Arithmetic- In The Beginning

I don't remember much. I remember sitting, in a rowboat, with my sisters. I couldn't see where we were, but it looked like we were in the clouds. The men rowing the boat were magicians. They had made the boat fly. They had tied rope around my sisters and me, all of us sitting different directions, so we could all see out at the sky, but they wouldn't have to worry about us falling out. My older sister had made a lot of noise, so they put a piece of cloth in her mouth. I think they were afraid that she'd scare away the birds.

The magicians dropped us off at the side of the road the next morning. They talked quickly and quietly to each other. They left without untying. They had heard something snap--I could tell from the way they looked up so quickly. One jumped back into the boat, grabbing the oars, the other pushed the boat off of the shore and jumped in after the boat was in the water. Then they vanished. I never saw them again. They really were amazing magicians.

I don't know what the magicians heard that had scared them away so, because nothing came. We sat and sat and sat, my older sister still trying to spit out the piece of cloth. I watched eagerly as the clouds lifter off the water, hoping to see my magicians again. They were gone. They really could fly.