*Briar Patch

Intro: I have read several stories where the person with the magical ability or talent is desperately trying to hide it from the normal populace so I decided to write a story about the opposite. What would happen if there is a person who has no extra ability and has to hide among a population with strong magical power? Throw in a literary reference and voilà, Briar Patch.

Penelope hated walking to work. Magic clogged her nose and throat. Her brows furrowed as she glanced at the young man approaching her. When he past, the magic cascading from him took her breath away and left her hands shaking and her focus blurry. Her world started to tip and she pulled herself upright trying to walk in a straight line. Once again she wished she had magic like everyone else.

“Are you alright?” the young man asked reaching out for her shoulder.

“I’m fine,” she said and hurried on her way.

Two blocks later she let herself slow down but it took another couple of minutes for her hands to stop shaking. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her body. She walked through the doors to her office right on time and nodded to the receptionist.

“Good morning,” the receptionist said. “You have a messages waiting for you.”

“Thank you.”

“Did you have a nice walk?”

“Yes.”

“It looks so cold out there.”

“Walking is refreshing,” she lied and walked up the stairs.

Only when the door to her office closed did Penelope let the nervous tension overtake her. Her hands shook and she slid to the floor, her knees no longer strong enough to support her. It was only seven-thirty in the morning and she had almost lost everything she fought to obtain. For several minutes she stayed sitting on the floor with her back against the door, her breathing in ragged gasps she tried to muffle. The red light on her phone blinked reminding her to get to work before anyone realized she was acting odd.

The message was from Janice.

“Hey, Penelope. You up for a lunch date today? Thanks hun. I’ll be there at twelve-thirty.”

Janice’s scratchy voice succeeded in lowering her spirits even more than she thought possible. A lunch date with her old college friend always made her nervous. All of that extra magic in the air would mean she would have to be on edge. Anything, and everything, went wrong when Janice was around. Not what she needed. She pushed the button to call Janice back and got the answering machine.

“Sorry, Janice. I’m too busy today for that. I’ll have to catch you another time.”

With that out of the way, she turned her attention back to work and managing the publication house she started. No matter what else changed in the world, there was always a demand for paper books. The morning was spent interviewing potential authors and working on marketing plans with already established clientele.

“Penelope,” Janice said, sweeping into the room. “You aren’t ready yet.”

The wave of magic hit Penelope while she was unprepared and she had to turn her head away because she couldn’t keep a straight face. Her employees left, all quickly explained what they would be working on while she was out of the office.

“Janice. I told you, I’m a little busy today,” she said once she got a hold of her stomach and facial expressions. “With a new book release coming out, I was planning on eating lunch in the office.”

“Busy?” Janice looked around the room, one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows arching. “It doesn’t look that way to me.”

“You aren’t going to let me out of this are you?”

“No.”

Penelope sighed and headed to the door following after Janice. The closer she got to her friend, the more she could feel the magic seeping out. It would take days to remove it all from her office so she could breathe normally. She waved to the receptionist and headed outside. Janice’s long black car took up most of the curb in front of the building. With a wave of her hand, Janice unlocked and opened the car door. They both slid in and the door shut behind them.

“The Plaza Restaurant,” Janice said. “Did you hear the news? Another non-magic was found yesterday. He’s in the institution Briar Patch. Thank goodness.”

It took all of her willpower not to run screaming from the car. The car pulled out onto the street and headed into town. This was the reason why she walked to work. All vehicles now required magic. Something she thought was foolish but couldn’t bring up because then everyone would know her disability. The restaurant could only be described as swanky and a place she would never visit with anyone besides Janice. The door opened and she stepped out. The wave of magic from all of the guests floored her and she watched as the world spun and then blacked out.

She woke and stared at the ceiling for a moment before realizing it was her apartment. That nightmare was the most realistic dream she’d ever had. Including a sound of sirens.

“Why?”

“Crap. It wasn’t a dream,” she murmured and turned on her side.

Janice sat with her legs pulled up on the chair staring at her. “Your fascinating with antiques should have been a good enough hint.”

“Janice,” she said and pushed herself into a position where she could lean against the arm of the couch for support. “You don’t have to do this. We can just forget this ever happened.”

“I can’t. Your kind is dangerous.”

“So dangerous I can’t use any modern technology,” she said and lay back down. “I guess I’m not your problem anymore.”

Janice didn’t reply. The sirens from outside grew louder. Janice let the men in and within minutes, Penelope was strapped to a gurney riding to the institution in the back of a van. A team of men in white uniforms and escorted her into the building. The giant door closed behind her and she stared into the sea of people standing in the middle of the courtyard. When the engine of the van finally disappeared the crowd let out a cheer.

“Welcome to the Briar Patch”

For the first time in her life Penelope took a deep breath of clean air.