Chapter One

A short description of modern day wizards

When most people think of a wizard, they think of a guy in long, dark colored robes, usually something along the lines of black or blue, and being able to do things like cast flaming balls out of their hands or control lightening, or some other such nonsense like that. Well, a wizard is none of those things. I would know since I am one.

I was born in 1975. Neither of my parents had any special abilities, but that doesn’t mean anything when it comes to the birth of a wizard. We’re sort of a special group that transcends genetics, you might say. Well, they were just your normal, average run of the mill corporate types. Well, mom was a secretary for a high profile bank official, and dad was the high profile bank official. They didn’t have a lot of time for me when I was growing up, but then again, due to my special nature, they probably wouldn’t have had much advice to give me on how to be a wizard, anyway, even if they had managed to schedule their time around my needs.

What exactly is a wizard, you say? Well, a wizard is someone who is born with more knowledge then they should have. I was born knowing how to make spells and potions that would allow me to do things that most people can’t. Well, that’s not exactly true. I was born knowing how to find out these things, and I studied a heck of a lot to become what I am today.

What, you don’t believe in a person who can make potions out of everyday items…Well, maybe not everyday, common items, but you get the idea. Wouldn’t scientist who play with their little chemistry sets have come across a means to do everything a wizard claims to be able to do, what with how often they play with mixing this or that to see how this or that will react with the other thing. Well, you see, it’s not just knowing the right combination of plants and powders to put together. Potions also require a harmonic activator, and that is what the guys in the white coats have been missing all these years. They just throw stuff together in a beaker or a test tube, and light a fire or something like that under it, but there’s more to it than that if you‘re wanting to create a magical spell or potion of some type. You have to know the right sounds to make to activate a materials inner power. That’s where being a wizard comes in handy. We already know the sounds to activate most things when we are born, and what we don’t know, we soon learn.

My parents were both sort of bothered by the things I could do, always being able to find things that were lost, or knowing some things were going to happen before they would, although precognition is a pretty hard trick to learn, and it’s not always that reliable. I was right as often as I was wrong in predicting when grandma was coming over, for instance. They usually didn’t say much to me about my talents, aside from the occasional, now don’t you dare do that in public, Matty, you know how your silly tricks embarrass mommy and daddy, or it would be best if you didn‘t draw attention to yourself by doing anything out of the ordinary. I kept to their wishes as best I could, since no one else I knew seemed to be able to do the things I could. I was a bit of a shy guy when I was growing up, and drawing attention to myself was never something I wanted to do much of, anyway. Don’t ask me why I was shy, I just was. Thankfully I grew out of that.

Oh, yeah, to make matters worse, I was born with the name Mathew Madison. My parents knick-named me Matty, and no matter how much I tried to argue with them, they would no stop calling me that for anything. Come to think of it, that name might be why I was such a shy kid, considering they would insist on using it even while we were out in public. What did they care? They weren’t the ones being called by some silly, stupid name. No one would every had dared to call my father Bobby.

The part about magic users having familiars? Well, that can be true at times, if they wish to have one. I managed to channel the spirit of a 16^th century alchemist by the name of Edwin into the body of a Raven when I was about fifteen, and we’ve been the best of friends ever since…Sort of. Whereas I usually go for the high ground on matters, Edwin doesn’t always think with the most moral of thoughts. I remember this one time when I was dating a girl by the name of Carolyn Granger. Man, was she one of the hottest chicks in school, and I was the most luckiest of guys to even say I had been out with her. Well, long story short, I wasn’t the type to go all the way on a first date, but apparently she was. We got a bit hot and heavy with out petting, and then Edwin happens to rap at the window of my rather beat up Chevy to inform me that I should drop all the moral, waiting for the right one bull, and just poke her. No, I didn’t know people from that time period thought that way either, but Edwin sure seemed to. I‘m not even sure where he learned half the lingo he used. It seemed rather more vulgar than one would expect from the 16^th century, but hey, what did I really know of such time periods. Maybe I just left the tv on too often for him.

Well, having a raven egg you on is just not the biggest of turn-ons for me, and I ended up taking her home before we could finish what we had started. You can bet Edwin and I had rather harsh words for each other for a few days after that, and I never got another chance with Carolyn again.

Yeah, he’s a bit of an a*s, but I still keep him around. I did bring him into the world, so to say, so he is my responsibility..unfortunately.

I’ve been around for about three and a half decades now, and never got married, never had kids and never even got a pet dog. Edwin takes up most of my time when it comes to a pet, and as for the other things…Well, I just never found that right someone, someone who would understand me. Granted, there are such things as witches and enchantresses, but I’ve never come across one of them I could feel all that comfortable with. Most of us have a difference of opinion when it comes to the use of magic. Witches can be a bit self centered when it comes to the use of magic, and I have nothing against them for that, but it’s just not my way. I’d rather help others than try to find ways to better my situation. I’m comfy enough as it is, why try to cause myself more problems by being selfish? And enchantresses usually don’t like to stick with one person for too long. They’re a little more party happy than the rest of us, and as soon as they even think they’re getting bored of you, they either toss you out the door, or disappear into the night. It took me only three tries with this type before I got the hint that this wasn’t the type of relationship I was really looking for. I wanted someone who was a bit more down to earth, and interested in an actual relationship, something serious, and maybe a family. It took me a while, but I discovered that this wasn’t your typical thinking when it comes to magic users.

I’m sort of one of those do for other types, even though I’ve been known to make a mistake here and there. Hey, no one’s perfect, not even a wizard.

Kids? Love them, but don’t have the time it would take to take care of one properly, what without having a little woman to help out with that. I’m not saying it’s the woman’s place to raise the kid, but it would help, especially since I didn’t have the grandest of childhoods, and really know very little about taking care of the little tykes. Some could say that instinct would kick in, but what if I’ve got a defective gene there, and it just sort of never happened? I’d hate to screw up a kid’s life just because of a biological malfunction on my part.

Good and evil? Well, wizards tend toward the good of things, and warlocks tend to be bad…very, very bad. What’s the difference between a wizard and a warlock? We’re born knowing how to figure out things, and a warlock is born being able to do things. I’ve seen them toss a piece of furniture across a room just by staring at it. They can start fires and control the weather at will, but it takes a lot out of them, and they tend not to do it unless as a last resort. Why are they bad? Well, warlocks like to have power, and that’s the bottom line. They don’t care how they get it, or what sort of power it is. They tend to like high profile jobs where they can pull a lot of strings, and order a lot of people around. And the control on other’s lives? Don’t even get me started there. Layoffs are a favorite pastime of theirs. The more lives they can ruin, the happier they tend to be. Yeah, you’ve probably known a few warlocks in your day. One might have even been your boss at one point in time. They also like power in the world of magic, taking as much as they can where they can get it. More than one wizard has suffered at the hands of a warlock who wanted to take his talent from him. You see, warlocks can control a lot of things, but they don’t know the special harmonics that wizards do, and we never tell them how to use them. That wouldn’t be only stupid, but it would be suicide as well. Who wants to give the devil more power than he already has?

Another thing one should know about a wizard is their pride. They’ve got a lot of it, and it can get us, and sometimes those around us, into a lot of trouble.

Here’s a tale of how that happened to me, once.

Author's Note

First Draft

Reviews

[Tracie Skarbo]

Hi Selena,

Great first chapter... found this below.

Wouldn’t scientist who play with their little chemistry sets have come across a means to do everything a wizard claims to be able to do, what with how often they play with mixing this or that to see how this or that will react with the other thing. ***Did you mean scientists? I would also put a comma after scientists and after sets and a question mark after "Able to do" to break it up a bit. As it is now it is reading as a run on sentence.**

What, you don’t believe in a person who can make potions out of everyday items…Well, maybe not everyday, common items, but you get the idea. **I would put a question mark behind the What? You... and then another one behind items.

[Tracie Skarbo]

We got a bit hot and heavy with out petting, and then Edwin happens to rap at the window of my rather beat up Chevy to inform me that I should drop all the moral, waiting for the right one bull, and just poke her. *** I would take out the comma after moral and perhaps waiting for the right one intalics?

I had to post in two sections... not sure why it would not let me enter more at one time... anyhow this is an awesome beginning... I can see this as a middle teen to young adult book for sure, you have some great ideas here!

I will be back for more chapters! :)