One
I’m a witch. I come from a family of witches. I am not a bad witch, in that I mean I do not lack talent. In terms of character value, I let other people be the judge of mine. I ride a broomstick and wear a black dress and pointed hat on special occasions, otherwise I dress in my own fashion, though I do have a particular liking for long flowing skirts. I am fifteen and attending night witch school, during the day I attend non-magic school as many of my fellow classmates do. Witches only need two to three hours of sleep a day so we divide our efforts to coexist in both worlds. I’ll get into the politics and the specifics of magic stuff later, because no one is interested in that, or at least not for the moment.
I am not unintelligent, in fact I consider myself smarter than most. I excel in whatever I try and in case it wasn’t painstakingly clear, I am a member of the female sex. I am also beautiful, blonde, and perfect. I am conceited. I am awesome, and yes, I am the center of the universe.
I know, you already love me and I’m just getting started.
My name is Raquel Port.
I live in Albuquerque. If you don’t know where that is, look it up. In this day and age it should not be hard and I expect that not many of you will have to.
Now that the basics are done, let’s get to my story.
]It was approximately seven-thirty at night, not exactly the most ostentatious time to be out, but recklessness was not a thing to be boxed in by the laws of society. Sadie, Beth, Nancy, Harriett and I- Raquel Port hovered just over the highest point of the Sandia Mountains, ten-thousand or so feet above the dwindling city lights of Albuquerque. Broomstick between my thighs and my legs outstretched like a cowgirl on a bronking bull, I was decked out in a pair of skin-tight-black-skinny-jeans and tank top that was auditioning to be my second skin.
Gusts of wind blew my curly blonde hair in all directions and threatened to overtake the control of my broom. Winds could be quite pesky. They are not accustomed to being defied by one-hundred-and-fifteen pound teenage girls. Each of use bore the arrogance that came with being young and quite literally on top of the world.
“On your mark,” Beth said and everyone adjusted themselves flat against their broomstick.
The wood of the broom nestled between my breasts was vibrating like a motor-boater at the peak of his excitement. “Settle down,” I whispered to it softly.
“Get set.”
I smirked at Harriett floating across from me. She rolled her brown eyes and set her expression flat, but I could hear the grind of her Navajo Jaw.
“GO!”
Woosh!
Off we flew into the night. The winds never quit howling, but now my hair was thrown out of my face and streamed tightly behind me. We dived towards the city almost in single file. The race would not truly begin until we were closer to the ground. Our brooms all flew at the same speed and no one wasted their magic on boosts at this height.
The rocky terrain of the mountains blew by in a blur. We easily dodged stone boulders lurching out of the earth. Cedar trees and the like quickly disappearing to be replaced by the cacti and shrubs that speckled most of the lower desert.
It seemed as if the ground was rushing up to meet me. The city stretched farther and growing, the closer it came until what was once a fistful of blimps, engulfed me completely. Buildings rose out of the earth and cars zoomed down the streets. Almost at once, Sadie was hit by an eighteen-wheeler and crashed through a display window of some store. Glass flew everywhere and the truck belatedly slammed on its breaks. The driver, of course, could not see Sadie, but there was a definite pliable thump. Anyone with a conscience, if not for the thing they hit at least for their vehicle, would have stopped. And so the truck did and without a second glance, the four of us raced on.
I zipped up alongside Nancy, playing chicken with the oncoming traffic. She bit her lip, yet her eyes were determined. She swerved to the middle of the street just before a car slammed into us. More like a piece of her than following suit, I came to the middle as well. There was about a foot to either side of us where the traffic was keeping in their respective lanes.
I stuck out a leg and kicked Nancy in the side. She let out a grunt, drifted towards the traffic and pulled back almost in time. The tip of her broom slammed through the windshield of a jeep and the rest of her followed.
“Suckaaa!” I screamed, though I did not take a wary eye from the road. Thus it was that I saw Beth speed ahead along the dividing lane. I grit my teeth, let my magic flow out and gave my broom an extra boost and zipped between two cars to follow Beth.
Far across the street, Harriett kept out of the action and sped along the sidewalks. The occasional tall fellow or unanimated obstacle easily dodged with a slight leaning of her broom. I did not worry about Harriett. She’d have to be dealt with last. Beth was just ahead and I used another burst of magic and speed to catch up with her.
I tilted the tip of my broomstick to the end of hers, like a bull’s teeth biting on a cat’s tail. I took control and threw her screeching ass under the wheels of a convertible. The car spun into another and several pedestrians screamed as their death rushed to meet them.
With a scowl, Harriett spun around and cast a barrier between the people and the cars and for no logical reason at all the cars slammed into what appeared to be nothing, tilted on their side wheels, and slammed again to the road.
By the time Harriett had made sure no one was injured, I was already nearly at the finish line. Unopposed, I jerked my broom to a stop at the pavilion at the center of Old Town. There, I jumped off my broom and shouted:
“Victory is mine!”
And thus plopped down on my bottom and waited for the rest of my friends. It did not take long for them to show and when they did they did not show happy.
“Reckless!” Harriett shouted. She was the first on the scene. The others were not far behind.
“Uh, yeah,” I said.
“Someone could have died, or been seriously hurt,” Harriett continued to scold me.
“I knew you would save them.”
“I might not have,” Harriett said.
“Yeah, you would have. There is no question that you wouldn’t.”
“It’s selfish of you to put their lives at risk!” Harriett said.
“Their lives weren’t at risk,” I said and rolled my eyes.
“You are reckless, Raquel,” Beth said. “I had to stay back and put everything in order and patch up some cyclist broken nose.”
“Hey, it’s part of the rules of the game. Whoever gets the butt end has to clean up,” I said. “So quit your complaining we all agreed on the rules.”
“You’re the only one that takes them too far!” Harriett said.
I opened my mouth to argue that was the point to the game, but a slit opened through reality, ripping space and waving the world like a cloth flag in a ten foot radius around the opening. It was time to go to school. Sadie hopped through with an awkward look at me and the others followed after, the last to remain where Harriett and I.
“This isn’t settled,” she said and walked through reality.
“It never is,” I said, and made to take after when a Vampire caught my eye.
