The problem was that she had a difficult time determining this.

She wished she

could simply use it when the desire hit and there wouldn't be any unforeseen
consequences. Unfortunately, that's not how it worked and the consequences could be
devastating if she accidentally used her magic at the wrong time.
The picket fence had stood for years without any issue. That's all it was. A
simple, white, picket fence. Why it had all of a sudden become a lightning rod
within the community was still unbelievable to most. Yet a community that had once
lived in harmony was now divided in bitter hatred and it had everything to do with
the white picket fence.
It was the best compliment that he'd ever received although the person who gave it
likely never knew. It had been an off-hand observation on his ability to hold a
conversation and actually add pertinent information to it on practically any topic.
Although he hadn't consciously strived to be able to do so, he'd started to
voraciously read the news when he couldn't keep up on topics his friends discussed
because their conversations went above his head. The fact that someone had noticed
enough to compliment him that he could talk intelligently about many topics meant
that he had succeeded in his quest to be better informed.
Sarah watched the whirlpool mesmerized. She couldn't take her eyes off the water
swirling around and around. She stuck in small twigs and leaves to watch the
whirlpool catch them and then suck them down. It bothered her more than a little
bit that this could also be used as a metaphor for her life.
Brenda never wanted to be famous. While most of her friends dreamed about being
famous, she could see the negative aspects that those who wanted to be famous
seemed to ignore. The fact that you could never do anything in public without being
mobbed and the complete lack of privacy was something that she never wanted to
experience. She also had no desire to have strangers speculating about every aspect
of her life and what each thing she did was supposed to mean. Brenda was perfectly
happy with her anonymous life where she could do exactly as she wanted without
anyone else giving a damn. Thus, her overnight Internet celebrity was not something
she was thrilled about as her friends told her how lucky she was.
Sometimes that's just the way it has to be. Sure, there were probably other
options, but he didn't let them enter his mind. It was done and that was that. It
was just the way it had to be.