Daisy Sunshine was your average 10-year-old girl in the eyes of most. She played with dolls, loved to play pretend, and was absolutely obsessed with rainbows. Daisy was everything that defined a 10-year-old girl. However, her parents knew more than what lay on the surface. Dad Sunshine and Mom Sunshine, as she called them, understood their daughter was different from other children. She wasn’t smarter or less intelligent than them. No, it was something far harder to recognize unless you stayed next to her day by day.

Dad Sunshine and Mom Sunshine would never admit to giving birth to that Thing. Sure, it looked human, smelled human, and sometimes even acted like a human girl but that was nothing more than just a performance. Perhaps it was told that was how little girls acted or observed it from the television but regardless. That Thing was no human.

Sometimes it was capable of unexplainable things that could only be explained as witchcraft. Things that science couldn’t explain. Several times, they tried to get rid of it. Leaving it at the park, driving out of the city, and leaving it on the side of the road, even one time Mom Sunshine tried to stab it with a kitchen knife after it threw a particularly scary tantrum looking for its teddy bear. She hid the bear away after one particularly bad day.

Each attempt ended in failure. The Thing either always made it home without a scratch or something terrible would happen to those that tried to harm it. Mom Sunshine was harshly punished by the child’s teddy bear. It came to life from its hiding spot at the top of the kitchen cabinet and leaped at her. Disfiguring her face with a horrific claw mark. That Thing didn’t even bat an eye after seeing this. It was as if everything was right and proper in the world once it laid eyes on that brown bear. After it punished Mom Sunshine, the bear walked right over to It and hugged It. Then they left to the living room as Dad Sunshine rushed his wife to the hospital. The two were forced to lie about encountering a bear on a hike at 10 pm at night.

No one would believe them if they said otherwise. They were the parents of Daisy Sunshine! The pretty, gentle, cute, and most wanted little girl in the neighborhood. All the other parents wished their children were as behaved and intelligent as Daisy. If they said anything bad about her, they’d be looked at as the crazy ones! Not to mention the weird freaky stuff she’s capable of when upset! That’d be a one-way trip to an asylum in no time!

Ding Dong

It was rather early in the morning and the Sunshine Family wasn’t expecting any visitors. Dad Sunshine carefully made his way to the door, avoiding looking in the Thing’s direction in the living room. From what he could hear, she was having a tea party with that demon bear. Mom Sunshine peered from the kitchen with a kitchen knife hidden behind her back.

“Who is it?” Dad Sunshine called out, looking through the peephole.

“Hello! Is there a Daisy Sunshine at this residence?” A middle-aged woman wearing glasses spoke in a professional tone.

“Yes. Are you one of her instructors at school?” Dad Sunshine didn’t recognize her.

“Something like that. I have something important to discuss with her parents.” She explained.

Dad Sunshine flipped his palm toward his wife and gave a wave. Mom Sunshine placed the kitchen knife in her apron, hidden out of side but its outline barely visible if one cared to look close enough. The door was opened and Dad Sunshine met face to face with the woman. She gave him a polite smile, waiting for him to invite her in. Dad Sunshine did no such thing as he stood in the doorway.

“My name is **** Sunshine. What can I help you with about my daughter?” He crossed his arms.

“I’m ***** Sunshine.” Mom Sunshine stood behind him, no longer in the kitchen.

“Well, hello? I’m Professor Brooks and I'm here to congratulate you.” She explained.

“Congratulate us for what? Did we win a contest or something?” Dad asked.

“Your daughter has been accepted to our prestigious boarding school for special children. Daisy is finally of age to come study at Arcane Academy and the newest semester will be starting soon. I’m here to direct you where she should purchase her school supplies, uniforms, and any other requirements she needs before being taken to the academy. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll be more than happy to answer them if possible.”

Dad and Mom Sunshine were utterly speechless. Did this lady think they were easy pickings to scam? Doesn’t she know that this is a good neighborhood? This isn’t the place to be scamming innocent hard-working people!

Professor Brooks hasn’t been a teacher for over two decades for nothing. She could tell from the look on their faces that they didn’t believe her.

“If you could invite me inside, I could explain further.” Professor Brooks suggested.

Dad Sunshine stepped into the house and motioned her to come in. The three arrived in the living room where Daisy continued to play. Ignoring the existence of the guest in the house in favor of happily chatting with Mister Grizzle about raising more unicorns for their stables. Professor Brooks smiled at the play before focusing back on Dad Sunshine and Mom Sunshine. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she noticed the scarred face of Mom Sunshine. Thankfully, she had enough tact to not physically react. Just mentally throw up in her mouth and feel pity for this woman.

“Have you ever noticed strange things happen around Daisy that you couldn’t understand?” Professor Brooks asked.

“...” The adult Sunshines nervously fidgeted.

“What kind of strange things...?” Mom Sunshine asked.

“Things suddenly moving on their own? Fires starting out of nowhere? Animals suddenly coming into the house? Anything else?”

“You know?! Are you like her too!? Are you here to take her away from us!?” A desperate ugly smile appeared on Dad Sunshine’s face as he roughly grabbed Professor Brook’s shoulders.

“Well, in one way I am...” Professor Brooks frowned as she pulled away from Mr. Sunshine. “You two have nothing to fear or worry about. Your daughter is simply a mage. Mages are humans that can perform magic. Sometimes children from non-magical parents give birth to children that are magical. This is the situation you two are in.” Professor Brooks fixed her clothes and suddenly realized a new presence next to her.

“Are you saying I can do magic?” Daisy’s bright little black orbs pierced into Professor Brooks’s heart.

“That’s right, Daisy. You’re a mage.” Professor Brooks suddenly felt like shielding her eyes as the cute little girl suddenly smiled brightly.

“So, I can make rainbows? Are unicorns real? Can I bring Mister Grizzle back to life again?” Daisy questioned.

“Possibly, yes, and it's possible.” The instructor answered.

Professor Brooks then looked back up to see the frightened faces of Daisy’s parents. Ah, she understands now. These two are frightened of their daughter because she’s a mage. It happens frequently that non-magical parents are unable to properly react to a magical child being born from them. Magic isn’t seen as real in the non-magical world after all.

It wasn’t until she noticed the two of them shivering and slowly backing away that Professor Brooks realized that something wasn’t quite right. Fear of one’s child can only go so deep, right? No matter if she’s capable of something seen as impossible in the non-magical world, they still love her, don’t they?

Professor Brooks finally understood what the two of them were afraid of as her glasses were blown off of her face. The adult Sunshines quickly fled into the kitchen as several rays of rainbows flew across the living room, tiny unicorns ran around the living room furniture, and Professor Brooks’s blurry vision suddenly turned clearer.

“Hahahahahahaha! Magic is real!!!” Daisy’s laugh was full of innocence and joy.

Daisy’s laughter was magically infectious. Professor Brooks couldn’t keep her calm demeanor and began to laugh along with the young child. Mister Grizzle was now the size of a regular grizzly bear. Fluffy brown fur, menacing sharp teeth, with unparallel elegance and etiquette. Mister Grizzle continued to drink out of his incredibly tiny plastic tea cup with a calm but piercing gaze at the kitchen where Dad and Mom Sunshine fled. He could hear their uncontrolled stifled laughter. A low growl came from his mouth.

Professor Brooks identified more than three types of magic being used by this girl who had no prior knowledge of magic at all. Realizing that it was getting rather difficult to breathe from laughing so much, Professor Brooks took out a palm-sized book from her pocket. The book expanded more than three or four times before she started to channel her magic through it. In an instant, Daisy’s explosive display of magic was canceled. Professor Brooks could now breathe again and gave Daisy a sharp look.

‘This girl might be a magical genius...’ Professor Brooks has to take a second proper look at the girl after that showing.

“I’m a mage...” Daisy shook with excitement, a controlled but layered aura of rainbows surrounded her tiny figure. “This is magic flowing through me!” Daisy delved deep into her body, intent on understanding this power completely and using it to her fullest.

“Miss Sunshine, I must stop you here. You’ll be able to practice, study, and play with all sorts of magic once you arrive at Arcane Academy. Using magic is illegal in the non-magical world as a minor and if you’re caught, you can be taken to the Cursed Land. Mr. and Mrs. Sunshine, I’m going to take you and your daughter to the entrance of the magical world where we shall purchase her school supplies. Once we’re done with that, I’ll have to ask you to take her to a specific location on September 1st. Once she’s there, she’ll be taken to Arcane Academy along with all the other magical children.”

Dad Sunshine and Mom Sunshine stood at the doorway of the kitchen, peering into the living room while shivering. They nodded as Professor Brooks waited at the door for them to leave together.

“Come on Mister Grizzle!” Daisy snatched the teddy bear and happily waited alongside Professor Brooks with a big smile on her face.

“We’re going to need money, right?” Mom Sunshine asked.

“Yes. School supplies aren’t free. Her tuition will be though. It’s handled by the Supreme Magical Government of America.” Professor Brooks answered.

The family of three left outside their door after getting their things together. They got into Professor Brook’s car and made their way to the entrance of the magical world.