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The Elbows' is back people!!!
Thursday, February 15. 2007The Nature of Things
He took one look at my scowling face and outstretched arm, and laughed, heartily. "It's about truth, you know. Truth, and respect." He paused for a moment. "Well I suppose that truth and fear work, too, but those who use fear, are usually used by their fear. Truth, though, that's the most important part. That's the part with the power. You don't need the arm waving and the muttering mumbo jumbo." He glanced at the pitcher on the counter and it shattered, spraying shards of glass all over the kitchen. "The arm waving and muttering are for the audience, nothing else. They make weaklings look more impressive. Truth is," he said, glancing at the broken glass, and watching as it gathered itself back up, and assembled itself into a pitcher again, "it's really all about truth and respect." That's when we both noticed that there were still some pieces of glass on the floor, and the pitcher was missing its spout.
"Truth is," I said, grinning, "you're not as good as you think you are." We both laughed as he picked up the broom and started sweeping the remaining shards together. "See, magic is--" "Hold, on," I said, cutting him off mid-sentence. "When did you become an expert? I've never seen you use magic at all, and you've been my roommate through three years of college." "That's the way it's supposed to be. You don't use real magic to make flashes and bangs. You use it to get things done. You use it to get in touch. You use it to, well, I can't think of another sentence that starts with the phrase 'You use it to get.' If I could, it would make this whole spiel of mine more memorable, but yeah, you know what I mean. Magic isn't a show. It's . . . it's just magic, and I don't even like that word. Calling it magic makes it sound mysterious, but really, it's simple. Nothing mysterious about it. Nothing to whisper about in darkened rooms. Nothing to write home to your mom about." "So, you're going to teach me, right?"
He hesitated. "Are you sure that's what you want?" It was my turn to hesitate. "Why wouldn't I?" "When I told you that I was from D'arville, the first thing I expected you to say was, 'so you're one of those witches, huh?' I was so relieved when you didn't. Think about this: we've been roommates for three years. You know what kind of food I like. You know what time I go to bed, and what time I wake up. You know what my favorite cereal is. You know which girls I date, what kind of toothpaste I use, you probably even know what color my underwear are." "So?" "Doesn't it seem just a little bit weird that you know all of that, but you didn't know that I use magic?" "Yeah, it does seem weird. In fact, I think I mentioned that." "There's a reason you don't know." "What, did you put a spell on me?" "No, no. Magic can't do anything like that. You don't know because all my life, I've been taught that it's safer to never let outsiders know that you can do magic. I never should have told you, or let you know what I can do. We're 'civilized' these days, but that doesn't mean that there are no witch hunts. We don't call them that, but somehow, witches manage to die awfully young. And most of them seem to die violent deaths." "Really?" "Yeah." "Why? I mean, there are lots of people that can do magic. Well, there are lots of people who can do the puffs of smoke and flashes of light. I guess you don't consider that magic, though, do you?" "Oh, that's magic, alright. It's just baby magic. That's the stuff that I was doing when I was still in kindergarten. The real stuff, the powerful stuff, it's demanding. You have to constantly watch yourself. Your life, and your abilities depend on your watchfulness. That kind of discipline leads to real power. Discipline always does. And power, real power, frightens the weak." He inhaled deeply, paused, and then blew out his breath loudly. "Anyway, enough of my pontificating. You don't want to learn magic. It's a good way to get hurt." He got up, and started to walk away. "So," I called after him, "it's about truth?" He turned, shaking his head. "Jon, you don't want to do this." "Actually," I said, nodding my head, "I do." Trackbacks
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Daboo on :
[applause]
Ancient of Days on :
I would like to take a moment here to take credit for guilting Johnny back into the fold, as it were. :)
Wren on :
Hook, line, and sinker. And I'm the fish.
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