FLYING RESOLUTIONS

Our family had a lot of traditions. I loved our traditions and our family gatherings were all of us kids (9 of us) got the chance to talk and share with mom and dad our dreams, hopes, problems, anything, and everything. It was our happy time. It was during one of these gatherings that mom and dad decided to put in a new tradition where we had to write in our New Year's Resolutions and read them aloud to become reality.

Our family has magic and with the help of our magic, we could turn anything we write positively to be a reality. Me being the youngest of the 9 and the only girl child of our family I was always taken care of, protected, loved and adored. I loved my family and their attention to me. Every family in our Kingdom can choose the magic they want, our dad and mom chose the writing to be our magic hub. And that's how we became the Writers. Every single person in our family can manipulate the writings to become what they want as long as they are positively spun. I always loved to see their magic and wanted to practice myself. I had to yet pass my 9th birthday to be able to wield any magical powers and showcase them.

It was on my 9th birthday, the new moon, which also marks our new year that my parents decided to bring in a new Tradition. it was the New Year's Resolutions. We were all sitting around our gathering table when dad and mom announced the new tradition by wielding the magic through words and writing them down on our Tradition Board. It became a reality after the magic was done and we celebrated the birth of a new Tradition by each of my family members starting with our parents, then each of my brothers cast magic onto their words bringing in threads that will help them weave their resolutions into reality at the right time. They bottled each thread and resolution into small bottles and cast it in our well of Traditions where blessed water from the outer realm flows. Every time a new resolution is to be fulfilled they take the bottles out of the well and pulled the magic thread out to weave them into reality.

I was the last one to cast the magic and the only one who had yet to cast any magic on my writing. I was excited and terrified at the same time. My parents and brothers nodded me encouragement to start with the simplest resolution on my list. I took the paper and began to wave my hand over the letters to wake up the magic in my words. Nothing happened. I tried again and still, nothing happened. No spark, no change in the air around us. I felt hollow and sad. I didn't know what was happening. My family was equally shocked at my inability to wield any magic. Yet, they quietly encouraged me to try again when it was just myself and not around everyone not letting me see the worry that gripped them. I should be able to wield power without any effort. It should flow through my body, to the tips of my fingers onto the paper. I was devastated. I tried in the privacy of my room to bring out the magic, always failing no matter what. This continued on till I was 12 years old. After my 12th birthday, I decided that I didn't want to do any more of our New Year's Resolutions. Every time I was in my house I could see the fruition of each of my family member's Resolutions and it made me happy for them but at the same time, I was envious of their ability to wield magic so effortlessly while I couldn't even manage to wake a single alphabet. I felt saddened and empty and couldn't see anything beyond my failure. My family never treated me any differently, even though I couldn't create any magic. I was the only person to be known to never wield magic in our family history. This not only made me feel like I am not good enough but also made me feel less of a being to be a part of our family. I decided to never ever write any more New Year Resolutions. I took this oath on my thirteenth birthday to not try any more, to not be a disappointment to my family, to myself. That was the day I decided to never write New Year Resolutions. I refused to write and this was ironically my first worded New Year's Resolution. We sat at the table, as usual, to bring in New Year's Resolutions. My parents and my brothers did them and it was my turn. I knew they worried more and more about me as I became moody and distant. But they never made me feel less or blamed me for my inability to invoke the magic. This only made me feel bad about things and I didn't want to burden my family with any more pain and so when my turn came I told them my worded New Year's Resolution. Everyone stood breathless for a second and I thought it was my decision to never write the New Year's Resolution that shocked them to silence. But what I saw then froze me to the spot in shock....