Over the next two nights, we went back to the barn and repeated the ceremony. We threw our salt into our protection circle, danced around, laughed, and chanted with all the energy we had within us. But, I was only hit with disappointment each morning because nothing happened.

"Ollie, what's going on with our magic?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, Ollie, is this magic even real?" Oud asked, getting teary-eyed.

I tried to fight back the tears myself because I take so much pride and joy in knowing that there is more to this world. There is a possibility that there is magic in every corner if you believe there is.

I didn't have an answer for them this time, and I felt disappointed that I couldn't show them the magic that we had been anticipating for months. It felt like this chapter was over for our magical adventures.

Since the full moon, we haven't returned the barn, and Sam and Oud have been extra quiet around me lately. I know they are disappointed as much as I am, but I couldn't help but still feel a little spark of hope that the magic is still alive.

After dinner, it was time to head to bed, but I had other plans tonight. I was going to make my way back to the barn. This would be a scary journey through the forest at night by myself, but I feel like I'm being drawn back to it.

As soon as Sam and Oud doze off, I made a quiet run for it, and I didn't look back or hesitate to stop anywhere in the forest because who knows what kind of ghouls lurk in there late at night.

I finally arrived at the barn, and I felt this sense of joy come over me like a kid in a candy store kind of joy, but I noticed something odd that there was light peeping out from the holes in the roof.

We never forget to take off the light before we leave.

I started feeling goosebumps over my whole body and the hairs rising on the back of my neck, but my next task was trying to open this door without the help of Sam and Oud.

I used all of my strength and power that I had within me to pull the door and got it to crack open just a little bit less than what it would typically open up when Sam and Oud are here.

I tried to push my body through the tiny crack, and it worked, but the eerie feeling settled back in, so I inevitably started shouting.

"Hello! Is anyone there?"

After a couple of times of saying it with no response, I started to make my way to the ladder to find some of our magic books, but with each step I took, I started hearing rustling behind the hay bales. I paused with each rustle, so I brushed it off, thinking it was the wind.

I grabbed the book I was looking for and started to climb down the ladder, and I made my way over to the hay bale that we would sit on whenever we were reading our books.

I flipped through a couple of pages, and I started feeling this sense of joy rush over my body that I felt whenever I used to open these magic books.

I still hear a bit of rustling in the hay bales until it finally goes dead silent.

"Hm, you read books about magic?"

I heard a thick British accent right over my shoulder, so I jumped off the hay bale and fell onto my back.

I look up, and I see what looks to be a Barn Owl. It had a beautiful heart-shaped face, small brown spots all over its snowy chest, and a bright tawny-colored back with black and white speckles.

The owl and I have a staring contest with one another for a few minutes because I'm in complete shock that I have no words that I'm able to speak.

The owl finally cracks first, "so what's your name, mate?"

"Ol-Ollie …" I stutter.

"Well! Hello, Ollie! My name is Atticus."

"Nice … to … meet … you ?"

"Come on! Don't be scared!" Atticus stated while he slowly reached his wing out to me.

I think to myself how it's impossible not to be scared of a talking owl.

"You're into magic, aren't you? You have to start getting used to animals that try to communicate with you." Atticus said.

I nodded slowly as I tried to remember whether or not our magic books warned us about talking animals.

"Familiars … Like how Sabrina has Salem?" Atticus stated with a wide-eyed look painted across his face.

I had an instant lightbulb moment because this owl is our companion for our magical ceremonies! I wanted to jump for joy and hug Atticus because I had many unanswered questions!

I was getting so giddy I couldn't calm myself down, and I told Atticus to wait here because I had to get Sam and Oud. They're not going to believe this, and they would have to believe in the magic now.

I ran out of the barn and tried my best not to trip over any fallen branches or twigs since I was only seeing the tunnel vision that took over my eyesight since I was running as fast as I could.

I made it back to my house with not one breath to spare, but I still had to be quiet as I made my way back to our room since no one was aware I had left.

I slowly opened the bedroom door, and I was greeted with worried faces from Sam and Oud.

I knew they would have many questions, and I would have a lot of explaining to do, but I didn't want to waste any precious time seeing Atticus.

I apologized as quickly as possible, but I was too frantic before Sam and Oud told me to relax.

I knew they were worried sick, but we came together in a group hug, and it felt good to hug my brothers after going through a bit of a rough patch together.

As we pulled away from one another, I told them what I was up to and how I met Atticus. I could tell they had a hard time believing me, but I knew deep down that they were joyful that there was magic all around us.

Without wasting any more time, I told Sam and Oud to follow me to the barn, and we quietly snuck out and ran through the obsidian forest back to where the magic lives.

As soon as we arrived at the barn, I started calling out to Atticus, but he was nowhere to be found.

Sam and Oud just stood there waiting for something to happen as I kept calling out to Atticus.

As I was slowly starting to give up, and as Sam and Oud were already looking glum that they didn't witness any magic, we began to hear a rustle in the hay bales.

A spark is reignited in my face, and Sam and Oud looked a bit startled, but I told them to wait patiently for Atticus he will come out … I just know it.

A few rustles later, I start to see Atticus creep up behind Sam and Oud. I didn't say anything because I wanted them to be as surprised as I was.

"Hey, Ollie, you're back, and you brought some friends with you."

Sam and Oud jumped so high they almost could have hit our light bulb. Sam and Oud slowly turned around, and I could see the happiness and disbelief beam across their face.

"Sam, Oud, this is who I was talking about! He's our familiar! He's here to help us with our magic." I exclaimed.

We all looked at each other and started jumping for joy because even I still couldn't believe this was real.

Atticus interrupted us and told us to gather around. We sat in a circle cross-legged with Atticus in the middle of the circle.

"Mates, I have been watching over you guys for a while now, and I saw that you guys were participating in the full moon ceremonies." Atticus stated.

"Ah … yes, about the full moon ceremony." I interjected.

"You're wondering why your hair didn't grow, right?"

I gasped a little as to how he read my mind, but I just nodded in response because it's something that I bet has been weighing on all of our minds after the ceremony.

"Well, let me start by saying you boys didn't do anything wrong during your ceremony."

"But, how? There has been no result since." Sam asked.

"Let me tell you something about magic. It's all around us whether we like it or not. It's something that special kids like you are aware of, and you know how to use it to your advantage and for good. Magic is not always instant, and it takes its time, but it's something that you shouldn't give up on. Otherwise, where does the magic go if you don't believe but want something to happen? Nowhere. It goes nowhere."

A lightbulb instantly went off in my head, and I looked over at Sam and Oud where they had the same expression on their faces too.

We get it now, we shouldn't rush magic, and whenever it's meant to happen, it will happen.

"It wasn't wrong for you guys to have a bit of doubt considering this was your first ceremony, but don't give up. It's all a part of the journey, and I know that you guys will be amazing magicians as you guys keep practicing." Atticus said.

"We won't give up. We promise!" We all exclaimed.

"Atticus, are you going to be able to join us for our next full moon ceremony?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, will you be able to?" Oud and I chimed in.

"Don't worry, I will always be watching over even if you can't see me." Atticus stated while he threw a glistening glitter in the air.

Before we knew it, we were waking up back in our bedroom.

A month had passed, and all three of us returned to our adventures at the barn, but there was no sign of Atticus anywhere to be found.

We would mess with the hay bales shout his name, and there was still no sign of him anywhere.

Sam, Oud, and I trusted Atticus's final words to us, and we never gave up on the magic. We never stopped believing that our first magic ceremony would pay off, and a few weeks after Atticus disappeared, my hair started growing back.

NEXT FULL MOON ...

Sam, Oud, and I rushed out to the barn to get there in time for our next full moon ceremony.

We were in our costumes, we sprinkled our salt, and tonight is a special full moon ceremony because it's to help our parents find new jobs.

We started our ceremony by holding hands in a circle and running around. We were having so much fun because we were all together having the time of our lives doing something we love.

After wrapping up our ceremony, we hear a loud hoot coming from the roof. We all look up and see that it's Atticus sitting on the edge of the hole in the roof.

We all waved and smiled at him, and before Atticus flew off into the obsidian sky, he gave us a wink.