“A penny saved
is a penny earned.”
-Genghis Khan*
Decided I would
start a “quote a day” thing on my blog. I figure it would
supplement me just saying I'm writing. I thought I'd do it when I
remembered how much I loved hearing good quotes. Those awesome things
people say either in real life or those perfect lines uttered by
characters in your favorite stories. Speaking of stories, onto the
flash fiction!
Spell
Copyright
The
prosecutor's voice boomed throughout the courthouse. “Jury, please
look at the spell components on the evident table before you. These
are copies of the components used in the spells of both my client and
the defendant. Surrounded by the white tape are the components used
by my client. Surrounded by the black tape are the ones used by the
defendant. Notice how similar they are? This is my case behind the
fact that the defendant copied my client's spell.”
“They're
completely different!” I yelled back to him. Crap, I can't believe
I yelled. So unprofessional. I bet the jury now thinks I look
childish or like an idiot. Which is bad because its all about
impressions here. This is a case of whether or not my defendant
copied a spell. The only evidence is the spell components and her
word. She's already testified. I'm very good at telling when people
are lying, but I don't have any proof that she did or didn't. She was
so shy that I didn't get details though.
“Really?”
The prosecutor said while brushing a hair off his obnoxious red suit.
“Let's list them off shall we? I'll start with my clients: Rubies,
imp hair, pixie dust, leprechaun gold, dragon scales, and finally
pickles. The perfect ingredients for a resurrection spell. Now please
Mr. Gregson, list off your clients.”
I nervously
looked down. “Rubies, imp hair, pixie dust, leprechaun gold, dragon
scales, and...pickles.” I clenched my fist. It was a nervous habit
of mine. If I lost another case I bet nobody would ever hire me
again.
The prosecutor
smiled. “Well, looks like with the spell components I've shown that
the defendant, your client, copied my client's resurrection spell.”
I clenched my
fist again then I looked at him. “Wait, repeat that last part.”
The prosecutor
then asked, “What? Oh, I've shown that your client copied my
client's resurrection spell?”
I then smiled.
“Yes! That's it! Jury, I might point out that his client's spell
isn't Resurrection, it is a spell that results in resurrection.
Resurrection is a result of a spell, not a spell itself, and your client cannot claim
dominion over it!” I straightened up my blue suit. I felt much more
confident.
The prosecutor
then laughed. “Do you really have a magical law degree? Right now
it seems you're trying to make this all into a public spell domain
trail. Well here's some news for you. First off, the only spells that
wizards and witches cannot claim legal dominion over having invented
are ones granted by the gods, arch-beings such as angels and demons,
summoned creatures, ancient clans, or before the year one thousand
and six of the Merlin calender when intellectual property over spell
ownership was granted. There are other sources for spells that cannot
be owned, but those exceptions would take several hours to explain
since they all involve very specific cases determined by courts.”
The prosecutor smiled. “I don't care if the spell resulted in
fluffy bunnies shooting lighting. Same spell components, same spell.
It's basic magic. It's like a book, same words, same story.”
“Crap!”
Extra crap. I said crap aloud. I looked over to my client who was
actually sinking into her chair she seemed to be using some spell to
make her self less visible. I clenched my fist. It was so hard it
almost hurt a little. I wish I had a more normal nervous habit like
wiggling your foot.
The judge then
looked me in the eyes. “Mr. Gregson, do you have any other
arguments? Because from the sounds of it you do not.”
“U-um...” I
stuttered. My client wouldn't say a word. She would hardly say
anything to me privately so she couldn't possibly provide anything to
the court. I at least had to stall until I came up with something
more solid. “W-what I was leading to was that since we're talking
about spell results what proof do you have that my client cast your
client's spell?”
The Judge
looked at me. “He already told you, the spell components.”
The prosecutor
laughed. “Yes, are you poor of hearing Mr. Gregson?”
“N-no.” I
responded. “It's just... you have never shown us any proof that my
client ever cast your clients spell. All of you've shown us is spell
components.”
The prosecutor
rolled his eyes. “This must be your idea of stalling Mr. Gregson.
Don't think I'm stupid enough not to see that. Think I could actually
get all this into court without having proof your client cast the
spell? As you are aware original spells are hard to come up with
these days so purchases by wizards and witches of spell components
are monitored. If you track their spell components then you know
their spells. She purchased all the components for the spell. Then
the spell was cast. Resurrection spells are a big deal naturally so
the wizards on duty looked into how it was performed, looked up the
purchase records and found out she purchased all the components.”
I then
responded. “Were there any witnesses?”
“Oh, trying
to find a hole eh? Yes there were.” The prosecutor smiled. “It
was the owners of the cat that was resurrected. The resurrection
spell is a minor one, though my client insisted that not be brought
up it looks like you made me. Now she looks that much weaker as a
witch.”
“B-but...”
Looks like that got me nowhere.
The prosecutor
glared at me. “Your little tangent was nothing but a waste of time.
We're back at square one. The spell was cast. The spell components
were purchased. And because of the purchase records we have exact
replicas, of the exact quantities of the components used by both
parties. I have proof of everything.”
“Wait...what
you just said...” I mumbled.
The prosecutor
groaned. “Are you a fan of making me repeat myself?”
I rushed over
to the table of the components.
The Judge said
to me, “Just what are you doing?”
I grinned.
“Yes! There is a difference!”
The prosecutor
glared at me. “What is the meaning of this? Are you bluffing to
stall for time again? I won't have that! And for rushing over to the
table with the evidence? That's just unprofessional! You should be
held in contempt of court for all your outbursts!”
The Judge
looked at the prosecutor. “Now you're the one having outbursts.
Let's hear him out.”
I then replied,
“Thank you, Your Honor. Now then the prosecution may be right that
all the spell component types are the same. But see, there is one
crucial difference in the spell components. And thanks to the
prosecutions ability to replicate the purchases perfectly I was able
to see that.” I gave an arrogant smile to the prosecution. I'm a
lawyer. I have to do that at least once in my life. “The amount of
the components is different.”
“What?” The
prosecution came over the table with all the spell components laid
out.
I continued
with my well earned defense, “At the start of this trial you gave a
brief list of the components without mentioning quantities. But
really the component lists should be, your client: four rubies,
three strands of imp hair, two pinches of pixie dust, two coins of
leprechaun gold, three dragon scales, and... four pickles. Then next
it should be, my client: three rubies, four strands of imp hair,
seven pinches of pixie dust, three coins of leprechaun gold, two
dragon scales, and... two pickles.”
“No!” the
prosecution yelled, “You're supposed to be villains! She's supposed
to be a criminal, and you're supposed to be a vile man keeping her
out of jail just for a paycheck! You can't be right! I spend years at
magic law school, days of investigation and preparation, to make sure
I always get the villain, I'm never wrong!” He then pounded his
fist on the evidence table. “No!”
The
prosecution's client then said, “It's okay, I don't care about the
royalties on the spell. I just thought she was a thief, it was the
principle of the thing don't worry. I'm sure you were right about
everything else. You can still prosecute. Just take a chill pill. I
mean where was that tough guy from earlier?”
The prosecution
then turned around and yelled, “That was an act to stress him out!
That's what I always do!” He then teared up a little. “I can't
handle this stress anymore! Out of the two hundred cases I've done
this is the only one I've ever lost! Come on Cuddly Justice! We're
getting out of here!” The prosecutor then ran over to his desk and
pulled a teddy bear from beneath it and ran out bawling.
I then said,
“Well, didn't see that coming.” Then after a minute of silence of awkward silence passed in the courtroom I
said, “So wait, do we have to wait for him to come back before the
jury can vote? I'm not sure if that counts as the prosecution coming
to rest...”
This work is
copyright Langdon Kennedy you may share this(email it, print it, post
it on your own website, broadcast it etc.) work unaltered as long as
you credit me as the author and share a link to this blog with it and
it is not for profit. If you have any questions and/or are unclear of
these conditions email me at
llkenne1@asu.edu
