~5.23~

“Well, then,” the girl said to Laurie, “I guess you know what you have to do, then.”

“What?” Laurie asked. “What do I have to do?”

“Oh… I thought you knew,” the girl said. She sounded disappointed.

“Look, I don’t know anything,” Laurie said.

Her voice was getting louder, less controlled. It echoed off the walls of the buildings around them. It wasn’t that she was no longer at all concerned by the thought that she might be discovered trespassing in somebody’s courtyard. It was simply that other emotions were rising up within her, conflicting with that anxiety.

“Well… that’s the first thing,” the girl said.

“What’s the first thing?”

“Knowing nothing,” the girl said.

“Is this a philosopher thing?” Laurie asked her.

“I think over here, they’re called sorcerers,” the girl said. “I’m pretty sure I heard that somewhere. I don’t know, though… and that’s what’s important. It’s the first magic.”

“Not knowing things… is magic?”

“Of course,” the girl said. “But I don’t have to tell you this. You said: it’s like there’s a door, and there could be anything behind it. As long as you don’t know, anyway. As soon as you find out…” She stuck out a closed fist, then turned it over and opened it, revealing… nothing. “Poof. Nothing. Or not anything terribly interesting anyway.”

“What’s your name?” Laurie asked.

“It could be anything,” the girl said.

“What is it, though?”

“It could be… Eurus,” the girl said. She enunciated the “eu” sound very clearly.

“That sounds Greek,” Laurie said. “It also sounds like a boy’s name. But that’s not your name, is it? It could be your name, but so could anything.”

The girl nodded.

“Name me,” she said.

“Is this a test?” Laurie asked.

“It could be.”

“What happens if I fail it?” Laurie asked.

“Anything could happen,” the girl said. “You don’t know.”

“This is a magic thing, isn’t it?” Laurie asked. “Naming.”

“You don’t know?” the girl prodded her.

“Then I guess it is.”