“Magic Is Real”
“Magic is real.”
She didn’t say it in those words. In fact, she didn’t even know what she was saying. What she said out loud was, “Your brothers read these books and loved them, and I think you’ll love them too,” as she passed me a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. She had no idea what powers she had bestowed upon me, what she was really teaching.
“Magic is real.”
He didn’t say it in those words. He was just playing a game in our cousins’ basement as I watched, enraptured. The green-haired girl changed in a flash to something otherworldly and vanished, and he hurried across the lands to retrieve his friend, accompanied by ninjas and rulers and creatures. He had no idea what intrigue he had shown me, what he was really teaching.
“Magic is real.”
They didn’t sing it in those words. They were singing stories and tales, about ancient mariners and power-hungry dictators, of nomads and fallen angels, of seventh sons and silver wings. They have no idea what they stirred within me, what they were really teaching.
“Magic is real.”
She didn’t say it in those words. She was simply disappointed in what she had to offer her children. Tales without ideals, rehashed idiocy, unspoken lessons that she didn’t want her children to learn. What she really said was, “I think you could do better.” She had no idea what fire she started, what she was really teaching.
“Magic is real.”
They said it in those words. They knew the power they held as they crafted unique personas and scenarios and played them out in front of us, as their master shaped the world around them, the intrepid heroes, vile villains, and tiny thieves. They knew the magic of kindness, healing, communication, and understanding, and passed all that they knew along, knowing what they were really teaching.
“Magic is real.”
You may not see it. You may not recognize it. It may come for you and you may not know. But it is there, all around us, waiting for us to open our arms and hearts so it can come in and make the world a better place.
“The “magic is real” repetition is quite fascinating and inventive, and it functions as a spell of sorts which reflects the work’s content really well.”
Word Count: 368
Written 18.11.2020
Flash (non)Fiction, Autobiographical
Image: Vartiosaari, Helsinki
More info: this was written very spontaneously in about 10 minutes, and is about the biggest influences that pushed me to want to be an author.
