Not much happened today, just wrote, called my friend Damien for chatting(I don't usually mention when I do that though. It happens from time to time.) and further worked on my books and such. Anyway, onto the flash fiction!
World's Next
Great Caster
Seven dragons
leaped about on the stage. They breathed fire in criss-crossing
patterns. Occasionally one or two of them would fly over the
audience. Each dragon had a different color of scales. In the center
of the stage was a young witch. Each subtle movement of her wand and
magic word she said controlled the dragons. Also beneath her feet was
a summoning circle drawn in chalk by her hands. As soon as her act
was done she licked her finger then wiped away a part of it. The
dragons vanished. The audience clapped as well as the people watching
this live showing at home.
“Good job
Angelica!” yelled Judge Jacob. Judge Jacob was a powerful wizard
who ran his own magic school alongside being a teacher there. He
loved kids and education more than life itself. He started the show
World's Next Great Caster to encourage more people to pursue their
magic
Judge Willa
then smiled. “Wizards and witches across the magical lands will
want to vote for you after that performance. You could be the World's
Next Great Caster!”
“Please,”
groaned Judge Petra, “Don't fill her with false hope.” Petra was
the cynical Judge that many reality show contests considered a
staple. Calling what she said “groaning” would be an
approximation. One of the most interesting parts about her was the
way she spoke. She was a very, very old woman, with a raspy voice.
But the rasp in her voice wasn't like the usual rasp you would expect
from an old person. Instead it was like the rasp from an old record
meeting crumpled paper. And how she “groaned” was like she was
speaking with a prolonged frog's croak in the back of her throat.
Despite all this though her voice did have a small bit of a feminine
tone to it.
Judge Willa
glared at Petra. “Why do you always say those things?”
Petra
responded, “I'm only saying the truth. She has talent, but she has
terrible spell choice.”
Judge Jacob
looked at Petra confused. “What do you mean. You were the one who
backed her the most in the earlier rounds!”
“Yes, I did.”
Petra sighed. Her sigh resembled air leaving a flute without a tune
or tone. “But that was before she just kept using dragon summoning
spells over and over again. How can she expect to entertain the
audience if she keeps doing the same thing even if she keeps
increasing the amount of dragons or their tricks?”
Angelica then
quietly added. “But I love dragons.”
Petra then
responded with a glare. “It doesn't matter what you love. If you
want to win you have to pick different spells. Otherwise you're just
going to be boring and bland.”
Angelica's face
then turned as red as the fire her dragons and breathed. “You know
what screw you! You demean your contestants all the time and give
them so called 'advice' while all you do is sit in a chair! Why don't
you cast a spell for a change?” The two other Judges looked at
Petra waiting for her response. Normally whenever a contestant yelled
at her she would lecture them. The lecture were always quick and her
voice and the tone of voice in her lecture was a sort of sharp
stinging tone. It made the person embarrassed and feel inferior. Over
the seasons that the show aired less and less people had started to
contradict Petra.
This was the first time someone had ever said this
kind of thing to her.
Petra stood up
and walked on stage without a word. Her back was completely straight
while she walked, and odd thing because she slumped while she sat.
She then waved her arm to signal Angelica to get off the stage.
Despite her earlier rage at Petra she complied without any protest
because she was truly a timid girl at heart. Though when Angelica
started to work her way offstage Petra pointed to her own chair.
“Take my seat
Angelica.” Petra said in a calm tone. The other two Judges looked
at each other shocked by the odd calmness in the voice. They were
expecting some sort of lecture or stern comment from their fellow
Judge. “I want you to see everything.” Angelica quickly complied.
Petra then
pulled out her wand. She coughed several times before she began to
utter magic words while waving her wand. She then began to sing her
magic words. But her voice was no longer raspy. It was beautiful. And
it sounded so young and vibrant. The ground then started to rumble as
she continued to wave her wand and utter her magic words.
Then a giant
mirror appeared. And within that mirror every single joyous memory
the onlooker experienced was reflected. Every single member of the
audience saw their own joyous memories in it without the other
audience members seeing it. To animals and everything else the mirror
was actually a normal mirror but to humans the spell caused the
summoned mirror to be a canvas that showed joyous memories, even to
the people who watched the show on TV at home.
She kept
casting the spell for five minutes before growing tired and lowering
her hands and stopping singing her magic words. The mirror
disappeared and the audience just sat in silent awe. Some of them
actually having cried happy tears from those memories shown in the
mirror.
She looked at
Angelica. “You doubted me.” She then looked at the cameras. “Now
that I think about it I think all of you must have doubted my worth
as Judge. But I have shown my skill.” Petra then walked over to
Angelica. “Now could you get out of my chair please? I'm very
tired.” Angelica quickly moved. She was still shocked like everyone
else by the sheer magnitude of the mirror spell. Angelica went next
onto the stage because she had no idea where else to go.
“I'm very
sorry ma'am.” She said bowing her head.
Petra sighed.
“No need to apologize. What you said made sense. But now that I
have shown you my talent and how something different can 'wow' the
audience I hope you take my advice in a different light. I also hope
that I have proven myself worthy of my position.” She coughed.
Casting that spell had taken quite the toll on her.
Angelica
smiled. “I'll take your advice. It'll be good for me to try
something different.”
Petra then
smiled back. “And I think I will be kinder with my words.”
Petra's head then began to bobble and she slumped onto the Judge's
table. She had fallen asleep. The spell had taken that much energy
out of her.
Angelica was
voted through and the next round she did a spell that transformed the
audience all into cats, then dogs, then back into people where she
finished up transforming herself into a werewolf. Petra stayed true
to her word and from then on still told the blunt truth, but always
with a kinder delivery. Though over time Judge Jacob became the
cynical one because of troubles at his magical school. There always
has to be one.
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
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