30-Minute Stories

Calvin could feel it the entire ride home.  His parents could see it.  It filled the car with its presence.  Valerie Freedman could tell instantly, even without tapping into his thoughts.  It was written all over his face in that silly little grin he tried to hide but couldn't.  He wore it with equal portions pride and embarrassment, at times wanting to let it fade but holding onto it as long as he could as they made their way home.  The ride took about twenty minutes, depending on traffic, through stereotypical suburban America neighborhoods.  A small bistro or bookstore dotted the residential landscape here and there; hidden gems that Calvin and his friends liked to walk or ride to on a nice weekend day for a cup of coffee, tea, or to browse for a new book or comic for their collections.  It all passed quickly for him, though, as he was still focused on that last interaction with the girl of his dreams, Eva.  He did, however, notice the sma...

As fate would have it, Calvin Freedman didn't have to wait much longer for his chance. The clock was winding down on Dean O'Leary's class, passing quickly as the students worked on more practical magic drills.  Calvin was glad that he had Mr. O'Leary's class at the end of the day.  Not only did he like the class and material, but he enjoyed Mr. O'Leary's teaching style and personality.  It made what would probably be a long crawl to the end of the day pass by swiftly.  It did have its ups and down, as any class had; the book work they'd done for weeks leading up to the drills was, at times, very dry and monotonous, but Calvin did his best to absorb the information.  He took his magical studies seriously, even though he seemed to have a natural gift for it.  It didn't hurt that his parents had helped tremendously ever since his magic manifested itself.  His father, Bruce Freedman, loved thinking of new ways of teaching what he knew of the magical ar...

Calvin spent the next week in relative bliss, enjoying not only his time at school but also his time with Eva in class.  Thoughts of the dream he had the other night tickled his memories for a few days before fading away, although more so the parts involving Eva than anything else.  She had improved tremendously in her telekinesis lessons, and they had advanced from pencils to chalkboard erasers to books, and were now working on desks and chairs.  Eva found it easy to relax and focus, with Mr. O'Leary's teaching and Calvin's encouragement pushing her to do better and praising her for her accomplishments.  She had a real knack for it that was starting to shine through.  Calvin also enjoyed the time they spent just talking, as he had been able to learn so much about this girl that he had quite the crush on.  He started to suspect the feeling was mutual.  There was a definite spark between them.  It manifested it the small glances they'd steal at one...

That night, alone in his bedroom, Calvin slept.  It was a restful sleep; the kind that the body yearns for after a long day of work.  Or school, as was Calvin's case.  His window, which overlooked the front yard and hedges that his dad kept tidy on the weekends-when he was home to do so-was slightly cracked.  Calvin liked his room on the cooler side at night; it helped him to sleep better.  If it was too hot he tossed and turned and woke up too much to get any kind of quality rest.  Tonight, though, was  a perfect temperature for him.  Not so hot that he'd wake up, but not so cold that he'd freeze and go searching for the covers in the middle of the night.  Just right. While his body rested, Calvin's head filled with all sorts of dreams.  One was incredible, and Calvin found himself running and leaping through a large wheat field, with the sun shining down bright and warm.  Small, fluffy clouds dotted the sky and provided brief po...

Mr. O'Leary was at Daniel's side in a flash.  He had a bottle of mana in his hand, the faintly glowing liquid sloshing back and forth as he worked to uncork it.  The silver lines moved and swirled about, ready for action.  The white cupboard door swayed back and forth on its hinges, creaking softly with each motion.  He slid his hand behind Daniel's head and gently lifted it up, moving the bottle to his lips, and began to pour the liquid into his mouth.  It flowed freely, illuminating Daniel's mouth as it passed through.  The silver drops elongated and traced patterns through the bottle and across Daniel's tongue as they disappeared toward the back of his throat.  Daniel's eyes fluttered and slowly opened, just as the last of the potion entered his mouth. "Daniel, are you alright?" Mr. O'Leary asked the boy, still cradling his head. "I've been better," Daniel said after a moment.  He propped himself up on his arms and looked aroun...

"Wow, Calvin!  You're good at this!" exclaimed Eva.  Calvin had successfully pulled the pencil out of her hand and into his own at least a dozen times.  Mr. O'Leary walked slowly through the room, stopping to give advice or inspiration to each student as they struggled to pull the pencils out of their partners' hands with varying degrees of success.  Nathan Gerling's face had turned almost as red as his hair in his attempts to grab the pencil out of Tony Harland's  hand.  He insisted that Tony was purposely holding on it too tight, but even after he set it on his desk the best Nathan could do was cause it to roll off the edge.  At least, he thought that was his doing.  Tony didn't fare much better on his turns, although once he was able to pull it out of Nathan's hand and pelt himself in the face with it.  His only consolation was the pencil had made contact with the eraser end, so he ended up with just a bit of surprise and embarrassment, in...

Mr. O'Leary returned to his desk, rummaged through one of the drawers and finally pulled out a box of pencils.  He walked back down the rows of desks and gave one pencil to each pair of students before returning to the front of the class.  He dropped the box in his trash bin and began to pace again, a favorite habit of his while teaching.  "As I was saying before, imagination is the key to making spells work.  We'll take turns trying this out.  Everyone with a pencil please hold it up, between your thumb and index finger."  The students obliged, holding the yellow pencils up for their partners. "The rest of you please do as I say and we'll see if we can move those pencils!  First, close your eyes and clear your mind of everything.  Try to imagine a room with nothing in it but your partner and yourself; a blank slate with no windows, no doors, no distractions.  Everyone got it?"  The students nodded in agreement.  "Good!  In y...

Two o'clock.  Time for the last class of the day.  Calvin always looked forward to this class, not just for the content but for the teacher.  He walked down the hallway, past the rows of lockers and doors, and turned into the last one on the left.  He glanced up at the placard on the door as he entered. "MAGIC SAFETY & AWARENESS" it read in big, bold letters.  Today they would be starting some practice applications, instead of the book work and theoretical study they had been doing for weeks prior.  Calvin usually hated book work, but Mr. O'Leary had a way of presenting it that was thoughtful and engaging. The room was a typical classroom, adorned with rows of seats with desks attached to them, walls decorated with posters and cupboards, a blackboard with chalk streaks here and there and old formulas that refused to be cleaned off, and a large desk at the front of everything.  Seated behind the desk was a  tall man with short, brown hair....

Calvin, Kate and Richie all took their usual spot in the cafeteria.  It was one of the only times they were all able to hang out together during classes, since Richie was a grade lower than them and had a different schedule.  Luckily they all had the same lunch period.  The room was big, but ordinary.  Calvin had never been to another school, but he imagined all of their lunchrooms looked pretty much the same.  Long tables, with benches attached, had been pulled out for the students, leaving enough room for walkways down the sides and in between them.  The metal sliders that covered the kitchen windows had been rolled up, and the staff of lunch attendants were ready to take each and every order. "If you hate pizza so much, then why do you always ask for it?" Kate asked Richie as he picked a piece of pepperoni off of the slice in front of him and popped it into his mouth. "I don't HATE the pizza," Richie emphasized.  "I just hate the crust.  Yo...

After breakfast Calvin helped his dad clear the table while his mom loaded the dishwasher.  "I'll drop you both off on the way to the office, if that's OK with everyone," Valerie said. "Works for me, I need to take my car into the shop soon, anyway," Bruce replied.  Calvin nodded in agreement.  He usually walked with his friends, but didn't mind the occasional lift from his parents.  Unlike some kids at school, he had a good relationship with both of them, and never felt embarrassed pulling up to the school in their cars. "But first, Calvin..." Valerie nodded her head toward a small cup containing a reddish, slightly luminescent liquid.  Calvin picked up the cup, as he had so many other mornings, and downed the potion in one go. "Strawberries, today?"  He asked as he set the cup down.  "You are correct, sir," his mom said. When they pulled up to the curb in front of the school, Calvin bid his parents goodbye and hopp...

For as long as he could remember, Calvin's parents were a bit overprotective of him.  He'd had a terrible sickness when he was an infant and after his recovery they feared losing him for good.  They were informed that he had mostly recovered, but despite the best help his parents could afford they couldn't fully heal him.  He had a daily reminder of this, in the form of a potion he had to drink each morning.  He called it his "special shake", and was told it was a mixture of vitamins, minerals, and a few other things that he probably didn't want to know about.  It was concocted to keep his ailment at bay, and because of it he was supposedly able to lead a long, normal life.  Normal-ish, anyway.  At least it didn't taste like the usual medicine he had to take for anything else that he came down with. I should get out of bed, Mom will be calling me any minute , Calvin thought to himself.  Almost on queue, he heard her soft voice echo up the stairc...