The smell of eggs, bacon, and toasted bread hit him as he reached the first few steps of the stairs. Jason descended the narrow stairs to the kitchen on the first floor. The old farmhouse squeaked as if settling from the night. The sound of the news from the old box of a TV in the kitchen as he entered. “And as the interstate support programs project for improving and restoring the hydropower dams and canals in the 4 states continue, environmental activists say that the program could endanger the various fish”

  The sound stopped as his mother, a woman named Samantha, switched the channel. At the table, the few graying hairs his dad had left on his head bob up and down as he gestured while saying, “The tractors on the fritz again. I think it might be the software this time.” His mom, slowly moving her brown hair out of her face, uncovering her burnt right ear, asked, “Do you think we can afford to fix it?” Concern evident in the way her eyebrows subtly knit together.

  “I don't know. We might if we sell the…” His dad stopped halfway through his answer as he noticed that Jason had entered the room. His mother looked at him and smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She said in that ever-present warm tone of hers, “Good morning hun. Breakfast is on the stove, and the bread is in the bread box. Now eat. I know you were up late last night, but you gotta pack for school.”

  He smiled back at her and thanked her. As he sat down in the worn wooden chair, casting concerned looks at his parents as they tried to force the conversation elsewhere. The ever-present tightness in Jason's chest became slightly more noticeable at the thought of another round of financial issues. He still remembered how his mother had sold most of the guns in the house after that, and that she still kept the key to the ones they did have.

  As he finished his breakfast and stood to put the dishes in the sink, his mom said, “Also, remember to take your sister with you when you go to school. You might need to get her head out of those books first though. She's been reading all morning again. Not that I am complaining.”

  “Sure thing mom. Is she in her room?” His mom, who had sat down to eat her own breakfast, paused for a second before saying. “No, she's in the living room, I think. At least that's where I saw her last. Don't shout for her, you will wake your grandfather.”

  As Jason walked down the hall to the living room, he passed the shaking and too-loud washing machine, which should probably have been replaced last year when it broke. Luckily, his cousin had managed to “fix” it, though there was still something wrong with the damn thing.

  When he got to the living room, the slim shape of his sister was sitting on the floor in front of the living room table. Her long dark brown hair blocking her face as she seemed to read and take frantic notes from the book in front of her, her laptop open to something, but he couldn't see what it was.

  “Hey kido, what are you working on there?” He asked as he tussled her hair in an attempt to wrestle her attention away from her little project. “STOP it, and I am not a kid, I am 15.” His sister, Sophia, said with indignation that sounded slightly forced. “I am just looking at some stuff.“ She looked up at him and then rolled her eyes before continuing, ”I am trying to figure out what I need to know to get into that conservatory in Pocahontas. But the conservatory is part of the federal magic regulatory board, so it's really hard to find anything concrete.Like I wanted to try some of it myself. Though I guess the point is that I am not supposed to do that.”

  “Wait, a conservatory is like a music school, right. You haven't played any instrument since you were six. And from what I remember, Miss Jackson came over because the noise was disturbing her cows. What's with the sudden interest, and what does that have to do with magic?” He asked in a slightly confused tone.

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  His sister looked at him with a deadpan expression, like she wasn't sure what to do with a question she considered exceptionally stupid. She gave a small sigh and then answered, “No, dumbass. I mean, yeah, most conservatories are for music, but this one is for training in witchcraft. You know, magic light.”

  Jason looked at her, slightly confused about her sudden little outburst. “Well, no matter what it is, we have to go to school. So pack your stuff.” At that, she looked at the clock before muttering something frantic under her breath. As she got up, she seemed to be rushing upstairs to get her stuff. Speaking more loudly, but not shouting, he said, “ Don't forget your broom.”

  Having packed his stuff, Jason walked out to the rusted-down pickup parked by the barn. As he got in, the comforting faint smell of gasoline and dust tickled his nose. The engine coughed as he turned the key.

  He sighed in frustration and mumbled, “Not again. Come on, just start. Please”. Another turn of the key, another series of coughs. He smacked the dashboard far harder than he had meant to. Deciding to see if it helped, he turned the key again, and with that final turn of the key, the engine finally started. He carefully rubbed his hand on the side of his pants, trying to get rid of the slight stinging sensation in his palm. Giving out a sigh of relief.

  As he drove up to the front door of the old farmhouse, his sister came running down the steps with her backpack hanging off one shoulder. She did the rather weird handshake-like motion needed to open the passenger door. Sitting down in the seat next to him, she looked at him and said, “Let's go, we might be late.” Jason then put the gear in first, took his foot off the brake, and drove down the drive way on to the road into town.

  Watching the trees pass by as they drove through the surrounding forest between the farm and the town of Fairvern, Jason wondered what his parents had been talking about this time. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good.

  Hopefully, it won't be as bad as last time. I don't think any of us will handle that properly. He thought to himself, not really thinking about the tightening in his chest. Nor did he think about the way the sunlight played through the canopy on the road ahead of them as he normally would have done.

  Trying to change the topic, he decided that he would ask his sister about what she had talked about before they left. Assuming a forced cheery tone, he asked. “So, the conservatory thing you want to get into. What's the deal with that?”

  Sophia looked up from her phone, the screen cracked at the edges, though it still worked. “It's not like it would be soon or anything. It would be after I finish high school, they don't take in students younger than that normally. Well, not here, in Scandinavia most start alot younger, but we don't do that here. Anyways a theurgist is like a proper witch. There are like really few of them, next to none. So it's crazy hard to get in.”

  Jason took a brief second to look at his sister, the way her hands seemed to fidget with her phone. She always did that when she was thinking. He asked, “Is it expensive?”

  Sophia seemed to hesitate a moment longer than normal before saying, “Yeah, it is. Unless I get an apprenticeship, but that's rare. I don't… I don't know if I am good enough to actually do that. There are, like, loans and grants and stuff, but it would still be expensive.”

  Jason glanced at his sister, noticing the tension in her shoulders. “Hey, I am sure we can find a way to help cover the tuition. I'll help even if I have to take on another job, we have years to save for it, and it's not like I'm getting into college anyway. Let us help, don't let your pride stop you from going for it, you won't be a burden.”

  Sophia's shoulder seemed to relax slightly. “Thanks, Jason. I will try to remember that. But don't tell mom or dad about it yet, we have enough problems with that as it is. I don't want to add this on top of all the other stuff.”

  Deciding not to push the issue, Jason simply smiled at his little sister, feeling a warm sensation in his chest that she was still able to hope for anything so far beyond the horizon.

  As they were driving into Fairvern, they saw a new sign that had come up just on the edge of town proper. It read Fairvern water house restoration project, Now hiring. With the company, West star hydropower. Jason could help but think to himself that maybe that was it, a potential band-aid to their issues.