“Hey, Und. You keep saying you can’t say some words like your name. How do you know English?” Sally asked as she worked on her homework.

  “I don’t,” Und said, “You hear the words in your language. Words that don’t have meaning will be noise.”

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  “Magic?” Sally asked.

  “Of sorts, partly due to the portal,” Und said.

  “Portal,” Sally said absentmindedly.

  “Sally, it’s late. You have a big test tomorrow.” Und reminded her.

  “Oh right,” Sally said, jumping up from her bed. She hit the light switch and jumped into her bed which had been her ritual since she was a child.

  “Good night, Und.”

  “Good night, Sally.”