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simple word. I’ve pronounced it every way I can think of.”
    Jenna stroked her chin. It reminded Leesa of the way Dominic used to stroke his short beard when he was thinking.
    “Well, it must be something else then,” Jenna said. “What did Dominic tell you was the most important thing when trying to use a spell?”
    Leesa thought for a moment. Dominic had taught her so many things.
    “To visualize as clearly as I can exactly what I want to make happen,” she replied finally. “I’m trying to do that, but it’s not working.”
    Jenna nodded. “I think I might know why.” She squatted down and gently fingered one of the leaves on the weed Leesa had made grow. “Even though you’ve never actually seen a plant grow—it happens much too slowly—you instinctively know that they do grow, and you’ve seen them in all stages of their growth. So your visualization is positive and accurate, on both a conscious and unconscious level.” She straightened up. “The same can’t be said of a rock. You know for a fact that rocks like this DON’T grow. I think something in your subconscious is messing up your visualization.”
    Leesa thought about the witch’s words. They made sense. Unfortunately, they were also somewhat disheartening.
    “So what do I do about it? It’s pretty tough to control my subconscious.”
    Jenna smiled. “Yes, it is. But I think I may have an idea.” She bent down and cupped her hands over the front of the rock. “Watch closely. Keep your eyes on the rock, not on my hands.”
    Jenna closed her eyes and began making a series of movements with her hands and fingers over the stone. Leesa kept her eyes fastened on the rock, not letting herself get distracted by Jenna’s gestures. Rave got up off the log and moved closer, wanting a better view of whatever was about to happen.
    Slowly, the rock began to grow. At first, Leesa wasn’t sure she was actually seeing what she thought she was seeing, but soon there was no doubt. The stone became fifty percent bigger and continued to grow. When it was twice as large as it had been, Jenna stopped moving her hands and opened her eyes. She stood up.
    “I don’t believe it!” Leesa exclaimed. “You made it grow. I didn’t know witches had this same power.”
    “Well, not exactly,” Jenna said. “Go ahead, touch it.”
    Leesa bent down and tried to lay her hand upon the top of the rock. To her surprise, her palm passed right through the stone. As soon as it did, the rock reverted to its former size. Leesa looked up at Jenna, a perplexed look on her face.
    “I don’t understand. What happened?”
    “I don’t have the power to make rocks grow,” Jenna explained. “That’s not a witch power. But we’re very good with illusions. I simply made the rock appear to grow. When your hand discovered the rock was not really what it seemed, the illusion fell apart.”
    Leesa straightened up. “I think I understand. But how does this help me? I don’t want to learn how to make illusions. I need to figure out how to make the darn thing grow for real.”
    Jenna’s lips curved into a patient smile. “Think about what we were discussing before I created the illusion.”
    Leesa thought back. They had been talking about her subconscious getting in the way, about how she instinctively knew rocks did not grow. She frowned—there had to be more to it than that. She looked at Jenna, who was watching her silently.
    “You said my subconscious was probably messing me up,” Leesa said. “How is your illusion supposed to help that?”
    “Think about it,” Jenna replied. “What problem was your subconscious causing?”
    “We thought it might be keeping me from properly visualizing what I wanted,” Leesa said. Suddenly, her face brightened. She had it—she hoped.
    “You showed me the illusion of the stone growing so that I could visualize it,” she said. “My conscious mind and my subconscious have now seen a rock grow, even if it was only an illusion.