Teachers beware

"Magic exists in all of us but only a few can open their minds and hearts to see it."

He chewed the back of his pencil, reading and rereading the sentence in his head. It was quite good he decided at last.

Taking a sip from his coffee he relaxed back into the chair. Writing this book was his best idea yet. The common folks would simply be fascinated by the promise of a mere glimpse into the world of magic. Of course he would have to charge a reasonable sum for the book, $100 perhaps - just so they’ll appreciate the effort.

He looked around the small café’, it had a magnificent view over the park and it always inspired him. Several children were playing soccer on the grass nearby and further along the trail there were a couple of teenagers walking and holding hands. He sighed heavily picking up his pencil.

"This book will teach you how to use the most common spells that will help you in your daily chores." Someone was shouting in the park, a steady jumble of words that could drive a man out of his mind.

He looked up irritated, seeking the source of this annoyance. A commoner wearing a bright yellow vest was standing on top of a table in the park berating to anyone who cared to listen. Damn weirdo.

Where was I, he rereads the first paragraph concentrating, "The first thing when using magic is to let go of the boundaries society imposes on you. Magic does not work by logic or reason but by imagination and willpower-"

Damn he just won’t quit. He slammed the pencil on the table taking another sip of coffee. It was getting worse. It seemed people were actually gathering around the weirdo.

Lifting a hand he searched for the nearest busboy and mentioned him to come over. "You got any idea what’s that all about?" He asked nodding toward the park.

The busboy followed his gaze and grinned, "Don’t mind him, his quite harmless. For the past few days he’s been coming here telling people about huge beasts that fly above the city - watching every move we make." The grinning attendant chuckled then continued "He always finishes by telling how every once in a while someone enrages the beasts enough that they sweep down and devour the hapless soul." Obviously enjoying himself the busboy shook his head, "Scares the hell out of the kids."

Grunting he took another sip of coffee. Since the U.N officially acknowledged the existence of magic all kind of weirdo’s that either did not have enough money or the required skills to go to a proper magic school were claiming all sorts of things, playing on the fears of the common folk. He of course knew better, and after 12 years of studying he could finally give the common folk a real example of magic.

He was about to return to his writing when a surge of magic began to emanate from somewhere outside. In school they were taught to recognize magic but in all his years he had never encountered something this strong. With a puzzled frown he looked outside, searching for the source. Ripples were running through the sky, pulsing stronger and stronger. The people outside began to scream in horror, running in every direction. He was not worried; several enchantments had been placed upon him. There was no real chance of harm coming his way, so he sat and he watched.

With a burst of flames a huge creature emerged from the sky diving toward the man in the yellow vest. The hapless man couldn’t have made more than a couple of steps before the beast caught him with its fangs - tossing him into the air and swallowing him whole.

After it had finished eating the man the beast took flight, disappearing in the same way it appeared, leaving the park in chaos.

After a while he got up, gathering his things. His notebook was lying open on the desk; the chewed pencil had fallen to the floor in all the ruckus. With a shake of his head he read the single paragraph he finished so far.

"I guess the book was not such a great idea after all."