Clouds covered the sky as Brynne walked precariously on the stones that circled the Fairy Tree. Her mother had told her to stay away from the tree because of the mischievous sprites but Brynne knew it was only a tale told to children to keep them from climbing the trees. She jumped from rock to rock as her family walked down the dirt road enjoying the day and each other’s company.

A headache had been thumping in the girl’s brain for a couple of days now but today it seemed to be fine. There was no pounding or constant irritation and she felt good. Brynne jumped off her rock and landed on the next one, keeping up with the group with a smile. She jumped to the next and the next. Her shoes gripped the stone and kept her from slipping from their surfaces.

“Get off of there.” Her mother said to her as they came to a spot in the stone wall where erosion had taken control, leaving a gap.

“I’ll be fine.” Brynne said back, jumping before anyone could stop her. The girl landed on the other side of the gap nearly perfectly, raising her hands above her head in gymnastic triumph.

“Down.” Her mother said pointing to the ground with a stern look.

“Fine.” Brynne said back scowling. She gingerly sat on the rock and slid down its front and took up walking. That’s when she felt it. A strange pull that started in the back of her head, as if there were a zipper opening. The feeling made its way to her forehead and a burning sensation fell into place along the line. This was quickly followed by a pain Brynne had never experienced, as if her brain were splitting open.

Screaming only once, the girl grabbed her head and stood, trying to squeeze the pain away, but the pain wanted out. She felt it in waves leaving her head and a new tingling filled its place. Still holding her head, the girl looked around her and found that her family was gone. Hearing soon returned to her ears and the sounds of screams came with it. Looking up she saw them, floating above her and getting higher.

One moment they were rising to the clouds and the next they were down the road with a woman slumping to the ground in the middle of the group. Brynne closed her eyes again trying to get the tingling feeling under control. She needed to zip her mind closed but she couldn’t figure out how to do it. A man appeared in front of her, surprising the girl, causing the zipper to shut on its own. She stood still for a second and then began to cry. The tears streamed down her face as the man walked her back to her shocked family. He was talking but Brynne couldn’t hear a word he said. Before she knew it, the family had walked back to their house, accompanied by the man and the woman who had fainted.

No one looked at Brynne. No one talked to Brynne. She felt alone and stranded while still being surrounded by people. The fire was still burning in the fireplace when they got to the house, so Brynne pulled a chair close to it and sat, waiting for someone to say something. When her existence continued to go unnoticed she fell asleep and woke up to a near empty house, save her mother.

“This is why we stay away from those trees.” She began, carrying a bowl of soup to her daughter and setting it down. “There’s no telling what kind of tricks they’ll pull.”

“It wasn’t a fairy. It was me.” Brynne said looking into the soup. “I did it. I felt my head unzip and I did whatever that was.”

Her mother didn’t seem to have anything to say to her after that. They sat in silence, Brynne’s father and brothers coming into the room to sit and eat, as the man and the woman walked out of the spare room and disappeared out the front door after telling them that someone else was on their way. The strangers left as quickly as they come, leaving behind an unrest and confusion.

There was still silence in the house when a knock came from the front door. Brynne’s father answered it and remarkably let the newest stranger into the house. The old woman who walked through the door gave a quick glance around the room and latched eyes with Brynne.

“Do you mind if we talk?” She asked sounding feeble and ancient.

No one objected, so the girl stood from her seat, feeling her muscles stretch and groan from being still for so long. She walked to the old woman who walked her out the door, leaving behind her still shocked family. The outside was much noisier than the house had been. Birds were chattering and the wind was rattling the leaves of the trees.

“You may call me Miriel.” The old woman said with a thick south Irish accent. “How are you feeling?”

Brynne wasn’t sure how to answer. She was feeling okay but scared that her mind would become unzipped at any moment, sending this old woman, whom she didn’t know, cartwheeling into the sky.

“I’m fine.” She finally answered quietly.

“Ah. No you’re not.” Miriel said with a smile. “No one is ever fine when they discover they are an Other. I remember when I first found my talent it was a very scary experience. Very scary. I didn’t know what was happening.”

“You’re like me?” Brynne asked looking at the worn face of the older woman.

“Of course! Would you like to see what I can do?”

Before the girl could protest, Miriel gave a flourish of her hand. Without blinking, Brynne watched as the old woman’s body began to stretch and grow before her. Scales appeared and wings sprouted, followed by sharp claws and a tail. The dragon before her was emerald, with fangs as sharp as daggers. It gave a full smile and then a laugh and flourished its hand again, dissolving much faster than it had appeared back into Miriel.

“The look on your face!” The old woman said holding her stomach as she chuckled. “Forgive me but I do like a good theatrical performance.”

“You. You just turned into a dragon.” Brynne said still shaken by the display.

“Aye. But that’s not my gift.” Miriel said waving her hand again only to be replaced by a boulder, which moved around on its own. The old woman was back to her self a second later and looked at the girl as if she were expecting something.

“Have you guessed yet?”

Brynne shook her head, staring at the woman as if she were crazy.

“Oh fine. I’m a conjurer or close to one.” Miriel said walking the dirt road again, Brynne following closely behind her. “I can make you see me in anyway that I want you to see me. If I wanted to look young I could look young. If I wanted to look like a fish, I could look like I fish. But only to the people that I wanted to look that way to. Does that make sense?”

“So you might not even be as old as you look?” Brynne said catching on.

“Correct lass. Except I am this old and this is the real me. Now, on to your ability. We’ve a person who can tell what other people are capable of and he says you’re a gravity manipulator and you’re the first that we’ve heard of, so congratulations.”

“Gravity manipulator?”

“Apparently you can turn gravity on and off in specific places.” Miriel said stopping at a rock and sitting.

“But why? I don’t want to be able to do this. Can we shut it off? Or get rid of it? I don’t want this!” Brynne had reached a volume close to yelling at the end of her speech. Her heart rate had elevated and she could feel the zipper in her mind start to unzip.

“Calm yourself.” Miriel said grandmotherly. “You’re okay. Everything is going to be alright.”

“I can’t stop it!” Brynne said holding her head, tears streaming down her face as the zipper she desperately wanted to keep closed opened wide. Around her, rocks floated into the air, along with a few sheep. Miriel had found a grip on her momentary chair and hung on to keep herself planted.

“You are in control.” She said patiently. “Your power comes from you not the other way around. Relax your mind.” She spoke to the girl as she pushed on her necklace with one hand. Miriel knew that her beacon would light up and someone would be there soon to help. It wasn’t often that someone with such a powerful force manifested but they had protocol for this kind of thing.

Brynne felt her mind. It was vast and expanding. It emanated like a radar in all directions. She kept her hands clasped to her skull, focusing on the zipper, trying to close the force inside herself that yearned to get out. A sharp prick pierced her arm and it hardly registered that she was falling. The sheep and pebbles that had risen into the air, slowly made their way back to the ground as Brynne drifted to sleep, with Miriel and a man in a black suit standing above her.

The old woman was no longer an old woman, but a young woman who looked close to thirty.

“We can take her in.” she said to the man. “Her family is still in shock and we can tell them that she’s grown too dangerous.”

Nodding his head, the man lifted Brynne into his arms and carried her to a car waiting just down the road. He placed the girl in the back seat, where an IV was administered along with an oxygen mask.

“You’ll be alright.” Miriel said to the sleeping girl, moving a strand of hair from her face. “We’re going to help you.”