At home, all was quiet. Kelly must have had other plans. Sam went to her bedroom and picked up the wooden box from her dresser. Sitting on the edge of her bed with the box on her lap she spread her fingers to touch the full width of its carved surface. Immediately the wood went from yellowish brown to rich gold. The varnish began to glow and soon the red, blue and green cabochon stones sparkled with light. In under two minutes the surface warmed, then became hot. She pressed down, the heat practically singeing her palms. Her hands flew away from the box and she waved them in the air for relief. The energy traveled into her legs and spread throughout her body. Her heart raced. Gingerly, she picked up the box with her fingertips and set it back on the dresser. Deep breath. Another. “Ready,” she said to herself as she strode toward the back door. In the kitchen she picked up an apple and a protein bar. Not much of a dinner, but she wolfed it down on the way to the shop. Small forget-me-nots and fluffy multi-layered roses magically slid from her fingers to the drying racks as she worked the pliable white fondant.
