"This means that you have magic powers!"
☆

"Is it still there?" Matty questions as he and Joy find their way to a seat on the coach and sit down. 

Joy opens her bag for what felt like the millionth time. "Yes Matty, it's still there and it will be there until I actually give it back to you." She says, rolling her eyes. 

Matty's lips tense up slightly as he glares at his friend through squinted eyes. He knew deep down that he was onto something if no one else believed him.

There was a lot of noisy commotion on the journey home. Rumours were circulating like wildfire about  Mark apparently wetting the bed and Ross supposedly having a 'peanut dick'. 

Matty just stayed quiet. He felt unsettled by it all. Had he somehow caused these rumours? As much as he didn't care for either of his classmates and yes, a taste of their own medicine probably would do them good, it still wasn't nice to be the subject of negative gossip, no matter who you were.

***

It isn't until later that evening that Matty has the courage to undo his suitcase and empty his back pack. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest, in two minds of what he felt the two outcomes would be. The first, the most realistic, no blanket, how could it possibly be in his bag? Not only himself, but his friend had also witnessed him put it in Joy's possession. But option two? What if it was in Matty's case? What if his blanket did possess magical powers?

Matty could feel his breathing quicken as he unzips his backpack and empties the contents onto the bed. He looks down at the opened and empty packets of snacks, his baseball cap and his creased up hoodie lay on his duvet. From first glance, Matty could see no blanket. He pushes the items around a little, but it's definitely not there.

Next it was his case. He hauls it up to the bed, letting it rest on its side. Slowly and apprehensively, Matty begins to pull apart the two zips. His pulse drums in his ears as he eventually pulls the two zips completely apart. Next, he takes his hands to the flap of the case and closes his eyes, mentally counting in his head, one, two, three...

Matty jumps slightly at the sudden sound of the house phone ringing. It makes him open his eyes before he is ready. He looks down at the case. It's a messy jumble, but he doesn't need to search for what he is looking for.

"Matty? Matty!" He can hear his mother calling his name up the stairs. Matty cannot take his eyes from the item sitting on top of his clothes in the case. "Matty! Are you listening to me? Joy is on the phone!"

"Ok mum!" Matty shouts back. His quivering voice is trying to sound as calm as possible. He soon hears his mum pad up the stairs to his bedroom, knocking lightly before pushing the slightly open door just enough to pass the cordless phone through. 

Matty half smiles as he takes the phone from his mother's grasp. He then waits for her to disappear out the door and head back down the stairs before turning his attention to the caller. 

"Joy..."

"Matty...it's not here. It's not in my bag!" 

"I know." Matty replies, gripping the phone tightly in his grasp. "It's here in front of me." Matty looks warily at the seemingly harmless material as it rests on the pile of unpacked clothes. 

"Oh my God! Matty do you know what this means?"  

Matty almost feels lost for words. What did this mean? "Uuh, that I have gone crazy?" He deduces, still trying to get his head around the whole thing. 

"No Matty. This means that you have magic powers!" 

Matty finds his friend's words amusing. "Joy I don't know what's going on here, but I don't have magic powers." He continues to gaze at the blanket on the bed. A sudden apprehension surrounding his thoughts towards it. Was this really happening? Was he really going insane?

"Joy, what do I do now?" Matty asks a little nervously, edging closer to the fabric which once upon a time gave him security, but was now giving him the jitters.  He pokes it with a finger a couple of times, seeing if it will move, before grabbing it in his fist. It looks as it always does in his grasp. Motionless and ordinary.

"Try hiding it again, see if it comes back."

Matty nods, followed by his answer. "Ok. I'll do it tonight and I'll ring you tomorrow to tell you what happened." He ends the call, taking the phone and his blanket down the stairs. 

After putting the phone back in its stand, Matty heads to the cupboard under the stairs. He crawls to the furthest point and finds an old carrier bag. Matty pushes the blanket inside, wrapping the bag around itself and pushes it to the furthest point in the cupboard. He then heads back up the stairs, trying his best to forget what he had just done, what it could mean and what he would do about it if his suspicions turned out to be true.

That night in bed, Matty tries his hardest not to go to sleep. He is sat up in bed, arms folded, his eyes staring intently at his door. Matty wanted to witness this magic first hand. He wanted to see with his own eyes the blanket do its magical thing, but it was way past his bedtime and his eyes were getting so heavy. 

He had woken himself up three times already, but each time he nodded off, it got harder and harder to wake himself up. 

Eventually sleep takes him as Matty slowly scoochers down into the sheets. He doesn't witness the thin slither of light below the door momentarily being blocked by something crawling under it, making its way with ease through the slight crack. Circling up the leg of his bed and disappearing under the sheets by his feet, only to reappear by his head on the pillow.