Sar Sobrun was lying in his bed, wondering how much trouble he would be in. He looked up to the ceiling and started to remember what had happened in the past week of him watching the children. He wondered what might have triggered the children to imagine their stories of meeting an elf. He knew that the children believed that Sir Soybean was real, and that their parents passed him off as imagination, but he’d have to be sure that imagination couldn’t destroy a city.
“Alblixtned, what is wrong with me?” thought Sar, “First, I disobey a direct order from my mother, and now I get the entire city of Alfstad this close to being discovered.” Sar held up his fingers so close together that they were almost touching. “How can I get rid of this problem before it becomes too big to handle?”
And at once, thoughts filled his head, growing to rival the number of fish in the ocean. Sar instantly knew what he had to do. “I must save Alfstad,” he said out loud, “and I must do it myself.”
Suddenly, Sar could see the children that he had spied on, as if he had a second pair of eyes. His black, flowing hair suddenly turned blue and flew up in the air. He no longer was paying attention to his surroundings, as his eyes were covered with a blue haze. He knew what had happened.
“Magic,” he thought, “I finally mastered it!”
“Hey Joplin!” shouted Akita.
“What now, Akita?” Joplin shouted back.
“Where did Sir Soybean go?”
“He probably went back to his house.”
“Elves have houses?”
“What else would they live in?”
“I don’t know, maybe a hole in the ground?”
“Why would something so cool live in a hole?”
“It was just an idea,” cried Akita, “Mom! Joplin’s hurting my feelings!”
“Akita! I thought you were my friend! I’m the one who told you about Sir Soybean!” whispered Joplin just loud enough to let both Sar Sobrun and Akita hear. It was also just loud enough for Avicenna, their mother, to hear as well.
Sar’s second (and now dominant) pair of eyes turned to the house and zoomed in. He could now see and hear Avicenna, and read her thoughts.
“I hate this Sir Soybean thing!” she thought, her thoughts screaming out at Sar, “It’s always Sir Soybean this, Sir Soybean that. Ever since Joplin came up with the idea of that elf, there hasn’t been a sensable conversation between them!”
“What is it, Akita?” she sang, her voice a far cry from what she was thinking.
“Joplin is saying my ideas are dumb!” screamed Akita.
“Did not!” Joplin screamed back.
“Did too!”
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
“Did not!”
“Stop it, both of you!” screamed Avicenna, all of her calmness melting away like an ice cube on a hot day.
The children fell silent, and so did everything else. Sar had run out of strength and fell to the floor. His hair and eyes went back to their original colors, and his consciousness shot back into his bedroom.
“Magic sure takes a lot out of you,” he moaned. And then all was darkness.
