Monday, July 28, 2014

Improvement (Micro-Fiction Monday)

He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to be holding this sword, facing his “opponent”—a wooden block, carved vaguely into the shape of a person. He didn’t want to listen to the sharp thwaks of metal against wood, or the constant yelling of the Guard Master and his useless orders.

No, I will not space out my feet.

No, I will not grip the hilt differently.

He didn’t want to be here. But here, he was stuck—unlike his older sister, who was standing at the opposite end of the field, surrounded by her peers. He was lucky she controlled the earth element, because those were the only ones permitted to train on the field with the warriors. The rest of the magic students were spread out across campus—the water students were down by the fountain in front, the fire students on the concrete platform behind the main building, and the air users were up on the rooftop. At least, that’s where they started. Every now and then one flustered child would go running past, hair wild, the silver emblem on their uniform flashing as they hurried off to rejoin the group.

Now, he watched his sister wave her hand. Sparks of jade flew around, as the ground rumbled gently—he could feel it, even from here. A vine sprouted from the broken earth, reaching up and wrapping itself around her finger.

Why did she get to be a magic user? They had the same magical ancestry. Why did he have to be the one trapped, without any elemental connection of his own? He yelled out and struck the wooden dummy in frustration.

His teacher nodded at him, his approval silent, but evident. The boy was improving.

The boy didn’t want to improve.

~~

Until later,

- Justyne

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