Dogs Can’t be Magic!

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was finally at the Magical Pets Convention! Ever since I started my career as a dog-blesser (someone who blesses dogs with magical gifts) I’ve tried to get a pass to this place. Sadly, every time I tried, they were sold out. Funny thing about this convention is, it’s a place for a bunch of people with weird magical hobbies to help pets. The funniest thing is that hardly anybody knows about this and the people who go to this convention. They know even less about the hobbies themselves. Often, they brush it off like it’s fake. “Magic isn’t real!” They scoff. Well, the thing is, magic is real. It’s just as real as mushrooms, or alpacas. Just because you can’t see something for yourself doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I mean, look at stuff like the giant squid! You can’t see that for yourself, but you know it exists! Anyway, I don’t think I’ve introduced myself to you! My name is Julie, and I’m a 16 year old dog-blesser. I’m one of the few people on this earth who can truly see magic. I like to joke that I'm not even from earth at all, sometimes. I have a dog at home, and his name is Rocky. I found out I was a dog-blesser when I managed to heal him the time he was very hurt. Not only did I heal him, but he grew wings that only me and the other magic people on earth could see. He can fly now. Anyway, back to the convention. I was standing at the big glass door, and I could see all the people and animals inside. I even saw a few magical animals, like dragon hatchlings and unicorn foals. I was so excited, and a bit nervous. What if there was nobody else my age? What if it was all adults? My dog jumped on me and I was knocked to the ground. He licked my face, and I immediately felt a bit more confident. I guess that’s a side effect of the wings. I giggled. “Thanks, Rocky.” I said, standing back up. I picked him up and pushed open the glass doors. It was wonderful inside. There was music playing, the people all looked so friendly, and I felt right at home. I walked up to the front desk, and the person at it looked at me and said, “may I see your pass?” I pulled my pass out of my pocket and handed it to them. They looked at it and scanned it (to make sure it wasn’t fake), then told me “go on through that door right there, hon.” So, I did. The first person I saw was a boy around my age. He was sitting in a corner, reading to a cat. I went over to go and say hi. “Hey there! What’s your name?” I asked him. He said “I’m Chase, and this cat’s name is Aspen.” I shook his hand and petted the cat. “Are you giving magic to the cat by reading to it?” I asked. “Yeah, my gift is reading. If I read something to an animal - though it mostly works on felines - they’ll find their magical gift and my work will have been done. Once, one even started to talk! I liked that. I liked being able to communicate with a cat.” He replied. I gasped. “That’s so cool!” I exclaimed. “My gift is healing. I can heal dogs - and other canines - with my magic, and then they get a bit of magic themselves! My dog even got wings from this!” I held Rocky up in front of Chase. His cat sneezed. “Sorry, she’s allergic to dogs.” He explained. I had a confused look on my face. “It’s a weird side effect of the book I’m reading to her. It should wear off eventually.” He said. “Oooooh. That makes a bit of sense I guess.” I replied. “Anyway, do you want to check out some of the other people’s showings before we set up our own?” He asked. “That sounds fun, let’s go!” I replied. We walked to a nearby showing of a woman and a ferret. She said, “my gift is food. If I make the right kind of food for these animals, they can gain their powers!” The audience ooh-ed and ahh-ed. She brought out a recipe book and some ingredients, then began to cook something. Once she was done, she fed it to the ferret. The ferret began to levitate, and then he flew right onto my head! Aspen sneezed again. “Don’t tell me she’s allergic to ferrets too…” I said. “Looks like it.” Sighed Chase. “Is she allergic to EVERYTHING with fur?” I questioned. “I don’t think so… otherwise she’d be allergic to herself.” He replied. We walked to our stage and set up our showing. As people crowded around our stage, Chase looked a bit nervous. I comforted him. “It’s just a few people, you’ll do fine.” He gulped. “I’m going first anyway, so it’s all fine.” I said. I walked out onto the stage. Someone brought up a dog with a broken leg they’d found at a shelter, and I put my hands on the broken bone. The dog whimpered, but I whispered reassurance to it. I kept my hands there and after a few seconds, the leg started to glow. After the glow faded, I took my hands off the dog’s leg, and then the entire dog started glowing. Once it faded, there were no noticeable differences. Had I failed? Suddenly, wings burst out of the dog’s back, and a horn out of its head. “It’s a unicorn dog…” breathed someone in the audience. I gasped in awe. “I- I didn’t know I could do that…” I whispered under my breath. I picked up the small dog and ran backstage. I exhaled. “Julie, that was AMAZING!” Exclaimed Chase. “It’s your turn next.” I showed him out onto the stage. “There’s no way I could beat that!” He whispered under gritted teeth to me. I sighed, and watched from the outside. He didn’t beat me, but he did a great job. He finally got Aspen to stop being allergic to everything. So, we had a great job at the convention, and we remained close friends after. And remember this- dogs CAN be magic.