Taming the Muse, Prompt: Topaz
Mar. 8th, 2008 08:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
garnigalTitle: Breaking the Rules
Fandom: Original, YA Fantasy
Prompt: Topaz
Warnings: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 826
Summary: Rules are there for a reason
*****
“Mom, we’re going to my room.”
They ran lightly up the stairs. Once inside Justine’s room, they stood looking at each other for long moments, searching for any signs of hesitation or worry.
They kept their voices low, respecting the seriousness of what they were about to do. With great gravity, each girl pulled out a cotton bag filled with the items they were to contribute.
From Melissa: four white candles, a bundle of rosemary and a bit of her hair.
From Danielle: a red silk cloth, an Avon container of talcum powder and a bit of her hair.
From Justine: a tiny linen bag with something heavy inside, a Tupperware container of red wine and a bit of her hair.
Everything was placed reverently on the red silk cloth, which was spread on the floor, except for the small linen bag. That was passed around, each girl holding it between cupped hands and breathing into the bag. Finally, Justine pulled out the contents with a flourish.
Danielle and Melissa’s faces fell.
“There’s nothing wrong with using this,” Justine said defensively. “Believe me, I did the research.”
The other girls hastened to agree, but their disappointed faces didn’t change. Justine ignored them and set the hideously ornate ring in the centre of the cloth. She tried to push it into the carpet so the huge topaz stone would face upwards, but it kept popping out and falling over. Finally Melissa stopped her, lit a candle and melted a pool of wax onto the red silk. Danielle took the ring from Justine and set it in the wax, holding it upright until the wax solidified.
The three girls smiled at each other for a moment before hurrying to set up the rest of the elements needed for the spell.
The candles were set at each corner of the cloth, another dollop of melted wax holding them in place. The three bundles of hair were braided together and threaded through the hole in the ring.
Justine picked up the book from where it rested on the bed. “Okay, I think we’re ready. Who wants to go first?”
Silence. They’d spent two weeks doing research and another two weeks getting all the ingredients together. All of their allowances had been spent on this project. And no one was willing to go first.
Melissa was the one who finally spoke up. “Could, I mean, what if we did it all together?”
Exchanging glances, they all took a sprig of rosemary and began whispering the opening incantation.
*****
“Mom, we’re going to my room.”
Three pairs of feet thundered up the stairs, completely drowning out the giggling. Alexandra tuned the noise out with the skill only years of motherhood could teach and read the newspaper while she drank her coffee.
When she finished her coffee, thirty minutes had passed and there was silence from upstairs. Obviously, something was going on.
Alex grabbed the load of laundry that was waiting to be taken upstairs and walked up. She tapped lightly on the door but didn’t wait for a response; since the response would just be “go away, we’re busy.”
The girls knelt around a red silk cloth, each holding a damp green sprig of herbs. A nearby Tupperware revealed where the dampness came from, and the white powder on the carpet surrounding the container explained the smell of baby powder.
They were utterly still with attention fixed on the ugly topaz ring they were using as a focus.
She muttered a brief spell of dispersal in case they’d attracted or entrapped anything while they were experimenting, then the spell of release. She waited while the girls shook off their trances before she started yelling.
“How many times have you been warned about experimenting with magic without supervision? How many times have you been told that substitutions and new spells must be tested in a safe environment to protect yourself and your fellow casters? What were you possibly thinking?”
Melissa and Danielle looked at the floor, ashamed and near tears, but Justine’s embarrassment at being yelled at in front of her friends made her try to argue. “It was just a little beauty spell, it wasn’t really dangerous.”
“Then why you were all so transfixed by the focus object, hmm? Or did you forget that crystals can entrap and channel magic and therefore forbidden to magic users until they pass their mental acuity tests?”
“It’s a topaz, not a crystal!”
Alex was so astounded by that little attempt at logic that she just stared for a moment. Finally, she started herding the girls downstairs. “You are going to sit downstairs at the kitchen table and quietly work on your homework while I call your mothers. Then all of us are going to have a discussion about why rules about working with magic exist and what your punishments should be. And Justine, you can start with an essay about types of crystals. Start with topaz.”
Fandom: Original, YA Fantasy
Prompt: Topaz
Warnings: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 826
Summary: Rules are there for a reason
*****
“Mom, we’re going to my room.”
They ran lightly up the stairs. Once inside Justine’s room, they stood looking at each other for long moments, searching for any signs of hesitation or worry.
They kept their voices low, respecting the seriousness of what they were about to do. With great gravity, each girl pulled out a cotton bag filled with the items they were to contribute.
From Melissa: four white candles, a bundle of rosemary and a bit of her hair.
From Danielle: a red silk cloth, an Avon container of talcum powder and a bit of her hair.
From Justine: a tiny linen bag with something heavy inside, a Tupperware container of red wine and a bit of her hair.
Everything was placed reverently on the red silk cloth, which was spread on the floor, except for the small linen bag. That was passed around, each girl holding it between cupped hands and breathing into the bag. Finally, Justine pulled out the contents with a flourish.
Danielle and Melissa’s faces fell.
“There’s nothing wrong with using this,” Justine said defensively. “Believe me, I did the research.”
The other girls hastened to agree, but their disappointed faces didn’t change. Justine ignored them and set the hideously ornate ring in the centre of the cloth. She tried to push it into the carpet so the huge topaz stone would face upwards, but it kept popping out and falling over. Finally Melissa stopped her, lit a candle and melted a pool of wax onto the red silk. Danielle took the ring from Justine and set it in the wax, holding it upright until the wax solidified.
The three girls smiled at each other for a moment before hurrying to set up the rest of the elements needed for the spell.
The candles were set at each corner of the cloth, another dollop of melted wax holding them in place. The three bundles of hair were braided together and threaded through the hole in the ring.
Justine picked up the book from where it rested on the bed. “Okay, I think we’re ready. Who wants to go first?”
Silence. They’d spent two weeks doing research and another two weeks getting all the ingredients together. All of their allowances had been spent on this project. And no one was willing to go first.
Melissa was the one who finally spoke up. “Could, I mean, what if we did it all together?”
Exchanging glances, they all took a sprig of rosemary and began whispering the opening incantation.
*****
“Mom, we’re going to my room.”
Three pairs of feet thundered up the stairs, completely drowning out the giggling. Alexandra tuned the noise out with the skill only years of motherhood could teach and read the newspaper while she drank her coffee.
When she finished her coffee, thirty minutes had passed and there was silence from upstairs. Obviously, something was going on.
Alex grabbed the load of laundry that was waiting to be taken upstairs and walked up. She tapped lightly on the door but didn’t wait for a response; since the response would just be “go away, we’re busy.”
The girls knelt around a red silk cloth, each holding a damp green sprig of herbs. A nearby Tupperware revealed where the dampness came from, and the white powder on the carpet surrounding the container explained the smell of baby powder.
They were utterly still with attention fixed on the ugly topaz ring they were using as a focus.
She muttered a brief spell of dispersal in case they’d attracted or entrapped anything while they were experimenting, then the spell of release. She waited while the girls shook off their trances before she started yelling.
“How many times have you been warned about experimenting with magic without supervision? How many times have you been told that substitutions and new spells must be tested in a safe environment to protect yourself and your fellow casters? What were you possibly thinking?”
Melissa and Danielle looked at the floor, ashamed and near tears, but Justine’s embarrassment at being yelled at in front of her friends made her try to argue. “It was just a little beauty spell, it wasn’t really dangerous.”
“Then why you were all so transfixed by the focus object, hmm? Or did you forget that crystals can entrap and channel magic and therefore forbidden to magic users until they pass their mental acuity tests?”
“It’s a topaz, not a crystal!”
Alex was so astounded by that little attempt at logic that she just stared for a moment. Finally, she started herding the girls downstairs. “You are going to sit downstairs at the kitchen table and quietly work on your homework while I call your mothers. Then all of us are going to have a discussion about why rules about working with magic exist and what your punishments should be. And Justine, you can start with an essay about types of crystals. Start with topaz.”
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no subject
Date: 2008-03-09 06:26 am (UTC)Great little story. The fact that spell casting is a part of life threw me.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-09 03:38 pm (UTC)I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for commenting.
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Date: 2008-03-09 08:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-09 11:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-10 03:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-10 07:01 pm (UTC)