A Magical Leap of Faith

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Magical Leap Of Faith: A Leap Year Story in Three Chapters
by Bobbie C

 
Prologue

Hi. My name is Sam Spaulding, police Lieutenant with Brooklyn 99... I mean the 99th precinct of the New York city police. Or was, anyway. I was happy with my life. Well, happy-ish, anyway.

The guys in the precinct liked to call me Sam Spade, after that guy in the movie, on account of, well, my name WAS Sam, after all, and my old partner's name was Miles Archer, like Sam Spade's partner in the movie. Plus I had a sort of lisp, as I sometimes don't pronounce my S's as... crisply as I should, just like Bogart.

But I took it good-naturedly. The guys were only joking around, and I took it as a sign of affection. The people in the nine-nine were good people.

In any case, that's all over now.

- - - -

It all began innocently enough, when the precinct secretary came into my office.

"Yes, sweetheart?" I said to her, half jokingly - Effie knew I only mean for it to be a joke so she wouldn't have taken it against me, and file some sexual harassment complaint with HR.

"There's a girl, wants to see you," Effie said. "Her name's Wonderly."

Hmmm. I never even knew she saw the movie. Well, two can play at this game. I continued playing along.

"Customer?" I asked, smiling, remembering the opening lines from the movie.

"I guess so... You'll want to see her anyway - she's a knockout."

"Show her in, Effie, darling," I said, "show her in."

She then turned back to the door, and ushered someone in. "Do come in, Ms Wonderly," Effie said.

At which point, a girl wearing some sort of costume stepped into my office.

I stood up - a natural reaction, I suppose, given her revealing cosplay attire. Also, why would a cosplay girl visit a police lieutenant's office? Plus the fact that she was incredibly beautiful.

The girl then pulled out a gun and aimed it at me.

"Gun!" I yelled - almost reflex for a cop - and grabbed my own gun. But before I could raise it, she fired.

- - - - -

I slowly woke up, rising from a fog of what I assumed was anesthesia. After all, I've been shot before, and have also woken up in the hospital after being operated on before. It's an occupational hazard.

However, when I woke up, I woke up in bed, but not a bed in a hospital room.

As I came to, my mind also slowly came into focus, and, in hindsight, I started to remember more details. For example, the gun wasn't really a gun - it was more like a toy ray gun - something a girl in a cosplay costume would have had. And instead of a bang and the smell of gunpowder, it was more like a click and the lightning flash from a camera.

"What happened?" I said to no one in particular.

And then I noticed someone else in the room, sitting a few feet away from me - it was the same girl that "shot" me: although she wasn't wearing the costume I saw her in - she was wearing a totally different costume, but equally revealing. But I would have recognized her anywhere, even if she was dressed in a canvas sack.

"She's awake now," the girl, Wonderly, said out into the air.

"Yes, my lady," someone said in a voice that sounded very closely like the girl's responded from somewhere. "We'll be there in a moment."

"Thank you."

Wonderly swiveled around in the chair she was sitting in, and turned back to me.

"I'll give you a minute or so to gather yourself," she said, "and then you can ask me any questions you might have."

I nodded at that and proceeded to look around. The place I was in was clearly a bedroom, a girly kind of room, actually (my ma might have said it was a bit frou-frou) but it had touches that told me something was off. Not the dainty, overly-done quality of it, but...

For example, the TV that was running in the corner, with its volume turned down, was larger than a 110-inch TV - the largest I've ever seen - and it looked more like some modern sculpture in a museum, and the quality of the picture was a bit different. The room was also very well-lighted, but I couldn't see any source for the light, though by the direction of the shadows, the light seemed to be coming from the ceiling (this was aside from the bright afternoon sun spilling out from a big glass window). And there were little knickknacks and other things on the tables that I didn't recognize. And then I looked out.

Afternoon sunshine lit up the view outside. The view was from a beach or some seashore, and dominating the skyline was the Golden Gate Bridge - I was still in San Francisco - but... wait, I was from New York. Why would I think...

The buildings in the distance were new, and there were... there were flying cars in the sky!

I looked at the girl, my question plain on my face. The girl looked at me sympathetically. And then I noticed - the stool she was sitting on... it wasn't a stool. It was just a seat that was floating in the air!

I looked around the room and then my gaze fell on a mirror.

It reflected everything in the room, including the big bed I was lying in.

It also reflected someone on the bed. A girl. I lifted my my hand to wave at her, but the girl lifted her hand as well.

It was me.

And then I fainted dead away.

 
Chapter 1 - What It's All About / The Good Samaritan Gene

I woke up, again in the same room and the same bed, but now more alert.

The girl was there again, again wearing a new outfit, and this time standing beside my bed looking solicitously down at me. How long was I out anyway?

"Hello, sleepyhead." she said in a clear, melodious voice. "How are you feeling?"

I smiled wanly at her. Another thing that was different was that the girl wasn't alone this time. There were about half a dozen other men and women standing around my bed. And they were all wearing the same sort of cosplay-type clothes. What is it with these people?

I looked at the window, but this time it was dark now. The lights in the buildings and the boats out on the water were very pretty, and they still kept the Golden Gate lit up. Beautiful.

Of course, there were lights in the sky, too, flitting about. Probably not UFOs, though.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"It's about nine PM."

"What day is it?"

"It's Saturday," the guy beside her said, "February 29."

"Still Leap Day," I said. But then, what's happened? And what happened to me.

"Yes, still leap day," the guy said. "February 29, 2076."

"What!"

- - - - -

"Let me explain what happened," the girl said as we sat around what was, I suppose, a modern-looking dining table. We were having late dinner.

"I'm all ears," I said, as I cut a small piece of my steak. Pretty good steak, actually. "Of course, they're not my ears..." Some of the people laughed. Perhaps it was my joke. But I had a sneaking suspicion that it was the lisp in my new voice. I wish that went away along with the other changes. It was irritating, really.

The tone of my new voice also lilted up with a question, and the girl nodded. "All right: from the beginning. My name is Ruth Wonderly," she said, "as I told Effie, your secretary. I am the senior member of one of the most powerful wizard families in the city."

Wizards... really...

"That's a matter of opinion..." one of the others said.

"What do you mean?"

"That's Alexandra Russo," the girl, Ruth, said. "Alex is also a member of another wizard family."

"Explain it to the new girl properly, Ruth," Alex said crossly.

"What Alex is referring to is the fact that I am all that's left of my family. My parents and my sibling are all dead now."

"Dead!" I reacted.

"Yes," she said. "It's an occupational hazard for people in our line of work." I knew enough about people to know that she was just holding back her grief. But I also knew that she's a strong girl - it'll take a lot for her to let go.

"What Alex was referring to was that one single person does not a family make," Ruth continued. "The Wonderly name will soon be removed from the rosters."

"Indeed," Alex said. "And that's where you come in."

"How do I come in?"

"Well..." Alex said. "A plan was hatched by the families to, ummm, recruit someone into its ranks to help bring down a few bad eggs among them. But it would take another wizard to do that. Ruth offered to do the recruiting."

"Thing is, she didn't recruit a wizard," one of the two guys in the group said. "Hi, I'm Peter Bishop - I'm the token human in the group. I'm in charge of tech and equipment."`

Ruth waved Bishop away impatiently. "We're all human. What he really means is, he's the only non-magical person in this group."

What about me, I thought to myself. Am I magical? "What did he mean you didn't?" I continued.

"She didn't recruit anyone," Alex replied. "What she did was, she created a magical clone and dropped a soul into it. That soul was you."

"Why?"

"Well," Peter Bishop said, "a magical clone is totally useless unless there's a person inside it making it breathe and move and think and, well, everything."

"So she stole my soul..."

"Ah, no," Ruth said, "I didn't, actually, steal you. Normally, we would look for a volunteer to, ummm, animate a clone, but it would actually be useless to do so in this case, since whoever that would have been, he or she would be a known quantity, and any special skill or information he or she had would be known and would probably be useless. So the council agreed to my proposal to find a volunteer from... somewhere else, I guess you'd say, and bring her back home."

My anger started to boil. "So you decided to pluck me out of my life! To STEAL my life so I could be a pawn in your..."

Ruth shook her head. "It's not like that at all. We wouldn't do that. If I didn't take you when I did, you'd have been dead, anyway. At least this way, you'd have a second chance at life, and it's up to you what you want to do, and if you want to help us or not."

"Great - I want you to bring me back."

She shrugged. "We can't even if we wanted to. Back home, you're dead. Not because of anything we did - it's just historical fact. In fact, that's why we picked you to help us."

"That I'm dead?"

"Yes. And the fact that you were one heck of a good cop in your time. One of the best, in fact... Sam Spade." She looked at me and smiled.

I looked at her.

"So you did your research. So what?"

"There was an escaped felon who was after you," she said. "Just as I took you, this felon fired a bullet through your office window and into your head. You died instantly."

She pulled out an entire newspaper from under the table, and showed it to me.

I grabbed it from her hand and read the headline.

"Decorated Cop Shot Dead By Escaped Convict," the headline said. I read the front-page article, and it said the same thing Ruth said. It did also say that the convict - a man that I was responsible for putting in jail for life - was killed in a shootout with the nine-nine. That gave me a small sense of revenge, but it was far from satisfying.

With eyes brimming, I looked up from the paper.

"It doesn't mention anything about you," I said.

Ruth nodded, and brought out another identical paper. I didn't understand it until she pointed to the bottom part of the article.

"Moments before the shooting," the article said, "a young woman visited Lt. Spaulding. It is thought that the woman was participating in the comic convention being held in nearby Midtown Convention Center Hotel, as she was dressed in cosplay attire. The woman disappeared during the shooting, and hence is under suspicion as an accomplice. She is presently the subject of a manhunt."

I looked at the newspaper and the one before. Other than that one little paragraph at the bottom, both papers were identical.

"Obviously," Ruth said, "the first paper is the genuine article. Or rather the original. The second paper reflects the change in the original timeline after I've, ummm, changed history. I went back and got the new paper after the alteration. The change is inconsequential as no other major alterations have occurred - we are still the same people we used to be, and the world has not changed."

"Are you sure of that," Bishop asked.

"Pretty sure," Ruth said, and smiled at him.

"Okay," I said, still not completely up to speed. "So you got me here. Now what?"

- - - -

I don't know any of this for myself, as I was long dead by then, but these people briefed me very thoroughly. And I looked into it later.

Apparently, around thirty years ago, according to their time that is, a group of humans claiming to be wizards had made themselves known to the world. They called themselves wizards because, by the simple exercise of will, and the casting of what they called "spells," they were able to do things that could only be called "magic." Not the spectacular kind of magic I knew from movies, but more the humdrum kind. Still, it was magic, nevertheless.

These wizards did use "spells" of a sort but, apparently, knowing the spells didn't really allow regular people to perform magic as well. Spells were more a kind of mnemonic that helped "magical" people focus their powers and make things happen. It wasn't the spells - the special secret key was actually inside these special people, and this special skill or power or key - whatever one wants to call it - was only inside these "wizards."

They were originally thought of as crackpots, and were originally scoffed at, but they were soon recognized and accepted for the superhuman abilities they were able to perform through their "spells." But the backlash and fallout from their coming out - the incredible resentment and fear for and of them - were initially very severe (many "wizards" were killed, as were "normal" people).

But there was something else that was discovered in them - an inherent altruism that made them unable to do anything... detrimental... to other people. People called it the Good Samaritan Gene. This trait became apparent in several much-publicized incidents when several wizards rescued thousands of people from a volcanic eruption and tidal wave in the Philippines, and rescued three whole villages from an emerging despot in a small African nation.

So world opinion changed for these "wizards." In the intervening years, the world eventually adjusted to a new normal - a world where wizards were real.

Also, over the years, because of their growing reputation, wizards found a niche in the world - more and more, wizards found themselves gravitating towards positions that required a more... humanistic streak, where their roles in society required an enormous sense of trust - positions like policemen, judges, mayors, congressmen, senators and presidents. After all, wizards had the Good Samaritan gene, and people trusted them to do the right thing.

And though crime and injustice were still around, there was much less of it nowadays, thanks to the wizards who were voted into office or were appointed into positions of trust. And with the so-called Good Samaritan gene, people tended to trust wizards more.

Nevertheless, some people, not many, resented wizards - they resented wizards for their magic, and the power they held as police or as senators, and there were many countries now with presidents or prime ministers that were now running their governments, even though all of them legally and freely elected, or were legally appointed.

Here at home, though, wizards were yet to become part of the national government, but they have already made serious inroads into local government - many were now judges, cops, firemen, police chiefs, mayors, state senators and a few congressmen. Many thought that it was only a matter of time when there will be wizards representing the people in the senate or in the White House.

However, as in many places in the world, wizards were under threat from organized crime, or from... resentful citizens. The wizards themselves seemed to expect such things, and they managed the threat, and tried to take care of them on their own without allowing citizens from being affected.

In any case, it seems many cities have been having a spate of deaths of wizards - one of these cities San Francisco. Among the victims were Ruth and her family - in a period of six months, the entire Wonderly family had been brutally killed in several break-ins and drive-by shootings, with Ruth the only remaining Wonderly. Ruth petitioned the informal group of wizards in the city that people called "the families," and they made a unanimous decision to put a stop to it.

One thing that was starting to disappear in the world was people's abilities to ferret out subterfuge, especially in connection with crimes. After all, there were always wizards that could do that almost effortlessly, so old-timey skills like old-fashioned police work was a dying discipline.

And that's how they decided to pluck me out of my time and plop me into this place and time. Coz I was one of the best policemen around... Well, the best around eighty years ago.

Of course, people can't be brought through time, but their... psyches - what the wizards call their souls - could be brought through. So Ruth sent her... soul back to my time to bring me back. And to give my psyche a new home, they made up a "clone" for me.

Now a word about magical clones - clones are actually real, honest-to-goodness humans, but created magically from a wizard's own essence - their DNA, essentially. So the new human was literally a clone of the wizard. The thing was, the process wasn't perfect, so the new human wasn't an exact copy.

Also, the new clone was empty, like a brain-dead person. Whatever makes a sentient being sentient - what gave him individuality and life and intelligence - all that was missing. Unless someone else's soul was deposited inside the clone. And that was what they did with me.

Making a clone, and transposing a soul, or even traveling to the past for that matter, was a special skill among wizards. There were less than twenty wizards around the world that were even able to do it, and none of them were able to do them on command. One of them happened to be Ruth Wonderly.

Ruth also said she felt a special alignment of the stars or the planets, or whatever, and she said she was sure she could do it this one time, and she did. So here I am, but then I'm inside the body of a near clone of Ruth's - she used her own essence as the basis for the clone. In fact we looked similar enough that we could be sisters.

Sisters...

Also, as sisters, she said I could do magic, as well, though I needed to learn how first.

"So I need magic lessons?" I asked my new sister.

"No problem, Sam. It just takes a few hours."

Is that all, I thought.

"But we don't even have a few hours," she said. "Now you need some sleep, and tomorrow, you need to do your thing. We can do magic lessons after."

 
Chapter 2 - Living with it / Just Get the Job Done

Ruth hadn't prepared for me too much. Her place did have a guest room - the room I woke up in, in fact, so that's where she put me.

Also, I didn't have anything to wear. Ruth had assumed that I'd look like her, down to her measurements, and she thought we'd just share clothes. But it turned out that I ended up several inches taller than her. Underwear was fine, but the rest of her clothes were all too short.

Ruth threw away the disposable hospital-issued gown and jacket, so, for now, I wore one of Ruth's sleeping gowns. Her gown was the only thing I could wear that would even fit, but it still turned out to be a little short - the hem just barely passing my crotch. But that's okay - it was good enough to sleep in.

Ruth's housekeeper had changed the bedclothes in "my" new bed, and the new ones felt nice and cool and clean. I wriggled in the new sheets and tried to be comfortable.

I looked into the mirror where I first saw the real me, and felt like turning away. But I forced myself to look. The new me was gorgeous, but that was something I didn't want to think about for now.

If there really was no way back, then I'd have to learn do live with this.

I closed my eyes and fell into a restless, fitful sleep.

- - - -

The following day didn't turn out to be what I hoped it to be. That is to say, I didn't wake up with everything returned to normal.

I got up and rushed through a shower. I didn't want to linger.

In minutes, I was out and wrapped a towel around me. After a second, I decided to re-wrap the towel higher on my torso.

"Hey, Sam," Ruth called from the door. "Are you awake?"

"Yep," I said. "Come on in."

"I got you some new clothes," she said, and came in with a bundle in her arms.

"Great," I said. I grabbed the top one in the bundle. "How about some underwear and shoes?"

"The stuff in the cabinets and the shoes by the bed should fit."

"Okay. Now get outa here, 'sis,' so I can get dressed." I took the rest of the clothes, dropped the pile on the bed and pushed her out of the room.

"Okay, okay! You've got fifteen minutes, and the air taxi's gonna be here."

I put on the "clothes, and it turned out to be what looked like a black bustier with a short skirt, opera gloves, long, black stockings with garters, and what looked like black ballet slippers. The bustier had straps that went over the shoulders, a white collar and a built-in red tie. No, no shirt or sleeves - just a frigging collar.

When I came out, my sis wore a similar outfit, except her outfit didn't have a necktie.

Our outfits seemed to be a bit too risque for me, but Ruth said they were actually pretty casual.

"Let's go," she said.

"Go where?"

"To police headquarters."

"Why?"

"So you can do your thing?"

"My thing?"

- - - -

An hour later, I was poring through the medical examiner's reports on their autopsy of Ruth's mom and dad - I guess sort of my mom and dad, too - but the report was so... I guess you'd say, spotty. You would think forensic technology in the 2070's would be better than this. In fact, my own M.E. would never have released a report this sloppy.

I was given a little conference room all to myself, and they gave me all the files, reports and evidence they had in printed form. Though all of them were in the computer, I didn't have time to learn how to operate it (the computers I was used to were not even close to theirs), so I was going old-school.

Then I read a passage in the lead investigator's report. The doors into her folks' apartment were locked and magically warded, so they knew no one came through them. The only other way in were through the windows, but the apartment was on the third floor, so no one could have gotten in via the windows.

I stood up and rushed out the door.

"Ma'am?" one of the cops nearby called. "Ma'am!"

"Everything's fine!" I called back. "Don't touch anything in that room, 'k?"

"Ma'am? Where are you going? Ms Spaulding!"

"I'll be back!" I said, imitating Ahnold in a ridiculously low voice, and went to look for Ruth.

- - - -

Thirty minutes later, we were in Ruth's folks' apartment, along with the lead detective for the case and a couple of uniform officers.

The place was still a mess. They were preserving the crime scene for me.

Just to be sure that I didn't miss anything, I pulled on some gloves and examined the wreckage. But I couldn't find anything new.

I then went to the windows to try out my theory.

I examined the windows - they were old-fashioned windows with old-fashioned latches, but one of the latches was broken.

"Detective," I said, trying to hide my lisp (when I was excited, I sometimes lisped, and it seemed that the new me was no different), "can you come over here?"

The lead detective came over. "Yes?"

"The latch on this window seems to have been forced. That detail wasn't in the reports."

The detective nodded apologetically. "I guess we missed that."

I growled. Talk about incompetence. He wasn't even embarrassed that he and his people missed something.

I experimentally pushed the window up and it easily moved up. I looked out, and there was a tree not five feet from the window. I stuck my head out the window and looked down.

It was a big tree, and it went down to the sidewalk.

"Damn," I muttered. "Ruth!"

Ruth came over. "Found anything?"

"I think so." I showed her the broken latch, the unlocked window and the tree. "I think this is how the bad guy got in - he climbed the tree, jimmied the window, climbed through and then shot your folks. Now why would these guys not thought that over?"

Apparently, most people trusted the protection provided by magically-warded doors and windows, and had all o them warded. But since no one could have gotten to the windows, Ruth's folks probably didn't have the windows warded anymore. And no one would have thought to check.

"But who would climb a tree just to get into my parents' house?" Ruth said.

"Well, no one climbs trees anymore," the detective said, "except perhaps for elves, orcs or thieves."

"Were there anybody like them nearby during the time of the murder?" I asked, "or lives nearby?"

He pulled out a small tablet, and turned it on. "Well, no elves or orcs, of course," he laughed, but his laughter died out when Ruth gave him a look. "But let's see..."

He made gestures over the tablet and it was soon displaying some names in the air.

"Let's see... there are twelve names here - twelve people convicted for theft and B&E - and according to the computer, all of them live within three blocks from here."

"Let me look," Ruth said. After looking at the list, she put a hand out towards the floating list, and started mumbling.

I elbowed the detective. "What's she doing?" I asked him.

"What does it look like she's doing?" he replied. "She's casting a spell."

Not wanting to look any more clueless than I already was, I stopped asking any more questions.

In a moment, the list shimmered and then solidified again, leaving only one name.

"That's not a hundred percent sure, but that guy's the likely one."

I looked at my new 'sister' in amazement. So that was magic. I need to learn some of that.

"Whatever gets the job done," I quipped.

Soon we were in the Lieutenant's cruiser and were on the way to the guy's last known address.

 
Chapter 3 - Freeze, This is the Police / Not Needing To Reload

We had stopped in front of what looked to me like an old, run-down apartment building, and, according to the lieutenant, the guy was on the tenth floor.

The lieutenant, Ruth, a uniform cop and me rode the elevator in silence (the other one stayed in the lobby), and in moments the elevator doors opened.

The lieutenant led the way, with the rest of us following.

We stopped in front of the guy's apartment door. The lieutenant gestured for silence, and waved the other officer over. The two of them flanked the door and waved Ruth and I back. They drew their guns.

"Vince Korsack, this is the SFPD! Open the door!"

"Who?" the guy yelled from inside.

"SFPD! Open the door!"

"It's open!"

Hmmm. That's suspicious. Clearly, the lieutenant thought so, too.

He tried the door handle, and it was indeed unlocked. He opened the door and, instead of opening it, just kept it ajar.

He caught the attention of the other officer, gestured and started to count to three on his fingers.

When he reached three, he kicked the door open.

"Cover your eyes!" Ruth yelled.

What?

Suddenly, a bright flash, as bright as anything I ever saw, exploded in front of me.

"Ahhhh!" the lieutenant screamed. "I'm blind!"

And, of course, I'm blind, too...

I flailed about, just like any stereotype blind person, and then I felt someone touch me on my cheek.

"Ruth?"

"Yes, it's me, Sam. Stay calm, and I'll try to fix it."

She put her hands over my eyes and started muttering some words I hardly heard.

"There!" she said, and took away her hands.

I blinked rapidly. "I can see again!" I said.

"Of course," Ruth responded. "The blindness would have gone away on it's own in a few minutes. I just hurried it along."

I ran in through the door and found the two policemen groping around, and saw the guy disappear through the window.

"Lieutenant?" I said, and checked him out.

"He's fine, Sam!" Ruth said. "I'll take care of them. Now, go after that guy!"

"How come you weren't affected?" I asked her. "Were you wearing some eye protection?"

"Eye protection? Nahhh. I just closed my eyes."

"Lucky," I said sarcastically. I ran to the window and looked down. The guy was climbing down the fire escape, and was already halfway down.

So I went through the window, too, and clattered after him. I was actually overhauling him, but he was already climbing down the last ladder while I was still three flights up. Dammit!

Not thinking straight, I swung myself out and jumped down, and, amazingly, I landed on my feet with a muted woompf! Not hurt at all. Wow.

The guy let go of the ladder, and landed on the ground seconds after I did.

He stood there, stooped and trying to catch his breath, and didn't even notice me. So I tapped him on the shoulder.

He looked up.

"Hasta la vista, baby," I said, ala Ahnold, and punched him in the face.

 
Epilogue

The suspect, Vince, was brought to police headquarters, and through magical divining, it was ascertained that he was the one, but per present laws, proof was needed to proceed with a formal trial. The only thing that magical divining allowed was for the suspect to be incarcerated for up to a month. But everyone's confident they'll find the necessary empirical evidence. And, I feel, further questioning and investigation of the suspect will open up more avenues of investigation in relation to the other homicide cases relating to wizards. It was a... very, very strong feeling. Ruth says it's related to my emergence as a wizard.

As for me, I was still acting a bit butch, still not really accepting my new gender yet, but I was really getting to know my new sister and family - though Ruth's parents and siblings were all gone, there were still a step-brother and a step-sister, as well as two sets of grandparents.

I met two of my my new grandparents the other day, and they all made a big fuss over me. They invited me skydiving, but I begged off on that...

I was supposed to meet other grandparents today, but their flight from Alaska was delayed (they were well-known National Geographic photographers and videographers, and had just finished a photo-safari in the arctic, spending six months alone on the arctic tundra).

Instead, I met my older step-brother and sister (the children of my father's earlier wife, but not related to us by blood), and was slightly creeped out when they started to come on to me.

Ruth shut that down quickly, though, and we just had a nice leisurely lunch instead.

Tomorrow, though, I was supposed to get my "wizard lessons." I still wondered why only a day, but Ruth said a couple of hours is all that's needed, and then after her lessons, I'd be a full-fledged wizard.

Cool.

Anyway, talk to you later, dude. And be sure to bring that Harry Potter wand you promised next time, okay?

- - - end - - -

 

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Comments

fun stuff

thanks for the giggle

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I suppose I AM a girl?

Andrea Lena's picture
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To be alive is to be vulnerable. Madeleine L'Engle
Love, Andrea Lena

How my rules were applied to my story

bobbie-c's picture

One of my contest contemporaries, Malady (lol), who was being uncharacteristically AR, ahem, I mean, unusually pedantic (heehee), requested a listing of my rules. Though it wasn't required by the contest organizer, just to be neighborly, I made up a list, as requested.

I didn't think it was necessary to point out how I "applied" the rules to my story, since, in my pov, storytelling takes precedence. But I suppose there is a time and place for this.

And you're welcome, Malady. lol

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Rule #008. The special secret key was inside them all along. - Katssun

Passage applicable to this rule:

Spells were more a kind of mnemonic that helped "magical" people focus their powers and make things happen. It wasn't the spells - the special secret key was actually inside these special people, and this special skill or power or key - whatever one wants to call it - was only inside these "wizards."

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Rule #029. Have to learn magic? No problem. Just takes a few hours. - RoseBunny

Passages applicable to this rule:

Also, as sisters, she said I could do magic, as well, though I needed to learn how first.
"So I need magic lessons?" I asked my new sister.
"No problem, Sam. It just takes a few hours."
Is that all, I thought.

Tomorrow, though, I was supposed to get my "wizard lessons." I still wondered why only a day, but Ruth said that's all that needed, and then after her lessons, I'd be a full-fledged wizard.
Cool.

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Rule #033. Eye protection? Nah. You closed your eyelids. - Katssun

Passage applicable to this rule:

"Lieutenant?" I said, and checked him out.
"He's fine, Sam!" Ruth said. "I'll take care of them. Now, go after that guy!"
"How come you weren't affected?" I asked her. "Were you wearing some eye protection?"
"Eye protection? Nahhh. I just closed my eyes."
"Lucky," I said sarcastically. I ran to the window and looked down. The guy was climbing down the fire escape, and was already halfway down.

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Rule #039. "A wizard did it" explains everything, even in "hard" sci fi. - Null0Trooper

Passage applicable to this rule:

At which point, a girl wearing some sort of costume stepped into my office.
I stood up - a natural reaction, I suppose, given her revealing cosplay attire. Also, why would a cosplay girl visit a police lieutenant's office? Plus the fact that she was incredibly beautiful.
The girl then pulled out a gun and aimed it at me.
"Gun!" I yelled - almost reflex for a cop - and grabbed my own gun. But before I could raise it, she fired.

Note that the character here was a wizard.

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Rule #058. Nursing homes don't exist. You grandparent(s) are awesome, live by themselves without help, and probably have superpowers or taught you how to cook, dance. Your parents taught you none of your unique and special skills. - Katssun

Passages applicable to this rule:

I met two of my my new grandparents the other day, and they all made a big fuss over me. They invited me skydiving, but I begged off on that...

I was supposed to meet other grandparents today, but their flight from Alaska was delayed (they were well-known National Geographic photographers and videographers, and had just finished a photo-safari in the antarctic, spending six months alone on the arctic tundra).

Subrules:

#058A - and your grandpa can kick anyone's ass in martial arts. - RoseBunny
#058B. They were also spies. - Katssun
#058C. They are a highly positioned wizard or sorceress. - Katssun
#058D. Grandma looks 40, at most. Grandpa, at least 80. - RoseBunny

Note that these subrules were not applied as subrules were optional.

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Rule #091. Step relatives are always romantically interested in said protagonist. - Fiddlerfox

Passages applicable to this rule:

Instead, I met my step-brother and sister (the children of my father's earlier wife, but not related to us by blood), and was slightly creeped out when they started to come on to me.

Ruth shut that down quickly, though, and we just had a nice leisurely lunch instead.

Subrules:

#091A. Protagonist finds out the 12 year old DD-Cup sister was adopted. - RoseBunny
#091A1. Her introduction in the story mentions she's adopted or a step-sister right after it describes her cup size. - Katssun
#091A2. If the protagonist turns into a girl, They end up shorter and flatter than said sister. - RoseBunny

Note that these subrules were not applied as subrules were optional.

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Rule #093. No one in your fantasy world can climb trees except for elves, orcs, or your rogue/thief. - Katssun

Passage applicable to this rule:

But who would climb a tree just to get into my parents' house?" Ruth said.
"Well, no one climbs trees anymore," the detective said, "except perhaps for elves, orcs or thieves."
"Were there anybody like them nearby during the time of the murder?" I asked, "or lives nearby?"
He pulled out a small tablet, and turned it on. "Well, no elves or orcs, of course," he laughed, but his laughter died out when Ruth gave him a look. "But let's see..."
He made gestures over the tablet and it was soon displaying some names in the air.
"Let's see... there are twelve names here - twelve people convicted for theft and B&E - and according to the computer, all of them live within three blocks from here."

Subrule #093A. No one even looks up. - Null0Trooper

Note that this subrule was not applied as subrules were optional.

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Rule #107. Terminator references are a must in any situation which is supposed to be serious, but you don't want taken seriously. - Amethyst

Passages applicable to this rule:

"I'll be back!" I said, imitating Ahnold in a ridiculously low voice, and went to look for Ruth.

"Hasta la vista, baby," I said, ala Ahnold, and punched him in the face.

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#108. If you write yourself into a corner, it was a clone of the main character that died. - RoseBunny

Note that this rule was not applied since I didn't write myself into a corner, narratively speaking. Proper story preparation and not writing by the seat of one's pants usually prevents this from happening. Mweheheheheh Joke!

Subrules:

#108A Or a twin they knew nothing about until they were dead... and then they mourn. - Amethyst
#108B. Or you made Jobe make a clone of the main character just before they died. - Abi
#108C. Or a Life-Model Decoy. - RoseBunny
#108D. Or them from an alternate dimension or timeline. - RoseBunny

Note that these subrules were also not applied as subrules were optional.

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#133. Nerdy guys turn into hot Miss Hyde characters, but nerdy girls never become the Mr. Hyde ( I wish someone would pick this idea up and run with it. I can't do the Miss Hyde thing Justice) - RoseBunny

Note that this rule was not applied since my lead character was a hard-bitten cop, and not at all a nerd. Besides, my story is very much rated PG. lol

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Thanks!

Thank you very much, for that comprehensive summary of how you used the rules, and a good story!

That "Good Samaritan gene" is really interesting! I thought they summoned Sam because it prevented them from doing what they needed to be done or something.

But nope.

Thanks to Gabi

bobbie-c's picture

Just wanted to say thanks to Gabi, grammarian extraordinaire, for spotting some grammar errors in my latest story, and telling me about them in a PM instead of in an embarrassing public comment. As many know, I am very much against Gotcha! comments, but am not against error corrections. All I ask is that people let writers know about their grammar errors privately, and Gabi does that.

 

A most entertaining,

little, light hearted story. My Dad, as a former Cop, would have loved it had he lived to read it. He also loved Bogart films, and Arnold films, though Bogart won by a large margin. It gives the impression, possibly incorrect and only existing in my mind, of being done rather hurridly, but still very well done. Nice to see another work from you. Sarah

I am a Proud mostly Native American woman. I am bi-polar. I am married, and mother to three boys. I hope we can be friends.

alright, another great story

alright, another great story from one of my favorite authors.

Kinda like Ripple

BarbieLee's picture

Lot of highs and lows in this one, Bobbi. I guess I could have called it a see saw as if anyone remembered what one was?
Hugs
Barb
Life is a gift. Treasure it until it's time to return it.

Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl