Michael didn't have much experience with guns, but he had a feeling that he knew why this kid was having such a hard time with his.

"It's the magic," he said, coming up beside him. He had a small cardboard and plastic cylinder in one hand, the kind that held long fireplace matches. "It makes everything not work right. It took me three days to remember how to walk right, but that's ... I'm not human, so. That was its own ball of ... taxes? I think that's how it goes."