Wild Magic 3

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Debbie walked up, smiling. “You must be Emily. I’m told I have you to thank for saving me yesterday. I’m Deb Holloway, I’m very happy to meet you. I used to date your cousin, Gabe. I was very sorry to hear about what happened.”

We hugged, and she actually seemed sincere. “I appreciate your kind words, Deb, Gabe had mentioned you. Well, are you ready to go learn why everything we’ve done is wrong?”

She laughed, but I noticed her giving me a worried glance. I guess that she was wondering what Gabe had told me about her.

I was kind of torn about her. Part of me wanted to hate her and her manipulative ass, but part of me felt I should give her another chance. Revenge sounded so good to me! She’d broken my heart, and her reckless use of magic had led to my transformation.

I’ve heard that there are three questions you need to ask yourself before you seek revenge. First, will revenge fix the problem? No, I’d still be a girl.

Second, will revenge improve the situation? No, it would probably cause even more issues.

Third, and really, most importantly, will revenge make me happier? I thought about it, and though I was very sorely tempted, I finally came to the conclusion that no, I don’t really believe it would. It’s best to just let the problem die. I’m a different person now, and I need to start fresh. Besides, I seem to have a definite shortage of friends.

We do share some things in common, and maybe she’ll be a better friend than she was a girlfriend. We’ll see.

Our first lesson was designed to teach us patience and control. We were supposed to light a candle with only our minds. My first thought was to wonder what Debbie was going to use?

I kill me. Yes, Grandma, if you’re listening, that is a petty and unproductive thought. It’s still a little funny, though.

Yeah, I’ve read several books and stories where the student has to struggle with lighting the candle, and eventually it they become so proficient that it takes only the merest thought to perform the task, and everyone is sooo impressed.

Deb and I focused on our candles, pictured what we wanted in our minds, and then concentrated. Both candles lit with very little effort, and we celebrated with a hug. Mrs. Andrews sewemed suitably impressed, but her only comment was to tell us to do it again. And again . And again…

And she had seemed like such a nice lady, too!

Actually, although it was rather monotonous, we both got to a point where the tiniest thought would light the candle. Then Mrs. Andrews started making things more interesting.

She had us light multiple candles, candles around corners where they were out of our line of sight, lighting several candles in a circular sequence, while we extinguished the candles that started the sequence,, and then relighting them again, kind of like the circle was blinking. That one made me dizzy.

No, comments about “dizzy blondes” are not necessary, thank you very much.

Our “homework” was to practice our control over the flames, making them bigger, smaller, even hotter or cooler. The first thing I needed was a safe place to practice.

I’ve heard of witches who can “create” a practice area in some kind of a “pocket dimension.” Too cool! I can only dream of such things. I have to settle for practicing in the driveway. Really? It was only a candle, for goodness sakes!

“Mom!” I yelled as she sprayed the fire extinguisher.

“I’m sorry, sweetie! I thought you might get burned!”

“I haven’t started yet!”

She made it very hard to practice. Maybe I should start by setting her bra on fire.

Despite the best efforts of my parental unit, I actually did get some practice in. It really wasn’t that difficult. In fact, I was having fun!

At least, I was, until Grandma sprayed me with the hose.

The next day I met Deb at school, and we compared experiences. Her family had really enjoyed themselves. The worst was either her father with the pitcher of water, or her brother with a super-soaker.

I’m sensing a conspiracy here.

After school, we settled into our seats at Mrs. Alexander’s place. She sat down and asked us how our homework went, and then she broke into laughter. Seeing the silliness of it, we joined in.

“I’m sorry, girls, but it’s the traditional welcome for new students.”

“So you got it, too?” Deb asked.

“Oh yes. My mom, and your grandmother, Emily, gave me a nice wet welcome. The candle lighting is actually a very simple thing, but it often impresses the new girls. I’m not sure who started the welcoming wetting, but it’s been going as long as I can remember.”

“You’re not sure…does that mean you have an idea who started it?” I asked.

“Well, the rumor I heard was that it was Elizabeth Carstairs, but there is no proof, and she’s never admitted anything.”

“My Grandma?” I thought about it, and giggled. “Yeah, she'd do it.”

“I’ve always been told that there is a great deal of serious responsibility involved in our lives as witches.” Mrs. Alexander explained. “Having a sense of humor is very important to our sanity, so we try to have fun with what we do, but never forget, magic is not a toy. There are serious dangers when we use our powers, and that’s what we’re going to work on today.”

I was very familiar with the dangers of wild magic. I was surprised at how much of this “magical pollution” was created with each use of our powers, but there were things we could, and should do to minimize the effects. It struck me that if only Debbie had known this, I wouldn’t have to deal with this, but it was useless to worry about that now.

"Mrs. Alexander?" I asked. "Doesn't the magic we do with the candles cause problems?"

"Not really. Yes, there is some buildup, but lighting a candle takes almost no effort at all, and thus has little waste. It actually takes more energy just to breathe."

"So it's directly related to how much effort we use?"

"Yes, the energy to create magic comes from you. A major 'spell', for lack of a better word, will pull a great deal of energy out of you."

"When Deb had her accident, I could feel a draining, almost like I was pouring some of myself into her."

"That's actually a good analogy. Even though you did the healing instictively, you had to give her your own energy to help her heal."

I noticed Deb was thoughtful. I don't know how much energy her "love spells" used, but I'm guessing it was considerable.

Class went well, and Grandma was right, I actually had fun. Deb and I were building a bond of friendship that my Mom said would last throughout our lives. I hoped she was right-I wondered how Debbie would feel when she found out that I used to be Gabe?

I knew that she would eventually find out. Secrets always come out at some point, and I’ve always felt that if the truth was told, hard feelings are avoided. I was afraid, though, that Debbie would feel the guilt that I didn’t want to lay on her. So what do I do? I had a feeling that nothing I did was going to be right.

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Comments

dizzy

Sadarsa's picture

What a fun little story so far.

I've only one thing to point out about this chapter (other than it being so short)

No, comments about “dizzy blondes” are not necessary, thank you very much.

humm why would we comment about DIZZY blondes? unless your thinking of DITZY.. which has a whole other meaning. :-P

--SEPARATOR--

~Your only Limitation is your Imagination~

~Your only Limitation is your Imagination~

Y'know, you're probably right

My family (including the my grandparents, Aunts, Uncles (and I have a bunch!) have always called my baby sister a dizzy blonde. Maybe it's an area thing? My other sister is the Ditzy one.

I'm kinda trying to keep it on the short side, as I'm posting it daily.I really don't have a set length-maybe this is TOO short?

Thanks for reading and commenting!

length

Sadarsa's picture

As far as the length goes, im just happy you're writing :)

As for 'Dizzy' Vrs Ditzy

Some words we hear when we are kids are often rushed and it doesn't hit our brains properly. The effect of which is often a distortion of how we say a word. Humm i've no ready example, but i remember it's happened to be before as well.

I do remember back in first grade when i was first taught the alphabet, telling the teacher she was wrong. After all, the letter 'Eleminnow' comes after K and just before P.. everyone knows that! just sing the Alphabet song and see!

--SEPARATOR--

~Your only Limitation is your Imagination~

~Your only Limitation is your Imagination~

I Don't Have an OED Handy...

But in my experience "dizzy" definitely came first, and my 1950 American College Dictionary lists a "colloquial" meaning for "dizzy" as "foolish or stupid". ("Ditz" and "ditzy" aren't listed.)

We had an online discussion of "ditzy" a few years back; I think it was on Tuckerspawn relating to a fanfic. Anyway, there was some disagreement as to the meaning: some considered a ditz to be airheaded; others said malicious. (The author of the story was using it in the latter sense; the ditz had bullied the narrator.)

So FWIW, I think "dizzy" is the preferred term here.

Eric

Yeah! So there!

Thanks, Eric!

Maybe it's because I'm getting old? You young whippersnappers keep changing the words! Why, I remeber...wait, what?
What was I talking about? Oooh,look! Shiny!

Re: driving force...

PattieBFine's picture

The love spell was never canceled-out, she simply dumped him. She then cast the same messy-spell again... and we only know, so far, that's two sloppy-spells, how many others did she do before? of what type? of what magnitude? What happened to the spell-reminant that waved about shettered & tattered in the wind that got her ZAPPED!....? did contact with the source of the spell during healing her do anything to the healer, perhaps? lots of iffy-ness about her falling like that at that exact second. karmic auto-retribution...? It's not like she knew she COULD do majic at that point in time.... but....

Lot's of un answered thoughts and questions, remain outstanding!

Dizzy

LibraryGeek's picture

Come on, gang! She said that doing the candles in the circular blinky pattern made her dizzy, then followed up with the 'no dizzy blondes' line, so obviously dizzy not ditzy, it was a joke on her feeling dizzy. Sheesh, keep things in context!

Yours,

John Robert Mead

Fun Romp

You have a fun magical romp going here! However our heroine isn't without her problems. Secrets and just being human are creating opportunities for mischief. Fun!
Hugs
Grover

revenge

"I’ve heard that there are three questions you need to ask yourself before you seek revenge. First, will revenge fix the problem? No, I’d still be a girl.

Second, will revenge improve the situation? No, it would probably cause even more issues.

Third, and really, most importantly, will revenge make me happier? I thought about it, and though I was very sorely tempted, I finally came to the conclusion that no, I don’t really believe it would. It’s best to just let the problem die. I’m a different person now, and I need to start fresh. Besides, I seem to have a definite shortage of friends."

Very mature of her

Dorothycolleen, member of Bailey's Angels

DogSig.png

Magical and Light

terrynaut's picture

This is fun so far. I'm really enjoying it.

Thanks and kudos.

- Terry

Hmm...

Kalkin62's picture

As far as revenge goes ... While Emily's take on revenge might be technically correct, I have to question whether a teenager would necessarily have the presence of mind to think it through like that. Teenagers are known for their impulsiveness. The human brain doesn't actually finish growing before about age 25. The aspect of human intelligence that develops the most slowly is ability to gauge consequences.

So ... here we have a teenager (Emily), who's been betrayed emotionally, who in addition to being betrayed emotionally, has been treated as emotionally inconsequential by the betrayer. Two separate things there. My take on that is that those two elements equate to the psychological equivalent of rape. The love spell used on Gabe was an exercise of power by Debbie. She did it for no other reason than because she could. It was within her power, so she did it. Then, since she was sure she could do it, she simply discarded her "test" victim in favor of her real one. (So, not only did Debbie do those things to Gabe, but now she's doing them to someone else too (I don't recall his name off the top of my head)).

In addition to all of that, because of the poorly employed spell by the amateur witch (Debbie) Gabe is irrevocably changed (into Emily). The spell is a catalyst for the complete destruction of his former life. Debbie might not have intended all of that, but she's still (at least partly, if not wholly) responsible for it.

On top of all of that, poor Emily has to learn to deal with the female hormonal cycle. Hormonal cycles are powerful, disconcerting, and take years to adjust to. The male and female hormonal cycles are very different. Emily might be used to the male hormonal cycle, but the female one is potentially distracting and emotionally destabilizing, especially to someone who isn't used to it. While not everyone suffers drastic emotional destabilization during the period in their lives when their adult hormones begin affecting them, many kids between 10ish and 15ish (give or take a year or two) do have quite extreme mood swings. While Emily might be into the mid to late teens where most of her peers are getting a handle on hormonal mood swings, she herself is just as likely to be as destabilized as someone 3 to 5 years younger.

Now ... I might NOT seek revenge on such a person (as Debbie) who'd done all that to me. I'd probably have the presence of mind to refrain from any sort of serious plotting, or execution of revenge, but I am quite sure that if I were Emily, I'd want absolutely NOTHING to do with Debbie. My personal hatred for her (given the above conditions, as laid out in the story) would be considerable. My willingness to forgive would be pretty much nonexistent.

Sooooo ... I dunno, I like the story in general, but I'm finding Emily's casual acceptance of Debbie to be a bit of a strain on my willing suspension of disbelief. In my perspective as a reader, I'd like to see a more detailed examination of Emily's emotions surrounding those subjects.

My take on revenge

The way Emily handled revenge is based on something my Grandfather told me when I was 12. I took it to heart then, and it helped me to stay out of trouble throughout my school years. Yeah, there were times when I wanted to do something, but I didn't although I was EXTREMELY tempted once. I realize that what happened to Gabe was extreme, however, Debbie's involvement was purely accidental. It was never Debbie's intention to change Gabe; yes, she had used him, but the accident WAS an accident.

On the other hand, if Debbie had intentionally transformed Gabe, things would be very different.

Now, as it was an accident, when Emily realized she was going to be with Debbie frequently, there was just no good to come from being angry. As I said in the story, she really wanted to be angry, but...well, as dumb as it sounds, I believe that some of the love that Gabe felt was still there (stay tuned).

I've always felt that my characters represent facets of my own feelings or fantasies. The emotions they feel are mine, and I believe that this is true for every author. I was reading Zapped! again, and you can just feel the way Bob was thinking. It's almost as though you could hear his voice, and I hope that someday, I will be a good enough author for others to do that with my stories, even after I'm gone.

I am very glad you are liking my story, and I sincerely want to thank you for commenting. I love feedback!

Wren

I noticed!

your tribute to Bob with the Wild Magic taking the form of a lightning bolt. Kids can lock onto more mature behaviors particularly if taught by someone they really respect or in stressful situations where they have no choice. Obviously being taught is the preferred method! As for Bob's writing style you are so right, that the feeling that was put into that story really shined out. While perhaps it had different favors from time to time, it was the passion and compassion with it that touched me. I think anyone who'd reached that level of writing has a reason to feel accomplishment.

Maybe you're not there yet, but you are on your way! Gabe was a good guy who got involved in the usual teenage dramas that kids go though learning how to deal with being an adult. Unfortunately one not so mature girl decided to cheat and so a price was paid. One other commenter wondered if the Wild Magic was still loose. After the last chapter, I think that it is so. Who knows what's going to happen? Only the author knows!

Hugs
Grover

High Praise!

You read my story, and it made you think of Bob? High praise indeed! You're right, I had thought about having the transformation work differently, but no, it HAD to be a lightning bolt-nothing else would work so well.

I wish I was anywhere near Bob's level with my witing, but he inspired me to start writing, and maybe if I keep working at it...

And there is still lots of teenage melodrama ahead-I've got my kids (5 teens) helping me to make it more real. Hang on!

Wren

Enjoying so far. I expect

Enjoying so far. I expect that the wild magic will continue to plague Emily as she learns her craft .

Loved the good girl/person Emily really is showing

us her to be that not going for being petty angry and vindictive over things. It makes me like her as a person even more:)
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.

Bailey Summers

Of course she is cool!

Y'gotta remember, at least in a way, she's a reflection of me...okay, maybe it's a fun house mirror...but still!

Wren

Bah... she's such a good

Bah... she's such a good person I want to puke. Can't she have at least some hard feelings? Dudette that girl mindraped you, effectively turned you into a girl and the biggest thing you're worried about are her feelings?

Great story, but I start to disdain Emily ^^

thank you for writing,
Beyogi

Can't believe

How Emily doesn't seem to have any hard feeling about Debbie did to her! I wonder if her transformation hasn't had some weird side effect or something.

Nice story!

Wild Magic 3

Debbie very well might have inadvertently been the catylist that has created a super witch

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine