“Seriously, dad?” a nine-year old boy said, pulling at his father’s sleeve.
“Have a little faith, son,” the father said but his quivering voice betrayed his lack of confidence. He better know what he’s doing. He’s our only hope!
In the distance, the boy wizard, not a day older than the nine-year old boy, stood with a straight posture. He was facing the throng of villagers, his back to the raging forest fire. His expressionless face did not give any reassurance to the gathered villagers.
~~~~~
The forest fire had burnt for days and nights. No one knew how it started but silently, the villagers pointed poison fingers at each other. Separated by a stream, the village had remained unscathed but the safety net was evaporating quickly. A thick layer of haze enveloped the village. The villagers were choking on smoke. It would not be too long before the fire spread across.
Everyone was in a panic frenzy but no one was doing anything useful. Putting his hope on a legend told by his great grandfather, the village’s medicine man clambered up the mountain to seek help from the wise.
When the medicine man reached the only cave on the peak, he was bemused to find a little boy perched on top of a rock. Legs crossed, eyes closed, he appeared to be deep in meditation. Aside from the age of the figure in front of him, the medicine man was rather impressed by the display of profundity, until he heard the boy snoring. The boy’s snore reverberated across the cave, shattering the man’s hope into a million pieces. The medicine man shook his head in despair and turned to leave.
“I know why you’re here,” the boy’s quiet, soft spoken voice echoed. “Do not be influenced by what you see… or hear. Come, we have a village to save.”
~~~~~
Embers floated across the stream to extend the reach of the fire, to widen its path of destruction. The boy wizard raised his hands to silence the villagers and turned to face the fire. He reached into his robe and pulled out a glass flask. He uncorked it and chanted a string of unintelligible words.
The flow of embers changed direction and shifted toward the boy wizard. In a spectacular display of swirling lights, the embers spiralled inwards into the flask, followed by smog and, finally, the fire from across. The flask glowed in tones of yellow, orange and red. Within minutes, the boy had defeated the fire. In its wake were charred remains of a once grand and ancient forest.
The wizard held the flask to his mouth and drank the fiery liquid. His body started to light up as if he was on fire. He held out his hands and pushed his body forward. A gust of wind followed by streams of energy discharged from his fingertips. Tentacles of energy weaved and intertwined with blackened trunks and twigs. Instantly, young leaves appeared and flowers began to blossom from the dead trees.
The wizard turned, smiled at the villagers, and walked towards the mountain. He was long gone before the stunned villagers recovered. They wanted to applaud but the moment was already over.
- End -
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