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Thread: [Original Short Fiction] Real Magic

  1. #1
    Slime
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    Default [Original Short Fiction] Real Magic

    Not back yet from vacation and I promise to get to more feedback on my fellow writers fics too...but I'd thought I'd try something new with some original fiction that I've previously written. This has already appeared on another writing board as my entry in a writer's challenge and it got third place. As it's my original work, it's my copyright (under pen name D.A.Calvins) and it should not be reproduced outside this board without my permission. (Nexon doesn't own it-surprise surprise...;) ). I know we won't see too much original work since this IS a Maple Story board after all, but I'd thought I'd throw it out there anyway to see if it catches anyone's interest.

    Some aspects of this piece heavily influenced me when I wrote my fanfic, "Dreams Made from Maple"; and while it really is a completely different story, I'm sure some readers can tell how some elements from this story were used in my fanfic. Thanks for reading!


    REAL MAGIC


    He had finished 3 hands of solitaire. Sun was setting and Libby still hadn’t come back. Josh gathered the cards up one more time and began shuffling.

    I’m going to be late.

    He didn’t really care about that though. What mattered now were the little sounds his stomach was making.

    There has to be something I can have before dinner.

    He looked at the electric oven humming steadily at 300 degrees. There was meat cooking in there, but he was told by his older sister that it was for later. He should appreciate it more than he did. Libby rarely got to cook. Graveyard shift at the diner meant she usually came home and crashed right into her room. Josh always commented how she lived like a vampire. Now that she’s dayshift now she could cook more.

    Josh wrinkled his nose and turned the oven light on. He couldn’t see a thing past the grease-covered window. Meat didn’t even smell yet. Probably so raw it’s still meowing. He opened the door slightly to see a brisket, lightly coated in sauce and rosemary. He snorted in reluctant admiration. Who knew Libby could cook if she wasn’t too tired? It was almost done, but still too rare.
    There were still a few slices of pepperoni from yesterday. Crook Lawyer wanted a few more signatures, but treated them to pizza.

    Yeah. Grab a crapload of money and give us a pizza.

    A steak knife from the sink was clean enough and he wiped it on his napkin before cutting a slice. He held it and looked at the dried cheese wondering about the consequences of eating a slice now.

    Libby’s going to go apes*** if I eat when there’s a brisket cooking.

    “I’m hungry, Hannah.”

    Josh froze. His slice of pizza hung uncertainly before him. He kept silent trying to make the voice go away, but knowing he couldn’t. Somewhere deep, the boiling rage leapt out, but quickly dissipated into his bitter despair. How many years has it been this way?

    “I’ll be right there,” he answered calmly. Didn’t even touch his food an hour ago and now he wants more? He glanced helplessly out the window. Still no sign of Libby.

    He was going to be late and he had to deal with this too?

    “Hannah! I’m hungry!”

    Crap. Potatoes were cold and the brisket was probably going to be another hour. She promised she’d be back in time to give him a ride.

    “You might be able to cook, but your promises are full of it,” Josh said aloud to nobody in particular. Just because she wasn’t coming in anymore at 5AM didn’t mean she had adjusted well to the day shift.

    He looked quickly about the kitchen. Piles of dishes lay unwashed in the sink and a loaf that time forgot lay on the breakfast table, the insides of the plastic wrap liberally dusted green.

    A few Granny Smiths were in the fruit basket and Josh grabbed one.
    Leftover pizza cheese still clung to the serrated steak knife as he peeled the green apple. A few marks of tomato sauce stained the white flesh, but all the slices went onto the plate and he headed toward the living room.
    His dad’s old chair was turned away from him and set close to the fire. He was hunched close to the fire. It was amazing he never torched himself from the flames. The TV was on with his favorite show.

    God. Who in their right mind actually likes the A-Team these days? he thought. A memory surfaced of him on his dad’s lap watching this very show. He didn’t think there was any more guilt in him, but these days it kept coming back.

    “Hannah!” Frank’s voice rose trying to get above the television. “I’m hungry!”

    “Shut up! I’m coming and stop calling for mom!” Josh froze two steps away from the back of the chair. A silence fell down and the whole weight pressed against Josh’s mind. Josh winced as he realized what he said. Idiot.

    “Hannah?” the voice was tinged with uncertainty now. “Is Josh home?”

    “Yeah, I’m home.” No good trying to inject any reality into his dad’s world right now. His dad still believed his wife was still around. One time when Josh tried to tell him, the old man had completely freaked and tried to come at him with a baseball bat. Josh came closer to leaving than ever before. That was two years ago now.

    “Josh!” Frank’s voice barked.

    “Dad?” Josh asked incredulously. He knelt down by the fire and gazed at the chair trying to see if he heard right. His dad had been lucid before, but it never lasted more than a few moments.

    “What are you doing with that knife?”
    Josh realized he still held the steak knife in his hand.

    “Don’t ever touch sharp knives until you’re older!” Frank bellowed. Josh leapt back, dropping the knife and the plate of apple slices. “Get out of here!”
    He left the food where it lay and stormed back to the kitchen. He sat down at the table and put his head in his hands.
    I got to let him go. I can’t take this. This wasn’t what I wanted. I want my life back.

    “Hannah! I’m hungry!”
    Josh stayed buried in his hands.
    The living room went silent.

    “Josh?”

    “Yeah, what do you want?” he tried to keep the sob away, but failed.

    “C’mon. I know you’ll be more careful next time. Why don’t you play your violin for me again? Play ‘Twinkle Twinkle’.”

    You couldn’t tell “Twinkle Twinkle” from the “Schoenberg Phantasy” even before the Alzheimer, he thought savagely.

    Josh looked at the battered violin case in the corner. A Cremona was the best they could afford. Little more than a toy, he hadn’t picked it up for 3 years now. He had only started again a month ago. Libby said he still made it sound like a Stradivarius. Libby knew s*** about violins. He’d kill to play real Strad. He’d even give a good maiming for an hour with a Doetsch or even an Andreas Eastman. Still, the glorified toy was just enough to get him in the door for a Julliard audition. That is, good enough until his mom passed away.

    “No song today? That’s too bad. Hey, want to see a magic trick?”

    God. Not again. Josh loved the stupid tricks when he was little. The stupid coin in the ear trick. The stupid detachable thumb trick. The stupid card tricks. He loved every one of them and it was just salt in the wound hearing his dad trying to do them now.

    “Take a card from the deck and I’ll guess it right!”
    Josh grabbed the top card of his solitaire deck. He didn’t look at it and just put it face down next to him. He felt stupid. The trick didn’t work if you didn’t stack the deck to begin with.

    “Is it the four of diamonds?”

    “Yeah it’s the four of diamonds.”

    “Come on! You didn’t even look!”

    “I don’t have to look. Your magic doesn’t work.”
    Can’t you ever do real magic? Why couldn’t you have stayed the way you were? You were going to see me make you proud. Are you proud that I have to wipe you off every time you take a dump?

    The tears flowed easier now.

    What kind of ingrate wishes his dad was gone so he could live his own life?

    “Turn the card over.”

    “Stop asking me that. You can’t do magic.”

    “It’s okay. Turn the card over. Four of diamonds right?”

    You can’t do magic!

    “Turn the card over. If I’m right, you owe me a song.”
    He didn’t know how much longer his dad would stay like this. It almost felt…normal.

    “Please tell me what the card is, son.”

    Josh turned the card over and stared at the 4 crimson diamonds embossed on the card. A great whoop of surprise erupted somewhere deep within him though it only brought out a smile and a chuckle at the absurdity of it.

    “Josh.”
    Josh opened his eyes and got up from the chair. Libby stood at the kitchen doorway.
    “Josh, are you ready? The audition is at six, remember?” She looked tired, but with a smile at least. She turned off the oven as she grabbed his violin case. He didn’t answer her and silently walked away into the living room. “Josh? What’s the matter?” She followed him. Large brown eyes gazed sympathetically at him as she found him gently stroking the faded fabric of the chair by the fire. “Don’t keep beating yourself up about dad. You knew 5 years ago that he wasn’t expected to last even as long as he did. Wherever he is now, I’m sure he’s thankful of all you’ve sacrificed for us and even prouder that you’re trying to get your old scholarship back.”

    She adjusted the old family snapshot on the mantle and turned the gas off to the fireplace. The flames flickered for a moment more before they went out.

    “Come on. It’s time to go. We’ll celebrate after you ace your audition.”
    He held her quietly for a long moment before finally stepping back and taking his violin from her hand.
    Josh looked one more time at the empty chair by the fire and quietly pocketed the card still in his hand.

    “What’s that?”

    “Just a little real magic for luck. I owe dad a song.”


    The End
    I don't want to be a god. I just want to bring fire to the people.
    And I want my cut.

  2. #2
    Jr. Necki Tangknight96's Avatar
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    W00t another one by Slerotin:D
    Perfect world international open beta has started!!! Too bad they PWIPED our closed beta characters =[. Gotta start grinding again.

    ___
    Dream MS(private server) char: lvl198 Shadower

  3. #3
    Jr. Necki
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    Unfortunately, I spent my entire vacation clearing the site of my new house, which I recently moved into. We had to get rid of the old trees.

  4. #4
    Jr. Necki
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    Well, despite the fact that you spent a lot of time, now I'm sure that you have a very good and beautiful area around the house. In general, removing old trees is important because they can fall and damage something. In addition, now it is not necessary to cut down trees, for example, here you can read different ways to get rid of trees.

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