Obsidian Shade (黒曜石シェード): Novella Prequel

6 - Magical Garbage

February 4, 2021

Denver, Colorado

Eviana's Diary

Since I was a little girl, fairytales and their magical happily ever afters have meant the world to me. Thankfully for me, my imagination hasn't been able to get in the way of my adult life. At least, not completely or all the time. Sometimes, I do find myself leaning more towards a fantastical style of thinking.

This is what is on my mind as I am walking home, taking my usual route, from Jaydrian's house after meeting up with him to watch the amazing J'TASK concert. The mind of a writer comes and goes through inspiration and random moments.

Walking alone tends to help stir up these thoughts. As I've conjured up many story ideas during the beneficial fifteen minutes of exercise between my apartment and my best friend's house.

A healthy mind and body is imperative to success.

And right now, my mind is racing, the gears turning and concocting various scenarios. I've just put the finishing touches on Sonyeondan, my fantasy novel story. So it is natural for the characters and the plot to be fresh in my mind.

I can't help but wonder if the fairytale world of Sonyeondan with its various inhabitants, the Bangtan Sonyeondan, could be real. I pass by the familiar alleyway that is right beside my apartment building. At the far end of it, sits a giant dumpster that would give any dorky kid serious PTSD.

I halt abruptly as something silvery catches the corner of my eye. I slowly turn and see the end of a silver stick poking out of the dumpster can. At the end is a sparkling star. The object reminds me of any fairy costume prop's magic wand.

But, the difference is that this one is...glowing.

Actually, it's more like a pulsing light.

It can't be! Is it real...?

My mind flashes back to when I was six years old, running around the garden of my family's house in rural England. I grew up with Disney fairytales and fairytale stories. They were a main source for my story genre that I write in now. At the time, I was young and my mind was active. Fantasy was more real to me.

And in the garden, I could have sworn that I saw a fairy like Tinkerbell flittering about the flowers and bushes, playing with me. It was blue with clear wings and looked like an insect, but I know I saw golden hair locks trailing from a human-like head.

It was the only incident that I have, but it has been enough to drive my curiosity and keep an open mind toward a lot of things. I may not fully believe, but I'm not by any means a non-believer of magic and fantasy elements.

Who knows, dragons may have once existed in the past with unicorns but went extinct like the dinosaurs? Maybe the Loch Ness Monster is real and roaming the depths of the lake? Maybe Megalodon is still alive and never went extinct? Maybe fairies DO exist and have magic and therefore magic is real? You never know...

Curious and cautious of any traps or bad guys lurking about, I creep forward toward the pulsing wand that sticks out, beckoning me to it. The alleyway is well lit and usually one of the less frequented ones for crime, so I begin to close my mind to my surroundings, feeling a rush of safety and focus on the pulsating stick.

Something strikes me odd as I pluck it from the dumpster and observe it, twirling it around in my hand. Questions begin to surface in my head. First of all, how did this get here and secondly, why is it here?

Perhaps the most puzzling thought in my mind is why does this wand look so much like the one I described in my latest story, Sonyeondan. From the silver color to the star top to the unique musical note design that wraps around the stick.

I look around, thinking that maybe somehow I've been transported to an alternate world, but everything is real. I'm still in Denver, Colorado. The alleyway is real and so is this magic wand.

Holding the wand, I begin to think about if it works. If it is like the one I wrote about in Sonyeondan, then this could be truly groundbreaking. But it could also be a warning and dangerous.

I hold it up and at ready like I've seen in many Disney fairytales and then give it a gentle, but assertive flick. Sparks burst out of the star, but nothing happens. I wonder if there is some kind of a magical incantation like 'bippity boppity boo.' I brush a strand of my hair away from my face and get the wand set before me again.

This time, with the flick, I shout out, "Abracadabra!" It's the first magical incantation on my mind.

Still nothing happens, just the few sparks that fly out the end. It's still pulsating light, so it's real and should work. I tap the tip to my chin and begin to think about ways to activate it. Maybe it's linked to a specific time? Maybe I have to tap it against an object? Maybe I have to think of a place and it will take me there?

A sharp gust of wind blows at me. I look up at the sky, seeing dark clouds gathering ominously overhead. What a time for a storm?

I decide to give up and just bring it up to my apartment and figure things out inside. I can't be standing out here, if it begins to rain, especially if there's lightning around. Besides, even though this alleyway is one of the safer ones, I still shouldn't be standing out here with a magical wand like this for very long.

So between the coming storm and my own safety, I hurry to my apartment.

How it got here is still at the back of my mind as I rush inside.

I lock my door behind me and set down my bag, phone and earbuds and then hold the wand, surveying it once again. The light pulses brightly and then dims over and over. It reminds me of a heartbeat.

"Are you the wand from Sonyeondan?" I ask it as I make my way to my room, where my laptop sits on a desk. It holds the masterpiece novel within google docs, which I will need to look at.

I cannot recall how the wand works and is activated, but I will find out and try again.

The wand just pulsates its light away in response.

I walk by a window and see a flash of lightning, just as a heavy downpour pelts the glass of the window with a force that makes me think it will shatter it. Good decision to come in, I think to myself.