I kept telling everyone that I could do magic. None of the others believed me, and why would they? They would ask me to demonstrate but pappy told me not to use it unless I had a good reason. He said that it wasn't meant for idle notions, but to make the world a better place. I didn't figure the world would be better if Tom had ice cream, or Beth had longer hair. So I said that I could do magic but I would never prove it to them. For a while, they mocked and teased me, but I was firm in my truth, and eventually, they just accepted it as a quirk of mine. I was pretty much always alone though. No one wanted to catch whatever I had that made me so strange.

Apparently, the other kids weren't the only ones who heard me say I can do magic. While their asks were small and for amusement others weren't as kind. One day my third-grade teacher stood in front of the class and demanded that I demonstrate some magic in class. I was torn. Pappy had said I shouldn't do it unless it was for an important reason. Was this important? He also told me to listen to my teachers and do what they told me. She had explicitly told me to demonstrate magic. Well, I figured then that I should probably do what she said. Surely she knew what was important and what wasn't.

I headed to the front of the class and decided that I would try to do something to demonstrate, but not something big enough to cause trouble. Of all the things Pappy taught me, he said illusion was the least intrusive, especially if they all knew it wasn't true. So I said, "I'm going to create an illusion. You will think you are seeing a unicorn, but it's only an illusion." And I took a deep breath and released the tiniest bit of my magic. There it was a beautiful unicorn with a coat of darkest ebony, a main that moved with an imagined breeze, and a tail that brushed the ground. The horn on its forehead brushed the ceiling. It was a beautiful spiral of rainbow hues that shone with a pearlescent glow as if from within. It was beautiful. It was just as I always pictured it would be.

After a minute, I pulled the magic back into myself. The room was silent. Utterly silent. After such a sight what was there to say? That was when she asked, "Do you have any idea what you just did?"

What a silly question. I'd told her. I created an illusion. I just looked at her not sure what she was trying to ask. "Ma'am?" I said, hoping she would make more sense.

"That was a unicorn. A UNICORN!!!" She was practically screaming at me. I cowered. She was intense and scary. I think I started to cry. She had me by my shoulders and was shaking me. The other kids started hiding or crying too. She had gone crazy! A few opened the door and ran out into the hall. I'm not sure how long it went on, but Mr. Masterson came in and got her to let me go. He's the safety officer. Right behind him was Ms. Basha, the principal. While our teacher was led out of the room, she took charge of the class. A few minutes later, I was led out by Mrs. Seacrest our counselor.

They asked me all sorts of questions. I didn't answer them. Pappy was right. Magic shouldn't just be used willy-nilly. If even a pretty illusion created this much distress better keep it to myself. From now on only I would decide what was important.