The Summer Solstice ~ Enchanted (11 page)

“You
are welcome, dear.” She lets out a deep breath then a smile. “Well, it’s time
to open your gifts. Charlotte!” The power behind my grandmother’s voice is
surprising. I want to tell her to stop. I don’t want my presents. I just want
to know what’s going on. But Charlotte is already taking a seat on the couch
beside me.

“Rose,
your friends are very generous,” I say as I look around me at the stack of
presents and cards.

Rose
nods her head, as if it doesn’t seem to concern her. “They are, aren’t they?”
Then she turns towards Charlotte. “Do you mind, Charlotte? I’m exhausted.”

Charlotte
smiles seemingly happy to oblige. “Of course. Why don’t you open your cards
first?” She swipes the cards off the table and hands them to me.

I
go through a dozen cards, reading each one out loud and stuffing the money back
into their original envelopes, before giving up. I’m mystified as to why
strangers are giving me their money. And it’s not just twenty dollars a card
but at least hundred dollar bills per person. When I read the card from the
Stone’s, I can’t help but smile as I think of Alec and how much of a relief it was
to see him today.

There
are a few other presents from the strangers; gift certificates for shopping and
restaurants, bathing products and what looks like a hand-made quilt. When
Charlotte hands me a small box that’s shiny, red, and wearing a silver bow, I
grin from ear-to-ear. “It’s from Alec,” I don’t know why I say this aloud but I
suppose I’m proud of my one present from an actual friend.

Charlotte and Rose watch as I gently unwrap the package. I am
surprised to find a sand dollar lying in the box. Beneath it is a small handwritten
note.

Summer Girl,

The night we met, I spotted this sand dollar
and I knew that it should belong to you.

Happy Birthday,

Alec

Now, that was sweet. No money, no fake sentiments,
but a real, genuine token of a new friendship. I have to call him to thank him
for the thoughtful gift.

Charlotte has already piled everything up for me to
take to my room later. I must have been so focused on the sand dollar that I
wasn’t paying attention. But the gifts aren’t done. She hands me a small box,
wrapped in gold paper. It’s the same wrapping paper from my dream. I shake the
unnerving thought and remove the gold packaging carefully, too beautiful to be
torn apart. Inside is a thin wound-up rubber rope with a combination lock. I look
up, wondering what I’m supposed to make of this. “Rose, is this from you?”

She grins. “Charlotte and I thought it was
appropriate. Now that you’re starting to get to know your way around town.”

“A
lock?” I ask Rose directly. “What am I going to do with this?”

A thin large rubber wheel with silver spokes comes
rolling in from the foyer and I laugh. It’s a white vintage classic retro beach
cruiser bicycle. I remember it from the day Charlotte and I went into town. My
expression hides nothing. I was worried Rose was going to buy me a car.

I take off from the couch and throw my leg over the
cross bar of the bike. “It’s perfect.” I look up at Rose and Charlotte who are
both beaming at me. “She’s a beauty. Thank you both.”

“She?” Charlotte is enjoying this. “Are you going
to name her?”

I nod my head. “Yes!” I look below me at the sleek
lines of the bike. A bike that looks nothing like the one my mom rode every day
but perfect, just the same. I immediately think of a perfect name. “Grace.”

Rose is standing behind
me now and she places a hand on my shoulder as a tear streaks down my cheek.
“That is perfect.”

I take the bike
for a ride around the subdivision, admiring the estates as I pass by them,
one-by-one. I even stop at the private neighborhood beach to admire the Bay and
examine my new bicycle further. It’s such a smooth ride.

I return back to Summer Estates quickly, anxious to
discuss what is going on with me. As soon as my bike is parked safely in the
garage, I wrap my arms around my grandmother. “Thank you so much. I don’t know
how to thank you.”

Rose laughs. “You just did. I’m glad you like it.
Did you wish for it?”

I think about the first time I saw the bicycle on
the day in the shopping center parking lot. Charlotte and I were shopping. “I
guess I did. How did you know?”

Rose winks at me. “I told you it was a day for
magical things, didn’t I?”

Charlotte walks behind me to the back window.
Rose’s expression becomes serious now. She leans forward. “I have one more
present for you, Kat. This present is a family heirloom that you must guard
with your life. It’s a family tradition that you receive this on the Summer
Solstice after your 16
^th
Birthday.”

She reaches to the right of her. Another gold
wrapped package is presented before me. I take it slowly, already knowing what
it holds inside. I look up at Rose, then Charlotte. Both carry expectant looks
as they stare at the box I’m now holding.
My vision
.

A shiver races down my spine. I unwrap the gold
package unable to keep my hands from shaking. Inside the jewelry box is the
same green stone that I’ve seen before. And now that I’m close, I realize that
it’s the same stone that I saw in Rose’s den. It’s an amethyst crystal.

“It’s beautiful.” I say breathlessly, more freaked
out by the vision.

Next thing I know, Charlotte is behind me, gently
placing the ancient stone around my neck. I reach for it instinctively and grab
my heart necklace too.
I will wear them both.

“What’s wrong, Kat?” Charlotte’s question is almost
expectant. As if she knows the answer.

What overcomes me is a mixture of fear, anxiety,
curiosity, the happiness of getting my dream bike, forgotten in this moment.
Something strange is happening and I need answers.

Unable to suppress my emotion, a tear falls from
the corner of my eyes and I swipe it away. “What is going on?” I whisper this
now. “So many strange things have been happening and this day has confirmed all
of it. You know something and you aren’t telling me – but you need to
tell me now.”

Rose is still smiling and it’s as if I’m going to
explode.
How can she be smiling right now?
I’m so lost and confused.
Strange things are happening. My dreams are starting to come true. I try not to
think of the dreams I had when I first arrived at Apollo Beach, the fire, and
vase. Rose finally opens her mouth to speak. “Okay. But it will help if you
tell me what’s been going on. Visions. Dreams? What else?”

Speechless at first, I stammer to begin. “W-well,
the dreams started when I first got here and I’ve had about a dozen. Most of
them are the variations of the same three dreams. In the first, there was a
fire, and everyone around me was screaming but I couldn’t help them.” I go on
to explain the other dreams, including the one with Rose in it. I watch her
expression for anything to tell me that there are answers behind what I’m
telling her, but she’s expressionless. “And I had a vision on the beach of you
giving me this necklace. And today on the beach, I went from the patio one
second to the beach – I just – appeared there. I don’t understand
how any of it is possible.” I turn my eyes to the bike. I point. “And I wished
for that bike. I wished for it and out of all bikes in the world, you chose
that bike to give to me today. How can this all be a coincidence?”

“It’s not.” Rose speaks clearly and confidently. I
listen to every word as if it decides my future. “I couldn’t have possibly
prepared you for what you’re experiencing. But I’m about to explain it to you.
Your visions, dreams, your heightened senses, the wishes, it’s all part of
something – well – magical.”

There’s
that word again
, I think to
myself, curiously. Rose knows that she has my attention. I haven’t moved. She
shifts slightly during this brief pause as she analyzes me, then she continues.
“The Summers, since the beginning of time have been empowered with an amazing
gift. The Summer Solstice is what we are – it’s where we came from. And it’s
the time of year that we can celebrate the enchantment in all of us. We have a
lot to give. I want you to understand that, first and foremost. What we’ve been
given is the power to do great things in this world.”

“Rose, I’m waiting to hear something that I can
grasp. At this point, nothing makes sense.” My impatient gets the better of me.

She nods. “I know I just don’t want to blurt this
out. Everything that you’ve experienced since being here has been a part of
your future –.”

“And what is my future?” I cut her off impatiently.
I can’t help myself. “To be burnt alive? Rose, my dreams or visions, or
whatever they are – they’re terrifying. And they’re starting to come
true.”

“Katrina, your future is going to be hard to
process now but I want you to be open to it. It’s magical.” Rose smiles
brightly. “Everything that is happening to you is directly related to your
heritage and your day of birth. From today on, today being your 16
^th
birthday, you will be in full control of your powers.”

“Powers?” My eyes narrow. “What kind of powers?”

Despite my fury, Rose remains level as she answers
my question. “Yes, powers. Bestowed upon you are the powers of the Solstice.
The visions, the wishes, the levitation, the heightened senses, healing, they are
all just part of what you are capable of.”

“Levitation?”

Rose winks, which I find inappropriate in the
moment. “Your dreams. Levitating the vase is an ability you have. Try it.”

I stand up abruptly, furious with this mad woman
that I have come to live with. “Stop it. This is not funny. You think just because my birthday is – today,
on a day that you hold sacred, that I have magical powers?” I choke out a
laugh. “Rose, I’ve been through so much lately; the dreams are all part of
that. I’ve obviously got some anxiety disorder. I need to talk to someone about
it. I don’t need to turn to your crazy accusations that I am magical.” I am
close to tears.

Before I know what is happening next, Rose puts her
hand up and with a determination I can’t understand. Something of great force
slams into my chest. It reels me back into the couch. The couch moves across
the floor but Charlotte has her hold on it before it’s sent across the room.

“Rose! Stop it!” Charlotte’s voice breaks through
my shock and my grandmother’s intense stare. Rose shakes her head as if
breaking free from a trance.

Rose is breathing deeply now. “Sorry. Power like
that drains me. I didn’t mean to scare you, dear. I just need you to listen.”

My heart pounds in my chest as I come to grips with
what just happened. Rose is clearly across the room. How could she have pushed
me down? I look at Charlotte now. “What was that?” I ask meekly.

Rose sighs from across the room and I turn to look
at her. “I did it. It’s my magic. But I’m old. I’ve lost a lot of energy over
the years. And things become harder to control. I really try not to practice
anymore for fear of something going horribly wrong. I’m sorry.” She seems to
calm down quickly and continues. “You’ve been reading about the Solstice.
You’ve read about our histories, the gods and goddesses that we have descended
from.”

I nod my head. “Yes, but nowhere in those books did
levitation and time travel come into play.” I ask the last words in clenched
teeth.

“You won’t believe me until you witness it for
yourself. You just have to try. Try to levitate something.” Rose points at the
plastic cake on the table. “There.”

“Rose stop. It’s enough for today. Let Kat take
some time to process what you’ve told her.” Charlotte scoots in closer to me as
she speaks.

The authority in Charlotte’s voice surprises me.
But their relationship is another strange factor in all of this. Since coming
here, Charlotte has acted more like a friend than a caretaker to Rose. I assume
it’s possible that they have grown close over time, but I don’t understand it.
Then again, there is nothing about this place that I understand.

As grateful as I am to Charlotte for jumping to my
defense, I can’t believe that she’s been drinking the Kool-Aid too. Charlotte
obviously believes what Rose is saying.

“I think I need to be alone. Please, can I go to my
room? Or are you going to stop me again?” My eyes are focused on Rose as I
speak.

Charlotte turns to face me. Her smooth as silk
voice helps, but it’s not enough to overcome what I’m seeing and hearing. “Rose
just wants you to see what she’s been keeping from you since you got here. It’s
who you are, Kat. You wanted to know why these things are happening to you. She
isn’t lying. I know it all seems crazy right now, but it’s real. If you really
wanted to levitate that cake you’d see it for yourself.”

I look at her, eyes wide with annoyance. I look at
the cake and then back to Rose. “I refuse to give into this. I will not try to
levitate a cake.”

Charlotte and Rose exchange a glance and I
half-expect them to burst into a fit of laughter and tell me I passed their
crazy test. But they don’t. Instead, Charlotte places a hand on my right hand
and lifts it for me. “Here, you aim with your mind. Focus on what you want to
do and do it. Your mind is your tool.” As gentle and instructional as Charlotte
is, I cannot get past the fact that they want me to try and move an object from
across the room. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.