Nature of Magic

Most of my writing has an element of magic. My brain won’t let me write about the real world without a paranormal twist. Here’s an excerpt from my nearly completed WIP, Naked Eye:

I don’t know how long I’ve been sleeping. Maybe I am still sleeping. There’s a buzzing in my ear, and I swat at the sound, sure it’s a fly that’s survived the chill. “Go away,” I mutter. That’s when things get weird. The buzzing becomes an old woman’s words, I am sure of it, even if I can’t understand the words. Then I can.

“Lucienne, when you wake tomorrow and begin to see people, they will seem different to you. Do not be alarmed. And do not tell anyone what you see. I’ll contact you to explain everything soon.”

I sit up, swatting the ear that had been exposed while I’d slept on my side. Whipping my head around, I’m sure I see a fly or even a person in the room with me in the dark. Nothing and no one. I’ve had dreams where I’ve heard a voice before so I’m not freaked out, but I’ve never remembered the words until now. Yawning, I burrow under my covers.

I dream about losing my eye as if it were really happening again. Then my dream changes to when I first received my fake eye, that strange tugging on my lid and inserting the foreign object I still hate.

*****

In the morning, I empty a bowl of cereal and slump into my seat, cursing my alarm clock, wishing it were Saturday. My mother; all dressed in her real estate best chirps, “Morning, Lucienne. I have a meeting with a business associate tonight. Don’t wait up for me. And don’t forget the real estate conference is next weekend,” as she pecks me on cheek and then turns to the coffeemaker.

While she pours coffee into her cup, I gasp and drop my spoon, which clanks in the bowl. I heard her words but my eye, my fake eye, lets me know she’s lying. I know because I have x-ray vision like Superman. My mother speaks but I look past her face straight into her mind, and her true words swirl inside my fake eye. The one that isn’t supposed to see.

I don’t have a meeting with a business associate. I have a date. I’ve been seeing him for months, and I’ve been hiding it from you. And there is no real estate conference. We’re going to Cape Cod for the weekend.

Why is she hiding this from me?

Wait, why do I know she’s hiding this from me?

Whoosh, my head feels like a balloon and my heart stutters.

“Are you okay?”

I must look funny staring into space. “I just realized I forgot to do something. I’ll be right back.”

Before she can ask what the something is, if she even cares, I run out of the room and up the stairs, two at a time. So I can see better, I twist my blinds open. The morning sun illuminates my cluttered room. Slowly, I walk to the white table mirror and sit on the white bench. I’d thought the setup was glamorous as a child, but now the white bed and furniture with its pink accents looks like a little girls room. I see it for the first time.

I spot my reflection before I have a chance to sit down, and it makes me sink into the bench. My mouth is agape. My two eyes stare back at me.

And I can see through those two eyes.

“It’s not possible,” I whisper.

The doorbell rings, but it doesn’t occur to me Morgan is here. Or that I should be downstairs, opening the door to let Morgan in and squealing. I remember the dream from last night, and shiver.

“Lucienne, when you wake tomorrow and begin to see people, they will seem different to you. Do not be alarmed. And do not tell anyone what you see. I’ll contact you to explain everything soon.”

I lean so forward my nose nearly taps the mirror.

My door swings open, slamming the wall behind it. “Lucienne, why are you up here?” Then she really sees me. “What are you doing?”

Check out the other Nature of Magic participants, hosted by Tessa Conte:

1. Laura B Diamond (host) 2. Tessa Conte (host) 3. Dawn Embers 4. WRITING IN THE CROSSHAIRS 5. J. W. Parente 6. . : The Red Angel: . 7. Amalia T. 8. Donna Hole 9. Michael @ In Time . . . 10. ?HOLLY?@ On. . . Love, Life and Everything in Between 11. Artemis Grey 12. Trisha @ W O R D + S T U F F 13. Akoss@ A Search For The Writer In Me 14. Substitute Teachers Saga 15. Stephanie @ Scribbler to Scribe 16. Tizzy @ Impossible Dreams 17. Margo @ Writing at High Altitude 18. Karen Hooper@ Eternal Moonshine 19. Magenta Monster a flash fiction monster 20. A Possessed WIP 21. Natasha Hanova 22. J. C. Martin, Fighter Writer 23. Lindz 24. its KRISTAL kLEEr 25. RosalindAdam 26. Finding Bliss 27. N. R. Williams 28. Scheherazades Journal 29. Raquel Byrnes, Edge Of Your Seat Romance 30. Brooke R. Busse 31. Teralyn Rose Pilgrim 32. Rosie @ East for Green Eyes 33. Tanya Reimer- Lifes Like That 34. Sticky Note Stories 35. Anne-Mhairi Simpson 36. The Aspiring Sub-creator 37. Nature of Love, A blogfest 38. Daily Dodo 39. Blake 40. Attack of the Muses!! Monica Marier 41. MorningAJ at Jobbing Writer 42. The Wit and Wisdom of Another Sarah 43. Magick, Alchemy and Love. . . 44. Gladiators Pen 45. Mary W. 46. Stuart Sharp 47. Michelle@ beautiful chaos

I’m sorry, but putting names in Randomizer to choose winners is too much to do on my birthday. I’ll announce the winners next week, I promise! (Psssst, it's Shannon O'Donnell's birthday today too. Send her some love! )

Writers, does magic have

a role in your writing?