“We would like a boy,” Justin says.
Mike nods in agreement, “it’ll be more fun, we could play soccer or basketball with him,” he adds.
The parents smile, “sounds good,” Bertha says.
“I’ll contact the local paper and have them write an add,” James says.
“Can we please attend the interviews,” the boys ask, “we’d like to see out potential “babysitter”, and decide who we’d prefer”.
The parents nod, “of course,” they says, “after all: HE has to look after YOU, so you should get the last word,” James adds.
The boys smile, “sounds fair,” they say.
Two days later, Mike and Justin return from school and head up to their room, “I was thinking, bro,” Justin says.
“What is it,” Mike asks.
“You know,” Justin starts, “I am really fed up of not being able to use our abilities, life would be so much more fun!”
Mike nods, “I feel you, bro,” he says, “but sadly there is nothing we can do about it, rules are rules and the law is the law. I really don’t want to piss off those… “high” wizards”.
Justin grins, “or is there?”
Mike looks at his brother with a raised eyebrow, “what do you mean?”
Justin looks around, as if afraid that someone might be listening, he then lowers his voice, before saying, “I might know a way we could use magic but would stay undetected”.
“How,” Mike asks.
“I sneaked into dad’s study,” Justin starts to explain, “I once heard him and mom discuss a book, mom was all freaked out, but dad remained calm. He said, mom should not have to worry, that we, meaning you and me, would never find out about a certain book”.
Now Mike REALLY was interested, “if mom seemed so freaked, then it must be something powerful”.
Justin nods, “like something that shouldn’t fall into the hands of two “kids” who only have “bad intentions”, as our parents like to always put it”.
Mike snorts, “I have NO IDEA what they mean,” he says, grinning.
Justin grins back, “same”.
“So… have you found the… “forbidden” book?”
Justin’s grin turns into a smirk, “yes, and I already had a look inside,” he says, pulling the book from his back pack, “there are some neat spells, potions and curses in here”.
“Sweet,” Mike says, “so, what would cause us not to be detected when using our powers? And… is there also something in the book that would make us super powerful? I mean… more powerful than our parents and the elders?”
Justin grins, “the same thought crossed my mind,” he says, “yes, there are two potions, one would cause us to become super powerful, so powerful that we’d, if we should decide to study dark magic, not have to worry about consequences, and no one would be able to stop us! The other potion would cause us to permanently stay undetected when performing magic!”
“Sweet,” Mike says, “then, let’s waste no time! Let’s get this done before our parents come home!”
Justin nods, they both head down into the kitchen and, using ingredients from their mother’s stash, they soon have both potions ready. The boys grab the first potion, “well, cheers to a fun life,” Mike says.
Both boys down the potions, “I wonder when…,” Justin starts, but then stops, “oh… never mind. I think I can already feel the potions taking affect!”
Mike nods, “yup,” he says, “I feel my energy increasing, and I am starting to feel really powerful! It feels amazing!”
Justin grins, “these will be two fun weeks,” he says.
Mike grins back, “for US at least”.
“I better put the book back,” Justin says, “don’t want dad to get suspicious, we’ll have time in a few days, when our parents are gone, to study some cool spells, potion and curses”.
Mike nods, “good call,” he says.
A few days later, the interviews have been half conducted, but the boys were not convinced of the potential babysitters. “Man, if this holds up, we’ll never find the right guy to watch over us,” Justin whines.
“Yeah,” Mike says, “every guy so far has just been full of themselves”.
The parents sigh, “yeah,” they say, “let’s hope this last boy will be the one”.
A second later there is a knock on the door, “wow, well, at least he seems to be on time,” James says, “Justin, would you get the door?”
“Sure,” the boy says, when he opens the door he sees a boy around 16 years of age, with short blond hair and a slim, almost feminine, built.
“Hello,” the boy says, smiling, “I’m here for the … interview?”
“And you are,” Justin asks.
“Oh, right, sorry,” the boy says, “my name is Arthur, or Arti for short,” he says.
“Oh, yeah,” the boy says, “you’re the last guy for the day. Come on in”.
Arthur steps into the house, he then follows Justin into the dining room, “ah, Arthur I presume,” James asks.
“Yes,” the teen says, “pleasure to meet you Mr. Powers,” he then turns to the woman, “I assume you are Mrs. Powers? And these two are the boys I am supposed to watch?”
“Correct,” James says, he then points at Justin, “this is Justin, and Mike,” he says.
Mike and Justin both look identical, both have short bright blond hair, sky-blue eyes, a pale skin tone and an athletic body. The only thing to know who’s who is that Mike is wearing a t-shirt with a big “M” and Justin’s shirt has a big “J” on the front, other than that, there is no telling the boys apart.
Arthur smiles, “pleasure to meet you,” he says, the boys simply nod, Arthur chuckles, “some shy boys you got”.
Mike snorts, “we are NOT shy,” he says.
“Yeah,” Justin pipes in, “we are just trying to figure you out”.
Arthur takes a seat offered to him, “what do you mean Justin?”
“Well, for one, you are super polite,” he says, “and for two… you kinda have a strange vibe about you”.
James gives Justin a warning look, but before he can say anything, Arthur chuckles, “oh, I get that a lot,” he says, “yeah… I am a little weird”.
“Hu,” both boys say.
Arthur grins, “we all have our secrets,” he says with a wink, “IF I should get the job, I just might let you in on MINE”.
The boys look at each other, “I already like him,” Mike whispers.
“Me too,” Justin whispers back, “I think we’ll have a lot of fun with him”. They then turn back to Arthur, “okay… Arthur,” Justin start.
“Please, call me Arti,” the teen says.
Justin shrugs, “kay, so, why do you think you’d be the best choice for the job?”
There is a long silence, “well,” Arti finally says, “I am good with kids, I… how should I say this without coming over as weird”.
The boys tilt their head, “what do you mean,” James asks.
The boys and their parents look at each other, sensing a sudden change in the boy’s aura, first Arthur was acting like any 16 year-old, but now, now he is acting like some nervous little 10 year-old.
Arthur clears his throat, “I am able to put myself in the shoes of a kid, I’m an empath,” he says.
“An empath,” Justin asks, “what’s that?”
“A empath is someone who can pick up on emotions of other people,” James explains, “empaths are able to… I guess… sense, a other person’s feelings and emotions”.
“Okay, and what is so weird about that,” Mike asks.
Arthur sighs, “the weird part is…,” he hesitates.
The family senses that the teen seems scared and worried, that he might come over as to crazy and that he’ll not get the job. They watch Arthur staring down at his hands, which he has clasped together, rubbing them nervously, he even seems to start sweating, and his breathing also seems to become more rapid.
“Arthur,” James says, causing the teen to jump a little, he turns to look at the man, “why so nervous?”
Arthur takes a deep breath, “it… it is just that… every time I tell my potential boss,” he says, “I… I get told that I am unfit, act to weird and just other mean things”.
“We promise not to judge,” the whole family says.
“We take everything seriously,” Justin adds.
Mike nods, “yeah, we don’t make fun of others, no matter how “weird” they may be”.
Arthur looks at the two boys, then at the parents who nod and smile, “believe us when we say: we have seen all kinds of weird stuff in our lives. So, just go ahead and tell us,” Bertha says calmly.
“We prefer the person, who’d look after our two boys, is honest, truthful and especially extremely open,” James adds.
Arthur takes another deep breath, “okay… it is just that… I feel like I’m mentally 10 year-old,” he lets out a long sigh, “I… I always had this issue, there is nothing I can do about it. I have no friends, because no one wants to hang out with a “10” year-old”.
“Damn,” Mike says, “that does not sound fun”.
Arthur nods, “it isn’t… I might not show it, but I am really suffering under it”.
“We can tell,” they all say.
Arthur looks at them, “so, yeah… that… that would be my answer to your question, Justin,” he says, turning to the boy, “anything else you’d like to ask?”
Justin shakes his head, “not really,” he says, “but, why don’t you tell us more about yourself?”
Mike nods, “yeah, you got us very curious,” he adds.
Arthur shrugs, “well, I live with my parents,” he says, “not far from here, about 30 minutes on foot. I go to high school, but as I said: since no one wants to hang around me, because I’m to “childish”, I tend to stick to myself and drown in self-pity. I have no girlfriend, again because I am to “childish”… so, yeah, I don’t really have an exciting life”.
There is a long silence, “wow,” Mike says.
Arthur nods, “I… I honestly almost didn’t come,” he continues, “because, I have been disappointed so often, that I was afraid it might happen again. I… I feel so miserable… there are times when I even think about…,” Arthur stops and looks around, judging by the shocked expression on the family’s faces, he assumes they know what he almost said.
“So… what made you to come,” Justin asks.
Arthur shrugs, “I… I honestly don’t know,” he says, he takes a deep breath, “I… I just felt that I might finally have luck this time”.
The parents look at each other, then at the two boys, they then turn back to Arthur, “Arthur, will you give us ten minutes alone,” James asks.
Arthur nods, he then gets up from the chair and walks out the dining room, closing the door behind him.
When the door closes, the family hear Arthur let out a shaky sigh, they then hear him slide down the door and their eyes widen when they hear muffled sobbing.
“Holly… sh…,” Mike says.
“Jesus,” Justin says.
“I… I am at a loss,” Bertha says.
“I think we heard enough,” James says, the others nod, “so, boys, have you made up your minds?”
Mike and Justin look at each other, they then turn to their parents and nod, “we did,” they say.
“And?”
“Call Arthur back in,” Justin says.
The parents nod, “Arthur,” James calls, the door opens and Arthur reenters, “we… or rather the boys, have something to say”.
Arthur looks at Justin and Mike, a nervous expression on his face, and his eyes red from crying, the boys look at Arthur, “hearing your story, kind of reminded us of ourselves,” Justin says.
Mike nods, “you see, we don’t really have friends, because we are also… kinda special,” he says, looking over at his parents.
“So,…,” Arthur starts.
“So, we thought we could help each other,” Justin says, “we don’t want to see you so down. We are not doing this, because we feel sorry for you. We are doing this because you are so like us! You and we are “lone wolves”, “outsiders” or whatever you want to call it”.
Arthur’s eyes widen, “a-are you telling me… I…,” he says.
The boys and parents smile, “yup, you have the job,” the boys say, “we’ll have so much fun together,” Justin adds.
“Wow,” Arthur says, smiling himself, “this… this means a lot to me, thanks!”
The boys smile, “well, your story really hit home,” Mike says.
“I think you boys will have a lot of fun,” James says, “you can really make each other happy”.
“Man… it feels great to have finally experience a success,” Arthur says, unable to stop smiling.
The next hour or so, the parents lay down the rules and explain a few things, “now, having said all that,” Bertha says, “you are welcome to spend the two weeks here in the guest room, you’ll will also get a key to the house, in case you decide to head out somewhere”.
Arthur nods, his smile hasn’t faded one bit, “thanks so much,” he says, he then turns to the two boys, “I guess I’ll see you in a few days”.
“Hehe… yup,” Mike says.
“We can’t wait to have you back, Arti,” Justin adds.
They bid farewell and after Arthur has left the boys turn to their parents, “man, he looked so happy,” Justin says.
“Yeah,” Mike adds, “I think we made the right choice. It feels really good”.
The parents smile, happy that their boys found someone who they like and with whom they are able to connect.
Later that night, the boys are in their room, lying in bed, their parents have already fallen asleep, when Mike speaks up, “bro,” he whispers, turning to his brother’s bed, “you awake?”
“Yeah,” Justin answers, “you have a hard time sleeping yourself?”
“Yeah,” Mike says with a sigh, “I just can’t stop thinking about Arti”.
“Same,” Justin replies, “I feel so sorry for him”.
“Yeah, if only we knew why he sees himself as a 10 year-old,” Mike says.
“What if a soul of a kid entered his body,” Justin asks.
“That isn’t possible,” Mike says, “if a soul of a kid possessed him, why is he acting as if like a teen?”
“Maybe his mind is split in two? Maybe his teenage mind is battling with the mind of the child?”
“Hmm… could be,” Mike says, “it would make sense”.
“We got to help him,” Justin says.
“How?”
“Why don’t we use our powers to help him relax and accept that he is different,” Justin suggests.
“You mean, like, hypnotizing him?”
Justin nods, “yeah, if we hypnotize him, not only would he be relaxed, but maybe we might get more information out of him”.
“But… what if it is not him talking, what if it is the soul of the kid talking through him,” Mike asks, “I really would not want to risk messing up his life just because some spirit is fooling us?”
“I don’t think that’ll happen,” Justin says, “let’s just do it, I want to see him happy and not so down”.
“Okay,” Mike replies, “we’ll use our powers to help him”.