text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, grimdark, fantasy]
  
  You have to admit, stealing from Miss Olga does feel a bit wrong. If you're going to steal, you'll just steal the book itself. Assuming the book store you're thinking of has one.
  
  Still, you need to calm Chloe down before she gets all upset.
  
  "Hm, I guess I'll just continue to practice in the park. I have to get better at some point." You remark.
  "Good. I don't want you to get into more trouble, you're the only friend I have here!" Chloe says and suddenly hugs you.
  
  You weren't expecting a hug, especially that strong of one. You aren't exactly sure how to act, except you give a minor pat on her back.
  
  "Okay, you're holding me too tight." You say.
  "Oh sorry. I didn't hurt you did I? I don't realize how strong I am sometimes." Chloe asks.
  "No, I'm fine. Anyway, since we're stuck inside, I guess we could play a game. Tafl is over there, might as well bring it over here."
  
  Chloe goes over to get the game, to which she expresses a desire to play as the attacker. You figured she would since that's usually what she always plays as, while you play the king's side.
  
  Time passes and eventually other children start walking in since Miss Olga has called that it's time for bed. Patty eventually waddles in makes some snide comments to Chloe as usual causing a few of the others to laugh as well until eventually Miss Olga steps in to order everyone to be quiet and get to bed.
  
  The next day you eventually sneak off to the park as you do, except you sneak off to the used bookstore on Conjure Street instead.
  
  You've never been in here, though you've seen it before. You enter the store and see the middle-aged man running the place. He's balding and on the heavier side.
  
  Odd...you can't get a good handle on his face though. It's almost like it's blurred. Sometimes you get glimpses. He has a moustache? In any case, he watches you come in and immediately speaks.
  
  And now you can't quite understand what he's saying. Maybe he's speaking a language you don't know. With some effort you think he's asking you what you're looking for.
  
  You mention you're just looking which seems to agitate him a bit, but then a few others come walking in and ask for something specific turning his attention to them allowing you to slip away.
  
  You disappear into the stacks, not exactly sure of where to look. You just know you have to be quick before you catch the attention of the store clerk again.
  
  Eventually you make your way towards the back of the old shop and see a doorway with a curtain separating it from the rest of the store. You don't think you're supposed to just go in there, but the clerk is still pre-occupied with the other customers, so you nip inside.
  
  You see more books, at first glance of some of them, you realize these are not magic books as the contents involve pictures of...well stuff you're probably not supposed to be looking at.
  
  Still, there's something here. You can just sense it. And that's when you notice that on another wall away from all the naked people books, a couple of shelves of some very old looking books. A few of them are easily in reach, but it's the one on the top shelf that catches your eye. It's big black book lying by itself on its side.
  
  Surely THAT one is the one you're looking for.
  
  It's high up though, you can't reach it unless you attempt to climb on the other shelf. You aren't sure if it will hold your weight though.
  
  > just grab one on the bottom shelf
  You don't have much time and you aren't going to risk hurting yourself climbing on a shelf. You grab one of the books on the lower shelf that appears to be filled with drawings, lists of ingredients, symbols and words you probably can't pronounce.
  
  This looks like a magic book to you, so you take it and exit out the room. Fortunately the clerk is still preoccupied with help the others customers, so you manage to sneak out the front door with the book partially hidden under your arm.
  
  From there you head to your favorite area in the park eager to try something out. You flip through the pages, but it's all pretty complicated. You can't even read some of it as it's in a language you don't understand.
  
  Still, you keep looking and eventually you think you find something that looks easy. There are no words, its just diagrams of hand gestures followed by a picture of a jar floating off a table. Maybe this is a levitating spell?
  
  You look around and see a nearby rock. You make your gestures and focus like you would when you wilted the flowers.
  
  You focus...
  
  And focus...
  
  And then you see it lift up!
  
  You feel a little dizzy though and this break in concentration causes you to drop the rock and sit down for a while.
  
  A period of tiredness has happened before during your practicing of magic so this isn't new. You practice a few more times after resting a bit, then you decide to head back to the orphanage before it gets too late and Miss Olga is waiting for you by the door ready to yell at you as usual.
  
  You head back to the orphanage trying to make sure there isn't anyone around to see you come in since you can't exactly hide the book entirely.
  
  You manage to get to the sleeping room and so far the coast has been clear surprisingly. You figure you can hide this under your mattress and look at it when you can...
  
  "Hey creepy, whatcha doin' over by your bed?" an annoying voice shouts.
  
  It's Patty.
  
  "Nothing. I'm just fixing my sheets." You say trying to shove the book under the mattress quicker, it's getting caught on something though. And that something is a spring, which causes a tearing sound.
  
  "You're not fixing your sheets, you're hiding something, what is it?" Patty exclaims and starts walking over to you.
  "Patty I'm not hiding anything, just leave me alone." You say.
  "Catalina, you've always been creepy. You're hiding something and I'm going to tell Miss Olga!"
  
  You turn to face Patty directly.
  
  "Patty, you're not going to say anything to Miss Olga. I'm going to give you one warning that you better leave me AND Chloe alone from now on."
  "Pfft. I'll do as I please to you and your pigfaced friend! What're YOU going to do about it?" Patty exclaims, getting closer and now pretty much daring physical confrontation rather than tattling.
  
  Patty is going to give you problems if you don't shut her up. The only thing you can think of is displaying your power to her so she becomes afraid and doesn't dare speak against you.
  
  Part of you has honestly been waiting for this moment.
  
  You waste no time in doing your newly learned hand gestures and focusing on lifting the fat girl.
  
  You focus...
  
  You focus...
  
  "What are you trying to do?" Patty asks.
  
  You focus...
  
  You focus...
  
  "Hey Patty, what's going on?" another kid asks coming into the room with a few others.
  "This retard is being creepy as usual. Look at her!" Patty laughs as you continue to gesture at her wildly with no result.
  
  There's an audience now, but you don't care if they all see what you can do. You're going to teach Patty and anyone like her some respect.
  
  You focus...
  
  Your nose starts bleeding and you begin to feel light headed.
  
  At this point you're getting mocked by Patty and some of the others but you don't even hear them all you're trying to do is attempting to lift this fat girl and finally...
  
  "Hey what..."
  
  You see Patty lift up a few inches and you smile as you continue doing the hand gesture repeatedly.
  
  However, due to the pressure you're under along with the distraction, you don't do the gestures exactly. Little do you realize that a similar group of gestures causes a very different effect.
  
  And that's when you see Fatty Patty explode spectacularly all over the room. Fresh warm entrails and blood splatter all over you as you collapse from the exhaustion.
  
  You hear the screaming of the other kids as you lay on the floor awash in gore. You feel like you're going to lose consciousness and you don't care. You showed her, you showed them all. Then everything goes black.
  
  You look around and find yourself back in the present, whatever that means in a place like this.
  
  Obviously that wasn't how your life went. While it probably would have been satisfying to explode that fat little girl like a bloated tick, you didn't actually do that. In fact something like that would have certainly resulted in you getting thrown in some asylum where they would've lobotomized you at best.
  
  After a bit of reflection on what just happened, you realize you'll have to try again to reconnect later. When will that be? You never can tell.
  
  But it'll happen again. You'll reunite with your beloved.
  
  It's only a matter of time.