Magic Teacher

 

            Matthew needed a break. He got up, stretched, and then asked Haley, “Don’t you think we’ve got enough information for our presentation now?”

            Haley still sat at the table, looking over all of the work that they had done. “Yeah, I think we have enough for the presentation. All we need to do now is practice.”

            Matthew sighed. He’d really had enough of reading about the country of France. He couldn’t wait for this whole project to be over. He thought wistfully of tomorrow afternoon. By then, he could forget all about France once their presentation was over.

            Haley interrupted his thoughts. She handed him a sheet of paper, saying, “You do this half, and I’ll do the rest.”

            Matthew took the paper reluctantly. “Okay, but I need to take a break first.” He wandered away from the table where they had been working in the library. He just needed to move his body. He thought about heading outside, but something stopped him. It was almost like someone had said his name, but really softly. He looked around, and there was no one close to him. He looked toward the shelves full of books, and he felt like he should walk over there.

            Matthew wasn’t sure why, but he took a step toward the stacks. He really wanted to go outside, but he felt like he needed to do something first. Not exactly sure what it was, he continued walking toward the rows of books. Once he reached them, he felt something pull him in farther. It was like his body was following invisible instructions, but Matthew had no idea what they were.

            He walked deeper and deeper into the stacks. This library was huge and quite old, but it seemed even bigger now. His body turned down aisles confidently, still following that strange pull. He started to worry that he would get lost. He’d never been this far in before. He glanced at the books on either side of him, noticing that they seemed older and heavier. There weren’t any books with bright pictures on the covers, like he was used to seeing. These books were mostly made of leather with the titles peeling off or illegible.

            Whatever was pulling him on was getting stronger. Matthew started running, feeling like he needed to hurry now. He continued to twist and turn among the stacks. There was no way he would ever find his way out, but he felt like he was almost there.

            Finally, he stopped, breathing heavily. The pull was gone, and Matthew was left a little confused. He had entered a round room, lined with bookshelves. In the center of the room sat a table, with a single book lying on top of it. He was standing right next to the table, so he picked up the book. He could tell that it was ancient. The leather binding was cracked and peeling. It looked like it might have had a handsome green cover at one time, but now it was coming apart in his hands. There was no legible title, but there were a few gold markings that looked like they used to be letters.

            Carefully laying the book back onto the table, Matthew opened it. He immediately felt that pull again, but this time, he was turning pages. He was so close to his goal now, whatever it was. He feverishly turned the pages, heedless of how they disintegrated in his hands. Finally, he reached the right page.

            A beautiful drawing of a blue and gold dragon filled the page. Matthew marveled at the level of detail. The dragon was drawn flying in the air, and Matthew could feel the wind blowing past him from the dragon’s powerful wingbeats. Its scales shimmered and shone. Then, it moved.

            With one mighty swoop of its wings, the dragon flew out of the book, straight into the air in front of Matthew. Matthew stared, dumbstruck, at the miniature dragon now flying around him. It couldn’t be any bigger than a hummingbird, but it was magnificent.

            After circling around Matthew twice, the dragon spoke. “Hmmm, not exactly what I expected, but I guess you’ll do.”

            “W-w-what?” Matthew stammered.

            The dragon landed on Matthew’s shoulder and looked at him haughtily. “I’ve been waiting a thousand years for you to show up. Everyone told me I would be wasting my time by waiting for someone like you to come along.”

            “Someone like me?” Matthew asked softly. “What does that mean?”

            “Someone with your magic capacity. Everyone told me that humans would never have magic, and I’d be waiting in that book forever.” He nodded toward the book that still lay on the table.

            “Uh, I think you’ve got me confused with someone else. I don’t know any magic tricks.”

            A gleam appeared in the dragon’s eyes. “No magic, huh? Where do you think you are?”

            “The city library,” Matthew answered promptly.

            The dragon stared at Matthew, wondering if he was joking. “Um, no. This is the magical library of Tulok. My name is Gable, and I will be your teacher of magic.”

            Matthew felt his jaw drop. This had to be some sort of weird dream or something. He needed to leave. “Uh, thanks, but I need to get back now.” He gave kind of a half-hearted wave as he said, “See you later, Gable.” He turned and ran back into the rows and stacks of books.

            Soon, he was hopelessly lost. He ran in a panic down passages lined with books until he finally stopped to catch his breath.

            “Need some help?” Gable asked, perched on Matthew’s shoulder.

            Matthew yelped and said, “I need to go back and finish my project on France. Haley is waiting for me.”

            “Relax, er, what’s your name again?”

            “It’s Matthew.”

            “Okay, Matthew, all you need to do is use your same magic that you used when you came here.”

            “But I don’t have any magic!” Matthew said, frustrated. “You pulled me here.”

            “Did I? Or did you just follow your feelings?”

            Matthew said nothing. Something had pulled him here. Was it his magic? He did really need to get back to Haley. He closed his eyes and imagined a rope pulling him toward her.

            Matthew opened his eyes and immediately felt himself being pulled along an invisible rope. He took off running to follow the pull.

            “Ah, there you go,” Gable said proudly as he flew along beside Matthew.

            Matthew ran until he started to recognize his surroundings. He was back in the city library now. Slowing down, he turned to Gable to say, “Thanks.”

            The dragon perched on his shoulder again and said, “Anytime. You and I will be spending a lot of time together, you know. You’ll be needing a teacher now.”

            Matthew hesitated before he said, “Well, there’s really no such thing as dragons where I come from. People are going to wonder what’s going on when I show up with you on my shoulder.”

            “Never fear, young wizard!” Gable said happily. “You’re the only one who can see or hear me.”

            And that’s how the first human became a wizard. Matthew walked out of the stacks and sat back down next to Haley.

            “Finally!” Haley sounded exasperated. “Let’s finish this project.”

            Matthew never told anyone about his powers—or Gable. He eventually became a powerful wizard who would seek out other magical talent around him. He worked closely with Gable and they became best friends. The world became a much more magical place after that, and the names of Matthew and Gable became legendary.