Magic

The following is my response to the "Thursday Inspiration" post put forth by Paula in her blog, Lightmotifs. The prompt was the word, magic. I would never consider myself much of a fantasy genre writer, but this was fun, if a little simplistic, I'm sure. Since I don't use Wordpress to blog, I can't really play properly with the folks over there, but this is my attempt to crash the party. I promise I won't do so very often, if the number and frequency of my own posts is any indicator. 

Magic Class

The instructor looked at the crowded classroom through glasses that rode low on his long nose. The action caused his head to tilt back, giving him a haughty demeanor. The children, all ages, for this class, shifted in the seats attached to their desks, or coughed, or looked at their shoes and the tile floor around them, or at the clock high on the wall over the instructor’s right shoulder.

He spoke in a somber tone. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “this is the advanced class, as you know, so I will expect all of you to take personal responsibility for completing the assignments in class as well as at home when I so direct. There will be no hand holding on my part. I am told all of you are ready for the material I plan to cover here this semester. Open your books to page three.”

A soft, crinkling susurration of turning pages punctuated by gentle thumps of books spines on wooden desktops filled the room and then ended slowly, fading away like the sound of a passing carriage, until there was silence.

The instructor turned so that he faced the blackboard on the wall, his back to the classroom. "Professor Mandrake," he said in a conversation tone, his back still turned toward the class. "You haven't opened your book." He turned back and glared at a small girl who sat in the first row of desks in the very center.

"I don't need to," said the girl. Her voice was sweetly high and she had a slight lisp. "I wrote it. Now change us both back. You will certainly get an A in this class, but you are trying my patience."