One-Shots: 3

“Feel it flow through you, the energy and the breath and the pulse.  Yes, the pulse as it flows through the earth and through your feet.”

“It’s still bull.  You can’t feel the pulse.”

“Patience.  It takes patience in order to feel the pulse.”

“I can feel my pulse.  Not any other pulse.  And no, the Earth doesn’t emit some sort of pulse we can feel.”

“You said you wanted to become a magician, did you not?”

“I said I wanted to get in tune with myself, not cast spells.”

“It is not simply casting spells.  In order to cast spells you need to first feel the energy of the universe.”

“This seriously sounds like some new-age science voodoo.  Can I put my arms down now?”

“No!  Keep them up.”

“It’s been like ten minutes and nothing has changed.  I’m getting tired.”

“You aren’t focusing, you aren’t believing.”

“I don’t need to believe.  What I need is someone to properly teach me.”

“What you need is to be a willing student.”

“A student would be more willing if they actually knew that their ‘teacher’ wasn’t a two-bit fraud!”

“Two-bit fraud?  Are you kidding me?  You need to come up with better insults.”

“And you need to come up with a better teaching curriculum.”

“I didn’t want an apprentice, I didn’t want a child who couldn’t even understand the basic fundamentalities of magic!”

“I said, I didn’t want to cast spells!”

“If you would just trust me, I could—”

“Show me what, how to channel the energies of the universe and pretend I could bend the laws of reality to my will?”

“Well, yes, actually.”

“…I was kidding.  Anyways, that’s not possible in the slightest.”

“Yes it is possible.”

“And how would you know?  You can’t even do magic.”

“You think?  Let me show you.”

“Whoa, whoa!  Buddy!  Hands off!”

“Just work with me.  Put your hands like this, intertwine them at your core.  Root yourself, plant your feet firm.  Bury your toes into the sand.  Feel the wind upon your face, through your hair, pulling the fabric of your clothes.  Feel them.  Feel each grain of sand, each salty spray from the sea and from the breeze that carries with it the southern warmth that we have been waiting for.  Feel them.  Feel it all.”

“I’m…feeling?”

“Quiet.  Hold it in, hold in all of these precious feelings.  Close your eyes.  Concentrate those feelings together.  Hold them.  Take them into your hands.  Take them into your hands.  Make it palpable.  Make it something you can hold.  On the count of three, open your eyes and extend your hands, pushing your palms outwards from yourself.  3.  2.  1.”

“Woah.  I…I wasn’t expecting that to happen.”

“Do you believe me now?”

“I wasn’t expecting to scorch my fingers.”

“That’s normal.  Do you feel better grounded?”

“I guess?”

“Do you want to continue with my lesson?”

“I think so.”

“Good.  Now, feel it flow through you.  The energy and the breath and the pulse.  Feel the pulse of the earth and the sand and the sea.”