Beginner Levitation
Flash Fiction February Day 3: Wild card
Flash Fiction February — Day 3
Theme: Wild Card
Genre: Open
I’m taking part in Bradley Ramsey’s Flash Fiction February, where every like, comment, and restack earns points.
A had a couple of different ideas, but parenting a cheeky toddler is my life right now, and so I had to pick this story. Maybe I’ll come back to my other ideas at a later date.
Read the story, cheer on the writers, and dive into a month of tiny tales. Check out all of the other entries for this week here.
If you enjoy this story, a like, comment, or restack would mean the world — they all count toward the challenge!
Every Wednesday, Jess looked after Toby. He was in full toddler mode, but could get away with anything if he smiled cheekily.
Jess loved looking after him. It gave her best friend Beth a break, and she studied while Toby napped.
Jess was attending night school to become a witch after discovering her magical abilities in her twenties. Magic still wasn’t known to the wider world.
Today, she was practising self-levitation. Toby was content in his playpen, so Jess used the opportunity for some extra study. She usually waited until Toby’s nap, but she had an exam tonight and wanted to make sure she was ready.
She was very careful to practise her spells in pieces whenever she was at Beth’s house. Especially after that one incident where she accidentally set the rug on fire. Thankfully, she was able to fix it before Beth got home from work.
She opened up her textbook.
Beginner Levitation Exercise: First Flight
Stand upright with hands pressed together at chest height.
Squat while keeping your hands together.
Rise, extending arms overhead.
Visualise lift-off.
Speak the words aloud: “In aera volo.”
First, she practised the words out loud. Her teacher kept telling her that pronunciation was her weak point.
‘In aera volo. In aera volo. In aera volo.’
Toby played contentedly in his playpen, hitting his toy hammer on the ground. Jess smiled. It almost sounded like he was trying to copy her.
‘In av. Ina vo,’ he babbled happily.
Next, she practised the movements.
She carefully moved through the positions. Magic was almost meditative, kind of like tai chi, and Jess loved that part of it. Not as dramatic as in the movies.
Now that she felt ready for her exam, she eyeballed Toby playing and giggling in his playpen before ducking into the kitchen for a coffee and a snack.
A sudden crash and a giggle sent her sprinting back into the living room. She turned to the playpen where Toby had been happily playing and froze. He wasn’t there!
She dashed around the house, calling out his name, searching frantically. Then she glanced up and saw Toby floating near the ceiling. Her stomach dropped.
‘Oh…no…’ she groaned.
Jess suddenly remembered that Beth told her this morning how much Toby loved dancing, and that he had begun copying her movements. He must have watched her practising the moves and just happened to babble the right words.
‘Great, even a baby is better at magic than me,’ Jess said, running her fingers through her hair in despair.
Toby was cackling and zooming around the ceiling. Suddenly, he spied all the things that had been moved carefully out of his reach.
Jess and Toby both noticed the open biscuit tin at the same time. ‘Oh, hell no,’ said Jess as she darted towards it, but she was too slow.
Jess had just removed the lid to the tin when Toby became airborne. Now Toby had a fistful of biscuits and floated back out of reach to munch away contentedly.
Jess quickly flicked through her spellbook to find the landing spell, swearing under her breath. She knew little kids were observant, but this was more than she bargained for.
‘Here it is,’ she said.
Beginner Levitation Exercise: First Landing
Extend your arms out to the sides.
Step your legs apart to form a star shape.
Speak the words aloud: “Deorsum eo.”
‘Here Tobes, can you copy what I’m doing?’ She danced around underneath the toddler, moving her arms and legs in and out.
‘Repeat after me, clever boy. Deorsum eo. Deorsum eo. Deorsum eo.’
But Toby wasn’t paying attention. He’d finished his biscuits and was now batting the ceiling fan and watching it spin.
Jess briefly wondered if she should do the flying spell so she could go up and grab him. But then she decided it might be safer to stay underneath and try to catch him in case he fell. She just hoped Beth didn’t come home while he was still floating in the air. Beth was her oldest friend, but even she would draw the line at discovering Jess was a witch who accidentally taught her son how to fly.
Jess spent a stressful hour chasing Toby around the house. She had made sure all the doors and windows were shut and locked. It was hard enough trying to catch him. The last thing she needed was him getting outside.
Toby was blissfully unaware, in the way toddlers are, zipping around and examining all the things usually out of his reach. She kept making the arm and leg movements and repeating the landing spell, hoping that Toby would copy her again.
Finally, Toby’s eyes started to droop, and he looked like he was ready for nap time. He started to drift down towards the floor, where Jess caught him and held him in her arms. She wasn’t sure if it would work, but she moved his arms and legs in the correct movements while helping him say the words. She finally felt his full weight settle down in her arms and sighed a massive sigh of relief. Finally, he was no longer airborne.
Toby cuddled into Jess and was asleep in minutes.
Jess sank down onto the couch in relief and was happy to just cuddle the sleeping toddler on her lap.
The rest of the day passed without incident.
When Beth got home later that day, Toby crawled up to her and spread his arms out, ‘fwy fwy!’
Beth laughed, scooped him up and zoomed him around the room like an aeroplane. ‘What did Auntie Jess teach you today?’ she asked him.
‘Ell no,’ he chipped happily.
Beth stared at Jess. ‘Did he just say ‘hell no’?’
Jess grimaced. ‘Oh no. I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realise I said it.’
Beth smiled. ‘It’s okay. You wouldn’t believe half the things he is starting to do now. You have to be so careful around him. He’s like a sponge.’
‘Haha. I’ll definitely keep that in mind.’ Jess shoved her textbooks deeper into her bag.
I would love to hear your thoughts on my story.
What have you accidentally taught a toddler?
If you’re reading this via email, please open it in the Substack app or browser to like, comment, or restack.
Every like, comment, and restack helps me earn points in this challenge.
Thank you for supporting flash fiction and indie writers!
← Read Day 2 What Feeds the Forest
Read Day 4 → A Purr-plexing Mystery
So cute! Reminds me of the day we taught my daughter her first levitation spell! Great memories!
Years ago my friends taught their first baby sign language. They initially loved it, but didn't follow through with the second. When I asked they said, "Have you tried arguing with a toddler? Now imagine doing that with a baby with even less understanding of the world." - 'Why can't I fly like birdy?' was one they had to try and explain....