Gone Forever

What would happen if a world that once had magic, suddenly didn't?

“It’s over,” was the only thought that entered my mind. Sadness, fear, and anger stormed across my heart, inducing me to tears. I felt so empty and so alone that each step I took wrenched my heart.

The people around me wailed in despair. Some of them cursing the sky, some of them rocking back in forth in self-pity, and some of them staring blankly ahead, not knowing where to go from here. Each one of them had perfect reason to be cheerless.

My steps brought me closer to the temple until I stood at the door. When it didn’t open, my spirit crumbled. The door, which would only ever open with the few words of a spoken spell, would never unlock for anyone ever again.

I placed my palm flat to the sandy surface and whispered some words of command, but the surge of power I expected to feel never came upon me. Gone forever. The deep, inner root that used to sit inside my body and guide my existence had vanished. There was nothing left but the feeling of loneliness.

People don’t realize what magic is. Magic, once used, becomes part of your soul. To lose it, is to lose your own sanity. To lose half of your life. It hurt. I felt like someone had reached into my body and, without any care or caution, taken a chunk out of my mind.

My hand clenched the fabric around my chest and squeezed till my knuckles turned white. My knees quivered and my skin crawled as I turned around to leave the temple once and for all.

A woman ran past me, banging on the door and screaming, “Let me in! Please! It’s gone! My magic is gone! My life!” She was slamming her fists so hard that when she finally stopped there were little beads of blood running down her arms.

As I walked away I could hear the woman’s sobs, so painful and so distressing that I could feel it enter my body and break my heart into little pieces.

I gazed up, straight at the clouds, and bawled in a voice full of misery, “No! Why has this happened?”

I shivered as a sudden gust of wind blew through my hair. Then I gasped. That was it. My magic. I could feel it in the air. As it rushed by I ran after it. I would chase it to the ends of the Earth.

Even when I couldn’t feel it anymore I continued to run. I had to hope that I could catch it. I ran and ran and ran. I ran until it became dark, and then, only when I tripped on something, did I stop running. I lifted my body to a sitting position and wept.

Trying to distract myself from the bleakness that made its way further into the fibers of my being, I looked at what I had tripped on. It was a body. A small, human child. The boy, who couldn’t have been more than 13 years old, had cut his own wrists and was lying in a pool of his blood. He must not have been able to handle the sudden change when our magic was stolen away… by what?

Where could our magic have gone? It was everything in this world. I suppose that’s what killed this boy. We relied on it too much, and now we don’t know what to do without it. I turned away from the boy and vacated the contents of my stomach on the ground.

“Karen,” a voice whispered my name.

“Salina?” I called back.

Salina was my best friend. We had spent every day together practicing magic and playing games. I suppose magic might have been what held our friendship together.

She came closer and wrapped her arms around me. I wanted to cry at the way she still treated me as a friend even at this moment. Then I choked. It wasn’t a hug, she had placed her hands on my throat and was squeezing, a menacing look in her eyes.

“It’s gone. Did you notice, Karen? The magic is gone. The music in my heart is no longer singing. It’s your fault. I’ll kill you. It’s your FAULT!”

I didn’t try to stop her. I merely sat, struggling for breath. The world was caving in on me. I had lost my family, my friends, the temple, and even my own will to live. “Kill me,” was all I could think at the girl that held my neck, “Kill me.”

Black spots started to appear in my vision. The lack of air was intoxicating. Almost like a drug. I found myself floating in the sky, watching Salina kill some girl that just looked like me. Then I turned away from the scene before me. I flew through the sky peacefully. It was amazing. It was almost like I had gotten my magic back the way my body just drifted.

I started to hum to myself as I fluttered higher and higher, until I could no longer be seen by the mortal eye. I flowed like water into the atmosphere, until I was gone forever.

Reviews

[Lynsey]

Interesting story. It's a good start, but it feels like it needs more. The first few paragraphs are the best and really drew me in. Once she started chasing the magic however, the story lost me. Where did she run to? Where was the boy's body lying? How did her friend find her? Why did her friend decide it was her fault? Was it simply that her friend had gone mad? I just felt like I was missing something. A little more description or a few more details about the world and the strange events of the story would help.

[Tari Falassion]

Thanks. This really helps. I always have trouble actually describing what goes on. I just want to get the plot through already.