Dedicated to
candlemouse

She stood between the curtain, looking out on the moon. It was even bigger tonight. In fact, in eight days, it would be full. As she stared, she felt the odd tingly sensation down her back. She now told herself that this was the feeling she got when she was in the presence of magic. Someone must be using magic in Mr. Forkle's yard, because she got the tingles almost every night. Most nights when she came up to the window, nothing was happening outside. But tonight, like the first night she had slept in this room, a tall silhouette stood in the yard, facing away from her, rubbing his temples.

She had not properly identified the figure's gender, but she thought about him as a male, as his silhouette portrayed masculine features.

She felt the urge to lay down again, but she wanted to see the magical statue of a gnome move again. This time though, the man began pacing. Finally, he stopped, and pressed his hands to his temples once again.

A short creature burst from the ground, and squinted up at the man, seemingly blinded by the moonlight. The silhouette crouched down, and whispered in the creature's ear. She barely knew how to classify the short, furry animal. It seemed intelligent, and had long scraggly fur. It was about the height of a young child. As it shook dirt and sand from it's fur, the silhouette righted itself quickly, sprinted to the house, and hid behind it. The the tiny creature dove back into the hole, the ground was filled, and the grass blended again.

A hooded figure entered the yard by the gate, and spun a slow circle, surveying the yard. When the figure looked in Jamie's direction, her breath caught, and she ducked beneath the windowsill. After a few seconds, she peeked up, and saw the hooded person standing still, facing the gate. The figure reached into their cloak, and removed a small amber ball, and tossed it up in the air. Jamie expected the person to reach up, and catch it. Instead, the ball fought the forces of gravity, and stayed suspended in the air.

Meanwhile, the figure continued pulling objects out of their cloak. First a box plated with shiny metal, that Jamie assumed was gold. That floated into the air like the amber ball. Next, they pulled a leather pouch out of the folds of their cloak, and removed three marbles glinting in the moonlight. Jamie was too far away to see the design in the marbles. They appeared like normal marbles. But judging from this figure's seriousness, and the first figure's frantic escape, these had a bigger purpose.

The figure dropped the marbles, and they floated up to meet the box and the ball. The hooded person then put the pouch back into their cloak, and stood completely still. For a minute, Jamie wasn't sure what had happened. Had the figure been stunned? Was someone keeping them still? But then the figure stumbled backwards onto the grass, quaking, and convulsing. All of the floating items, except the marble in the centre fell to the ground. They reached down, and grabbed the box. Jamie wondered if this box was like the pensive in Harry Potter, except portable, because the figure tore off it's jeweled lid, and stuck their face in. The convulsion stopped, leaving the person only quivering slightly. After removing their face from inside the box, the figure shook their head, then retrieved the lid of the box. They replaced the lid, and then reached up, to grab the marble floating in the center. Jamie now realized it had been quivering too. The figure carefully took the marble with it's thumb and forefinger. They placed the marble in a circular inset in the box's lid. Slowly, the marble began to glow. The figure removed it, and put all the marbles back into the leather pouch. Bending down and picking up the amber ball, they took one last look around the yard, and they fled to the gate.

Jamie stumbled from the window back to bed. Her photographic memory remembered every single detail.

691 words