A world of magic and adventure awaits…
The Frights of Fiji
Alyssa McCarthy's Magical Missions Book 1
by Sunayna Prasad
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
A
world of magic and adventure awaits…
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The rain turned black—as if ink fell from the sky. Alyssa leaned closer. She squinted to determine the shapes they formed on the kitchen window… letters.
No—that couldn’t happen. Yet, a message spelled out as more pigments dropped onto the glass. Alyssa gasped at it.
Your life will never be the same again, Alyssa McCarthy, as magic will interfere.
What? Alyssa thought. It can’t exist!
As a little kid, others had told her that magic wasn’t real, including when she’d learned the truth about the tooth fairy and Santa Claus.
Alyssa had lived here, On Orion Street, since she’d lost her parents in that car crash five years ago at age seven. Although they had designated her godfather as the priority guardian, she’d ended up living with her uncle, Bruce, and aunt, Laura right after her mom and dad’s deaths due to various complications from the state of New Jersey. But after her aunt died three years ago, her uncle had toughened up his attitude and rules. He even required Alyssa, and her 11-year-old cousin, Hailey, to earn fun, which involved too much effort.
Alyssa’s stomach compressed, as she considered her uncle reaction to the window’s writing. He’d yelled at her for minor issues ever since her aunt’s passing. So, if she told him about that message…he would deem that a lie—or perhaps, as an excuse to escape from this house. He’d already hidden her godfather’s phone number and mailing address shortly after Aunt Laura’s demise. Alyssa had forgotten that information since.
Footsteps sounded. The babysitter, Mrs. Hutchinson, stared at the kitchen floor and pointed in different directions.
Hailey sweated through freckled cheeks as she stood right outside.
Mrs. Hutchinson turned to Hailey. “You’re good.”
“So, can I have my break now?”
“Yes. But you’ve only got ten minutes till your next chore.”
Hailey went upstairs.
Alyssa sighed. Ever since Uncle Bruce had hired Mrs. Hutchinson, she’d Hailey’s abilities to do chores—but never with Alyssa.
“Alyssa, get back to work. You’ve been staring at the rain for too long.”
“Okay.” Alyssa turned back—only to see the message gone and the rain back to its normal transparency.
“What did I say?” asked Mrs. Hutchinson.
Alyssa sighed. “Fine, I’ll finish washing the dishes.” She scrubbed her them under running water and focused only on those. Stupid rules. What was Uncle Bruce thinking—asking Mrs. Hutchinson to treat us like dirt?
Mrs. Hutchinson was only in her sixties, but she’d seem to forget that it was 2010 and not 1960. Yet, it had taken Alyssa a while to realize that she wouldn’t even tolerate the mildest kind of nonsense, such as gaping at a windowpane when performing chores.
Now that she finished washing her dishes, Alyssa put them to the side and grabbed some paper towels.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Mrs. Hutchinson asked.
Alyssa stopped. “I’m just—”
“The last few times I was here, you left little bits of food on your dishes.”
“But they were stuck.”
“Let me inspect them. Also, if something is rubbery, you have to wash it again.”
“Why?”
“Because clean dishes aren’t supposed to be rubbery. And boy, did you do such a sloppy job. Look at that stain on your sweater.”
Alyssa looked down.
“That looks like chocolate.”
Alyssa blushed and arched her eyebrows. “Hey—it’s just water.” She covered the stain at the bottom of her sweater’s V-neck.
But Mrs. Hutchinson waved her index finger. “Don’t you ‘hey’ me, Alyssa. That’s rude. In my days, kids respected their elders. We never would dare talk to them that way unless we didn’t mind them smacking our bottoms.”
“Things change.”
“Not when I’m here, they don’t. Now let me do my inspection.”
Great—an inspection! How long would Mrs. Hutchinson take? She might spend twenty minutes, or even more. Alyssa crossed her arms and tapped her foot. She wanted her break now. She wished to read, rest, make lanyard-designs—anything but watch Mrs. Hutchinson.
“Mrs. Hutchinson?” Alyssa asked.
“Whatever you need to say, wait till I’m done,” she said.
Alyssa sighed. Mrs. Hutchinson ran her finger down one of the dishes and rubbed it. She then put it down and nodded.
She spent a few more minutes of running her finger down the glass, put it down, and told Alyssa, “You’re good. Now what did you want to tell me?”
“Um . . .if I tell you, can you not give me a hard time?”
“If it’s something stupid—?
“It’s not.” Alyssa breathed.” There was writing on the window.”
Mrs. Hutchinson pressed her lips together and tilted her head. “Nonsense.”
“No, really, it was there.”
“There was nothing there when I came, and there’s nothing there now. So don’t tell me stories.”
“But it’s not a story.”
“I don’t want to hear any more. Now it’s time for your next chore.”
“Aw, but I wanted my break.”
“Too bad. You’ve got to go vacuum the living room.”
Alyssa dragged her feet toward it and took the vacuum from the corner. She cleaned and thought about that writing as well as how Mrs. Hutchinson wouldn’t believe her. She couldn’t imagine a nicer babysitter believing her, either. Mrs. Hutchinson had watched her and Hailey for three years, and not once had she smiled or assisted with anything.
After cleaning the carpet, Alyssa checked for remaining particles, which she didn’t find. So, she put the vacuum away.
“Hailey, you and Alyssa need to go get the mail now!” Mrs. Hutchinson faced the staircase.
“Coming!” cried Hailey.
Another rule Uncle Bruce had placed on Alyssa and Hailey was they could only go outside together. He worried about people taking them or something, even though Alyssa would turn thirteen next month. But that rule had been placed because a few months ago, Uncle Bruce had heard about a seventeen-year-old boy who had been shot while skateboarding in his neighborhood. That had shocked Alyssa, since it had occurred here in Bursnell, New Jersey, what many deemed a safe town.
The two put their raincoats on until Mrs. Hutchinson said, “It stopped raining outside.”
“Already?” asked Alyssa.
“Yes.” Mrs. Hutchinson went to the bathroom.
The girls headed toward the mailbox. Alyssa pulled out the mail. But mud bubbled from the ground near the house. It piled up, resembling horse manure, and grew as more soil emerged. Alyssa’s jaw dropped.
“Alyssa, what’s going on?” Hailey asked.
“No idea,” said Alyssa.
The dirt stopped piling up, but it still bubbled, and the effects spread throughout the whole pile. The bubbles stopped popping up and down. Alyssa and Hailey gasped as they expanded. They kept their mouths open as the bubbles merged, each one attached to another, forming a single bigger shape. Hailey and Alyssa stepped back as the now giant bubble swelled. And it . . . popped! Bits of exploding mud landed on the girls, and they shrieked.
A glowering Mrs. Hutchinson opened the door. “What the heck have you two been doing?”
“T-the mud . . . it e-exploded,” said Hailey.
“Complete garbage!” growled Mrs. Hutchinson. “Get inside!”
The girls returned inside, pulling and wiping the mud out of their hair. Alyssa could spot the mud in her straight pale-blonde tresses, unlike Hailey, who likely needed more patience to search for globs in her elbow-length red locks. But Alyssa’s hair fell a few inches past her hips, so cleaning out the mud would take longer, even with the shorter layers in the front.
“How could dirt explode?” Mrs. Hutchinson stomped.
“I-I think it was magic!” exclaimed Alyssa.
“There’s no such thing as magic!” screamed Mrs. Hutchinson. “Alyssa, you’re twelve years old. You’re too old to say things like that!”
“But nothing else can make mud explode!” Alyssa said.
“Mrs. Hutchinson, we swear it did!” whined Hailey.
“Enough!” snapped Mrs. Hutchinson. “You and Hailey—go upstairs and take showers!”
Alyssa followed Hailey and sighed. Mrs. Hutchinson must have thought they’d play in the mud like small children.
“Alyssa, can I shower first?” asked Hailey.
“Sure,” said Alyssa.
As Hailey entered the bathroom, Alyssa walked into her room. She scratched more mud off her skinny jeans, which is what she’d only ever since she’d noticed other girls wearing them and the back of her hand. She stood by her bed since she wanted to keep it clean.
She thought about the writing on the window and the exploding mud. Someone wanted magic to interfere with her life. But who—and why?
There had to be some reason why no one had ever believed in sorcery—unless it’d just begun on Earth today, or recently.
Maybe magic might only interfere if she stayed remained her uncle’s house. But if her godfather could arrange with his lawyer to let her move in with him, wizardry could leave her alone. Unlike science, though, magic may do anything, which meant that it could follow her wherever she went.
The bathroom’s running water sound ended, which meant that Hailey had finished her shower. Now Alyssa had her turn.
After about five minutes showering, she stepped out and headed back to her room, where she put on leggings and a long shirt. But she gasped as something appeared out of nowhere on her bed. That must have from . . . magic.
She noticed that it was a folded piece of paper, which she opened, and read.
Hello Alyssa McCarthy,
You must be wondering about the writing on your window, the exploding mud, and the note that appeared here. Who was responsible for them? You’ll find out at some point.
Anonymous
How dare someone create incidents and not say his or her name! Without knowing his or her identity, Alyssa couldn’t report the person. Strange, magical occurrences might happen again.
But now she had proof to Mrs. Hutchinson that the writing and exploding mud had taken place. Mrs. Hutchinson had seen her write before, and that’d looked nothing like hers. She handwrote in a half-print and half-script style. This, however, was pure print.
Alyssa jogged downstairs and carried the note. “Mrs. Hutchinson, I have something to show you.”
“Not right now, Alyssa.” Mrs. Hutchinson left the kitchen. “You and Hailey have to go wash my car.”
“But it’s quick.”
“You can show me after you’re done washing my car.” Mrs. Hutchinson turned to Hailey, who emptied the dishwasher and put dishes away. “Are you almost done?”
“I think so,” said Hailey.
“How many dishes do you have left?” asked Mrs. Hutchinson.
“Uh . . .” Hailey looked at the top rack. “Four.”
“Okay, hurry up.” Mrs. Hutchinson turned to Alyssa. “Why don’t you go put that piece of paper away?”
“But this is what I need to show you.”
“Do I have to repeat what I said before?”
“But—”
“Alyssa, do as you’re told.” Mrs. Hutchinson pointed to the staircase.
Alyssa sighed. This note contained so much crucial information. Only that paper itself contained evidence that those incidents had occurred.
After putting the note back in her room, Alyssa joined Hailey in the garage. The two grabbed sponges, buckets, and soap. They filled the buckets with water and scrubbed Mrs. Hutchinson’s car.
“I wish we had another babysitter,” muttered Alyssa.
“What was on the piece of paper?” asked Hailey.
Alyssa told her.
“Who wrote it?”
“There was no name on it. Just ‘anonymous.’”
A girl whistling turned Alyssa’s attention away from the car. She leaned her head toward the sidewalk and saw her friend from grade school, Madison Jennings, riding her scooter.
“Hi, Alyssa,” said Madison. The wind blew her long dark-brown waves across her face. She stopped at Alyssa’s driveway, and her hair went limp. Hailey and Alyssa ran to her.
“I missed you,” said Alyssa.
“How’ve you been” Hailed asked.
“I just moved onto Draco Drive a few days ago,” Madison referred to a road off Orion Street.
“So, how do you like the middle school?” asked Alyssa.
“Oh, I go to Catholic school now,” said Madison. “What about you?”
“Hailey and I are homeschooled now,” said Alyssa. “I never got to tell you.”
“That’s okay,” said Madison. “So, you guys want to come over to my house on Saturday?”
“What time?” asked Alyssa.
“I’ll ask my mom and let you know,” said Madison. “Okay, bye, guys. Nice seeing you again.” She rode back in the direction she’d come from as Hailey and Alyssa waved goodbye to her.
After washing the car for a while, they cleaned up and walked back inside. A snore suggested to Alyssa that Mrs. Hutchinson slept. Buts she’d never napped while babysitting.
Alyssa strode toward the living room—Mrs. Hutchinson slept on a couch.
Hailey asked, “Why is Mrs. Hutchinson sleeping?”
“I don’t know,” said Alyssa.
“Can you show me the note?”
Alyssa nodded and led her up the stairs. She opened her door but gasped…the note that she’d left on her bed was gone.
“Where’s the note?” asked Hailey.
“It was right there,” Alyssa pointed to the bed.
But another piece of paper appeared onto the mattress. Alyssa read it.
Hello again, Alyssa,
I have put your babysitter to sleep to reveal magic to you. You’ll find out why she is sleeping later.
Anonymous
“Not again,” mumbled Alyssa. “Why won’t they say their name?” She showed the note to Hailey.
“Let’s go call my dad before anything happens,” said Hailey.
How much worse could this get? Alyssa thought as she followed Hailey down the stairs.
A Curse of Mayhem
Alyssa McCarthy's Magical Missions Book 2
History,
like magic, has a habit of repeating itself
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Lilac-colored smoke poured in through the slight opening under Alyssa’s bedroom window. Alyssa leaped back. She swore the window had been closed when she’d come in here a few minutes ago.
The gas clouded into her room, blocking her sight. It washed onto her, causing her to squint and lean back. She coughed, rubbed her eyes, and opened them. The smoke faded. Someone must’ve pulled a prank, and not just any kind—one that involved…wizardry.
Alyssa’s breathing sped up. She shut the window and gazed at the huge yard and long driveway. No one was outside—not even Alex, her godfather and legal guardian.
Perhaps the trespasser had escaped or had hidden somewhere—maybe behind the tree on the lawn or somewhere else on the property.
Alyssa hurried out, brushing ash from her muted purple shirt. She entered the ground floor and opened the front door. “Hello?!”
There was no answer.
“Whoever set that smoke off, it wasn’t funny!”
The silence continued.
Despite the freezing air this autumn evening, Alyssa stepped onto the front porch. A piece of paper appeared out of nowhere, making her jump. She picked it up, anyway.
Welcome back to magic.
Her chest tightened. She hadn’t encountered a single instance of wizardry in six months! Plus, she had two objects that were supposed to protect her from such encounters.
She dashed back up to her room and opened the closet door. Tape hung from a shoebox, and the items that she had left in there…were missing.
Heart jackhammering, Alyssa moved shoes and other boxes around. The two things might’ve fallen when she and Alex had moved here from Ohio in the spring after Alex had lost his job there. No one could have stolen them while Alex had taken her to Chicago this afternoon, right?
As Alyssa picked up the same shoebox, her palms warmed up, and light beams shot out of both hands. She screamed as the rays smashed into each other, and then faded, revealing a tiny, rainbow-colored, bouncy ball.
Alyssa’s body stiffened, as if paralyzed. Her jaw hung as she gaped at the bouncing ball.
How did I just do magic? Alyssa asked herself. I’m not a wizard.
As the object jumped onto her knee, she yelped and fell back. It had left a multicolored stain on her leggings.
She sat up. The toy sprung onto her narrow shoulders and then to the top of her head, where it cracked like an egg.
“Ow!” Alyssa covered that area and then ran her fingers down her straight, pale-blonde hair, checking for any unusual, hard textures. She lifted the ends up from the area a few inches past her hips, where the length fell to. There were tiny plastic ball-bits stuck in her tresses, so she pulled them out.
Alex knocked on the door. “Alyssa, are you ready for the party?”
“Not yet.”
“It’s almost six o’clock, sweetie. The tent in the backyard is already set up.”
“Something’s wrong with me!”
Alex opened the door, already wearing his suit. “What’s the matter?”
“I…I…”
Alex had tied his shoulder-length light-brown hair into a ponytail. “What’s going on?”
Alyssa whimpered. “Ma…ma…”
“Are you all right?”
She shook her head.
Alex looked away and covered his goatee with his hand, running it down. “Your closet’s a mess.”
“I did magic!” Alyssa’s breathing quickened.
Alex opened his mouth. “What? That doesn’t make sense.”
“I did!” Alyssa sucked in inhalations. “I’m not making this up!”
Alex tilted his head.
“I told you about magic back in March! I was kidnapped and taken to Fiji by an evil wizard! And then one of the mentors gave me a couple of little things to keep me safe!”
“Wait, what?”
“The objects are gone! Somebody must’ve stolen them!”
Alex‘s mouth widened.
“I looked everywhere in my closet! I can’t find them!”
Alex’s mouth closed.
“How could you forget these things?!”
He remained mute.
“What the heck?” She sat on her bed, her breathing still hurried.
“I’m sorry.” Alex closed the door and left.
He’d wanted to hold this party over the summer. But his agricultural-engineering and country-singing jobs had kept him from setting a date.
Alyssa considered the ways in which she might remove these powers. Maybe one of her previous mentors would know a way. Like technology, magic became more advanced over time.
Alyssa picked up her phone, went onto her email, and searched for Mathias, the wizard who’d provided her with the magical objects. Nothing. The same happened when she searched for Isabelle and Simon.
The New Enchantress
Alyssa McCarthy's Magical Missions Book 3
Cursed
by a sorcerer’s hex, Alyssa McCarthy finds herself in a fight she
can’t afford to lose, or everything she knows will be lost!
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Alyssa played the video she’d made for the upcoming teen film festival. If she submitted it, she would earn five extra points to add to her 70 in math. That would allow her to drop the mandatory extra-help class for students with final scores less than a 75.
She watched the clip, experiencing watery eyes when she heard herself discussing losing her parents in a car crash when she was seven and other tragic events in her life. It concluded with how those times had shaped her into the person she was today, Friday, June 10th, 2011. She exported the project and would upload it to the festival’s site later. The deadline was not until Monday, 7 P.M. So, after this, she could focus on the end-of-middle-school sleepover that would happen today.
But the screen froze, and a small popup stated, “Cannot export file.”
“Huh?”
How could a two-month-old device encounter issues already? Alyssa had had to wait until her last birthday, in April, and needed to maintain good grades at school to get her own computer. She recalled what her godfather, Alex, had told her in February after her math substitute had informed him about her scores dropping. “Alyssa, if you don’t get your grades up in math, you might not earn that laptop.” He loved and cared for her like a daughter yet shared no blood relation to her family members. She’d lived with him since turning thirteen last year.
Her breathing caught at the popup—a new model should not have a virus already. But she told herself, I’m fourteen and am going to start high school this fall. I can fix this.
The computer turned itself off, closed itself, and crushed Alyssa’s fingers.
“Ow!” she cried.
The device slid off her lap and under her bed. She looked underneath it—without warning, dust blew onto her, covering her petite body.
She coughed as the soot settled. Then she brushed the dirt off her black shirt and its straps on her narrow shoulders, followed by her short shorts and skin. She shook bits out of her straight, pale-blonde hair, which fell a few inches below her hips.
She’d dealt with enough sorcery already, once last year in March and again this past fall. However, neither she nor anybody in her life possessed magic in their blood. From age eight until two springs ago, she’d believed that magic hadn’t existed.
She had interacted with a few magicians when dealing with supernatural situations that no one as young as she should have to experience.
She planned to find that idiot who just ruined her summer by stealing her laptop. A folded piece of paper appeared on her bed and seemed to include the word, laptop, so she read it.
Alyssa,
Your laptop is going to become a new brain-domination computer. The International Magic Control has disabled all the existing ones and has banned any magic from transforming enchanted technology into mind-managing devices. But your laptop is needed exclusively for my particular process.
Also, don’t remove your new magic powers. If you try, you might die.
Anonymous
The note vanished into thin air. Alyssa touched her forehead and breathed since wizardry shouldn’t work on standard technology. Possibilities advanced over time, but they still had numerous everlasting limits.
Alyssa could not risk performing sorcery anymore after ridding herself in autumn of the powers that a warlock had forced upon her. A skeleton called Errol had jinxed her with involuntary magic, landing her in lots of trouble, including near-expulsion from school. He had claimed that it’d been the only way for him to regain his old, human looks. Alyssa had needed to boost her confidence and bravery levels in order to overthrow Errol. That had taken a few weeks.
She would not allow this new hex to force her to remain home all summer. Otherwise, she’d have to miss travel camp at the end of this month and a trip to New York City with Alex in August.
Her palms heated, and beams shot out, bouncing against the ceiling and splitting in different directions. One tipped the bookshelf, and all the books tumbled out onto the wooden floor. It merged with the other shaft, smashed into the desk—knocking everything down—and disappeared in a snap.
Alyssa stared, her fist clenching and her face reddening. Without admonishment, another glimmer flew out of her hands and hit her bed, causing everything to tumble into the air. The blankets crumpled, and a few pillows were tossed onto the rug by the mattress. The ray vanished.
Alyssa gazed into her palms because that catastrophe reminded her of the enchantments she’d performed in the fall.
“Ugh!” She covered her face.
The downstairs door shut, suggesting that Alex had returned from walking Scooter, the yellow lab.
“Alyssa, is everything okay?” he asked.
“No!” She sat on her bed, not wanting to remake it, even though Alex required it when she didn’t have school.
I’m never going to get through this stupid mess.
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Sunayna Prasad has published a few books between her late teens and her mid-twenties. Aside from writing, Sunayna also likes to cook, do art, and watch videos online. She has graduated from college in May 2017 and is looking to continue more writing. Sunayna lives on Long Island, NY.
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The excerpt sounds really interesting. Thanks for sharing.
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