Mind Sculpting

I was always interested in magic, even when I was a young child. The art of slight of hand fascinated me, being able to make things disappear and reappear in a different location or even making things completely vanish. Even as a child, something deep down in me knew that it was all illusion. Nothing more than party tricks that were playing on our inability to see some truth. Later in life I found this to be the case, but I also found out something much more interesting. There’s real magic out there. Not the goofy hocus pocus stuff you see in movies with guys in long cloaks and top hats, with white spats, or even the silly long beard with flowing robes types you see. But genuine down to earth real magic.

I guess I never did really introduce myself, Hello I’m Cole Schnutz. And I have found the true secret of magic. It’s not something that certain people are born with, well sort of. We are all born with the ability. You may not know it, but you have it, and have heard about it in action. I’m sure you’ve heard about Shaolin Monks, or people in lifting cars in extreme emergencies. They call the former exaggerations, and the latter adrenaline rushes.

What most people don’t know is these are really the same thing, It’s really magic. We try to wile away and explain it with science, which is fine, but it’s not really what’s going on under the hood, as it were. The truth is, we have access to this ability within ourselves to really sculpt and modify the reality around us. And I don’t mean in some hippy dippy way, but with a pure force of our will we can modify the space around us.

Some people explain it as believing really hard that something is somewhere else to the point that it now occupies that new space. This is sort of what I mean, if you tap into this internal power that we all have you can in fact shift objects around you into new spaces. What most people don’t realize is we sort of already do this. We all agree on the placement of all the things around us. If we all could tap the power and decide that something is in a different location, it will be.

The strongest magicians of history were able to use this power as well as open up and guide other peoples ability into doing the same. Say if someone wanted there to be a dragon, they would need to use their will to push the dragon into reality, but to keep it there for any amount of time would be daunting, convincing other people to add to this could be enough to keep it there for longer. Oddly it’s the same for making things disappear, one simply needs to sculpt everyones perception into knowing that something isn’t there, and as they say “Poof” it won’t be. Perhaps true magic would be better named Mind Sculpting.

-V-

Dry Spell (Part 3)

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I honestly hadn’t even thought about it. Perhaps she was on to something. The signs were always in front of us, but no one thought to look at it differently until it was so severe that the real underlying issue came to light. Okay, so now I feel that this must be true. What to do?

“What are you planning on doing about it?” I asked her.

“What? Me? Oh, nothing really, I study history. I don’t think there really is anything I can do to help or contribute. Perhaps I’ll just continue doing everything I do the same as I have before.” She gave a weak smile as she stated this.

“Yeah, I suppose that’s all we can do.” I reciprocated, “I guess we can leave it up to the better minds out there that are already working on the problem and hope.” But deep down I knew that I wouldn’t be satisfied with just rolling over and letting my life be decided by men in lab coats I didn’t know. Something inside of me was pushing me, no, reassuring me that I could unlock the solution to our problem. I don’t know why, but I’m sure it would make sense eventually. My first order of business was to learn as much about water and its impact in the environment as I could, so it was off to the library for me.

I guess it doesn’t really matter when or where, but all libraries seem to be the same place. Just stacks and stacks of books, a few elderly librarians hiding behind desks keeping to themselves, and some random patrons tucked away among the stacks. I’ve always loved the smell of a library, something about lots of old books wafting that papery smell. I don’t think I can really describe it completely, but anyone who has spent a few minutes in a good library will know what I mean.

I wasn’t sure where to start, so I found my way to the main circulation desk and waited patiently for a librarian to take notice of me. A rare gem came out from behind a large stack of books piled high on a desk. She looked to be in her late twenties, wore red acetate glasses with a cat-eye theme, stood six inches shorter than me, had dishwater blonde hair than framed her face well and went just past her shoulders. She looked expectantly at me.

“How may I help you?” her voice was soft, powerful, and entrancing. I found myself staring into her sky blue eyes.

“A book,” I said rather stupidly.

“Well this is a library,” she chuckled, “we have a lot of those around here. Any one in particular?”

“Oh, right!” I could feel myself blushing, “I need books on global warming, weather patterns, water tables.”

She looked at me thoughtfully for a moment as if she was appraising me. She held up one finger and rushed off back to her desk out of my sight. She returned wearing a blue knit cardigan. “Follow me, I think I know exactly what you need.”

-V-

Heart of Revenge (Part 4)

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The other side of the elevator doors did not hold a pleasant sight for me. Two burly men with fully automatic assault rifles trained on my head and body. They sort of looked like twins, heavily muscled and very well armed twins. I figured I’d try a little humor to lighten this tense moment.

“So, uh, Tweedledee and Tweedledum any idea where the rattle is?” I smiled as best as anyone could knowing that they could be littered with a large array of bullets at any moment. They gave each other a look that inspired a little more fear in me than I’m usually used to.

“You got a lot of balls.” The one that I’d like to think of as Tweedledee said to me.

“Well you know, what’s the point in have extras if you’re not willing to show them off every once in a while.” I wasn’t dead yet, so I figured I’d continue trying my luck at the wisecrack game.

“We could just off him you know.” Tweedledum piped in. This was not going to work in my favor if he was making the decisions for them. Although I was getting the feeling that these guys only had enough brains between the two of them for one person.

“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?” I asked, buying time, “I mean wouldn’t you have to clean up the mess, or at least explain why there is a mess to your boss?”

“He does have a point,” Tweedledum muttered, “I mean I don’t want to have to do the cleaning, and I always have to do the cleaning. Why’s it you never do the cleaning?”

“Because, the boss likes me better you dolt.” Tweedledee answered back. I was seeing my in here, I just had to play them off each other a little.

“Hey, Tweedledum, you could just let me out of here a little so I can do my delivery and be on my way. Plus you know it would be you making the decisions, we both know you’re the smarter one anyways.”

“You know he does have a good point,” I could see that I was making some headway here, “plus the boss didn’t say nothing about offing him.”

“Would you just shut up?” Tweedledee threw back at him, “I know the boss didn’t say nothing, but this is the only fun we ever get to have, no one ever tries to raid the lair. It just get’s so boring around here.” I spied my way out of the situation.

“Okay guys, you’ve had your fun. Supposing it’s time to let me out and on my way? I’m real sure the boss wants this package toot sweet.” The last idiom must have caused their brains to work overtime; I don’t think these guys ever got out.

“Uh, yeah okay.” With the flip of a hidden switch I was released. I rubbed at my wrist, which was surprisingly unharmed in the grips of the elevator trap. “You’ll want to go straight down the hall, it’s the big red door at the end. Can’t miss it.”

“And I can’t say I’ll miss you guys either, thanks much.” I skirted them as quickly as I could and made my way down the hall.

-V-

Heart of Revenge (Part 3)

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Chimay tower was an extravagant waste of money, mostly made of glass and architecture that by all rights shouldn’t have been able to stay standing in any adverse conditions. The tower had 111 floors, with the top most tiers overwhelmingly tall with vaulted ceilings. Just barely out of sight from the ground, one might be able to make out the gothic theme at the top, it was rumored to have over four hundred gargoyles fighting an eternal battle. I was once told it even had heated sidewalks around the building, talk about ridiculousness.

It was all owned and built for one Carlo Reservoir, my guess is they guy I was delivering the package to, he was a slippery as they come. Everyone knew he was deeply vetted in the criminal underworld, but no one could pin anything on him and no one was quite sure how far his reach went. Many people knew him from the news where he was commonly seen doing ribbon cuttings or doling out grants brilliant underprivileged souls. In the limelight he looked a perfect saint.

I pushed my way through the large revolving door and was immediately met with the security stand on the other side. The guard on the other side of the desk didn’t look particularly intimidating, but then again I’ve been around some pretty interesting characters in my time, so it usually takes a lot to impress me. He took a solid look at me, noted my Styrofoam container, and typed something into a computer terminal out of my sight behind the desk.

A look of approval flashed across his face and he pointed to the left of the desk. I looked over and saw a batch of elevators. Well, at least this was going to be pretty easy. I started walking to the first one I found and was stopped short by the first sound I had heard since I entered.

“You’ll want to hit the first and last buttons.” I looked back at him as he was finishing the sentence. There was nothing to read on his face, he just pointed my attention back to the now opening elevator. What an odd man, I thought as I entered the space. As the door closed understanding hit me. Didn’t this place only have 111 floors? And sure enough, there were only 111 buttons in front of me. How was I supposed to drop off a package to the 112th floor?

First and last buttons, I thought. Heh, a simple trick, I pushed the 111 and 1 buttons at the same time. The lights in the buttons flashed a few times then a panel opened up to the right of me. There was a green glass plate with the outline of a hand imprinted on it. Fancy! I guess the only way I was getting anywhere would be to place my hand there, so I did. The panel locked around my wrist and the elevator snapped into action. I was stuck, held in place, as the lift picked up massive amounts of speed. I didn’t really have anytime to consider options before the box came to an abrupt halt and the doors started to open.

-V-

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Heart of Revenge (Part 2)

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Subways sometimes freak me out. I don’t much care for them. There are too many creepers and nowhere to run if you need a quick out. Plus there’s the rats, I’m not talking about the people, I mean real twenty-pound city rats. They gross me out, all pestilence and grease and hair. It almost makes me vomit every time I see. Fortunately they tend to stay out of sight, but one never knows.

The ride on the subway ends up being very uneventful. I’m mostly alone in a car with a flickering fluorescent fixture at one end. There is a bum sleeping underneath it. I can vaguely smell his decay from the other end of the car. My guess is this is one of the few ways left to stay warm in the weather. We go through a dead zone in the tunnel, basically where the wind kicks up and the electricity goes out. Usually its only for a short period of time, but this one seems to last longer than I’m used to.

Suddenly the car is washed over with bright-ass lights everywhere. It’s blinding. I reach for my crowbar I keep tied up under my trench coat, but it’s not there. Oh shit, I think, what could possibly be going on now? Across the car the bum is lifted up like a marionette with an unseen hand controlling the strings. He looks like the dead, eyes askew, drool escaping from the corner of him mouth. As he is pulled closer to me I can hear a sonorous distant voice, “Five sevenths and three eighths, you must be sure you avoid the wraiths. One half and four thirds, don’t forget to head the words.”

Blackness. Silence. The whooshing sound of wind slowly creeps back to my ears and the car lights flicker back to its normal pattern. Even the bum is back in his pile towards the end of the car. I want to get the hell off this car and soon. My stop is the next one. My stop is the next one. The train slows, the doors open, and I get my ass out of that station so fast the littered newspapers didn't even have time to react in my wake.

The bum’s words are still echoing in my brain as I get out on to the street. I don’t have time for riddles so I try to push it as far back as I can, but it’s like that birthday song you just can stop singing in your own head. I guess I’ll have to find a way to deal with it later, for now I needed to get rid of this package.

Fortunately the subway station was really close to the Chimay tower, it was only going to be two bitter blocks in this cold. The streets in the business district were deserted. It’s weird to be in a commercial zone in the middle of the night. There is a very creepy air about. Best not to think about it too much, so I flipped up the collar on my jacket and bounded to the tower in the cold.

-V-

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Dry Spell (Part 2)

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He pulled off his glasses to absentmindedly clean them with the corner of his lab coat. “At the current rate of ‘devisoration,’ as we are calling it, lakes and rivers will be completely dry within two years. The oceans as deep as we believe them to be, will be dry within ten years. We have our top minds on the problem, but as of yet we have no solutions as to the cause or long-term effects. We are working night and day to come up with a good solution. We will let the public know as soon as any progress is made. For now all we can say is try to conserve water as best you can.”

The room erupted into a cacophony of reporters’ questions and outbursts. The presidential seal appeared on the screen, and then the world fell silent for a short time. What was going to happen now? Would we be living in a strange new land, were lawlessness takes over? The only thing I was sure of, things were about to get real abnormal around here.

I rushed to my front door and ripped it open, plunged outside and stared up into the sky. Nothing looked different: clouds, airplanes, the sun; all was in order and normal. I reclaimed the feeling that this was all just a silly hoax. Someone was having fun at my expense.

“Do you believe it?” A voice drifted over to me from the apartment next door. “I mean, can it really be true? Are we finally doomed?” The questioning voice emanated from my neighbor, Tia Capucine, a late twenty-something bombshell of a girl. She was perhaps five foot four inches tall, had chestnut brown hair, which was pulled back into a tight ponytail that just went past her shoulders in length. Her skin was a creamy dark olive and her eyes were a deep brown and had energy emitting from them like burning embers.

I have had a thing for this girl ever since she moved in two years ago. She was a graduate student studying history; specifically ancient Mesopotamia sparked great interest in her. She seemed to be very intrigued by the Fertile Crescent. I can’t say I much cared for history, but for her I’m sure I could learn volumes on the subject.

“I’m not sure what to believe right now,” I responded, “I mean, it’s sort of unbelievable. One day they just decide to drop an information bomb on us of this magnitude? No, I’m pretty sure someone is having a good laugh, much like Orson Welles infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast.” I smiled reassuringly at her, but she looked pensive nonetheless.

“I wonder,” she said, pondering the question, “I called a few people at the university in the chemistry and biology departments that I have made friends with. I think they have seen data that corroborates the story.”

“You’re putting me on.” I jovially answered.

“Not at all,” she said seriously, “I’m pretty sure these guys wouldn’t lie to me. And think about it; what if all this ‘global warming’ hype was really us misunderstanding the intrinsic issue, just like we need water to sweat out to stay cool, so does the earth?”

-V-

Read Part 3

Heart of Revenge (Part 1)

The night air was dank and cold. This was my fifth night out here waiting for the drop. I'm not one who likes to be kept waiting, but my boss insisted that I pick up this package. He assured me the delivery would be here soon. A set of headlights appear in the distance and I get my hopes up just like I have the last twenty times cars have gone by. The car doesn't slow down, but in fact picks up speed so that the wind starts gusting by me and I get a chill deep in my bones. Pulling my trench coat tighter around me I try to stamp some feeling back into my feet. I figure it's going to be another long night and settle in against the wall.

I wasn't always into hanging out on cold street corners. I used to be a regular Joe, working a standard nine to five. I had a wife and kids. I was living the American dream, until one day it happened. I don't much like talking about it, but lets just say everything fell away in a single night. Now, I really don't have much to live for. That's when I picked up this gig. In the business I'm what you'd call a sinker, I take care of things for people, no questions asked, no answers given. Tonight was no different, other than the fact that it's been going on for the past four nights. I think someone just wants to make me sick, but whatever, the pay is too good to pass up this time.

All I know is the drop is supposed to be some organs for a big fish cutthroat. He's been on death’s door for some time now and I think he's scouring the streets trying to get himself new kidneys or a new heart, if he ever had one in the first place. Normally I don't have this many details, but the person who hired me seemed to have pretty loose lips. That’s a very dangerous affliction to have in this business.

I'm not put off by any of these sick bastards discretions, but I generally don't like to know. Anyway, once I get the drop I'm supposed to jet it personally up to the 112th floor of Chimay tower and collect my pay. Then it’s back to scouring for more cash anywhere I can find it. I'm only halfway to my goal, revenge can cost so much these days.

Just then, a car screeches to a halt in front of me. It’s some type of Chevy something or other, all black with mirrored windows. Real discrete, I think to myself as the window lowers. It's Eddie, essentially a hatchet in a leisure suit. He had brown hair at one point in his life but now it's a mixture of grey and some black dye. His eyes are creepy as hell, one cloudy grey and one jaundiced green, it seems he took a two by four to the head as a child. He never said who did it, but everyone assumed it was his father. His face contorts into a crooked smile and he says, "Ello William. Wat yous doin' out 'ere?"

"Oh you, know, I just love hanging out in the cold, I was actually waiting for your mother to come along and give me a blow job."

His smile quickly disappears. "Look 'ere, ash-hole, I's don 'afta take this shit from the likes of you.”

“No but your mother does…” I say with a big smirk. I can tell this has really set him off. I decide to go for a more tactful route, "Sorry mate, it's just too damned cold out here, I've been out for hours on this corner. You need something?”

"Wat? Me? No. But you do, it's in 'e trunk." He proceeds to pop the trunk from his dashboard.

I walk around and pull out the only thing sitting in the trunk, a little Styrofoam container. As soon as I close the trunk he guns the engine and speeds away. Great, I think, I can finally get moving and get my ass out of the cold. Not having a car in the city can be a godsend, sometimes. Not right now though. It was way too cold for this. Luckily, I was near a subway entrance and could get out of the polar air quickly.

-V-

Read Part 2

Dry Spell (Part 1)

“NEWSFLASH!!! An important announcement will be broadcast on all stations in ten minutes…” it read across the bottom of the screen on my television set. I wasn’t paying too much attention until a loud beep started coming from the set. Whatever it was, it was not a test. So I sat patiently, waiting. The screen cleared and I was looking at the white house backdrop. Oh no, I thought to myself, we were finally in a full-scale war with one of the many countries our government has wronged along the way. Or possibly some fanatical group was crazily trying to make a name for themselves, or any other number of insane plots that would lead us down yet another abyss for our economy and lifestyle.

I waited the longest five minutes ever sitting there staring at the flags slowly saunter in the background. It was the only movement on the screen, very eerie. Finally the President walked into frame and up to the podium. I could feel the tension in the pressroom permeate into my living room.

“My fellow Americans, and people of the world, it is with great urgency that I must make this speech. Some people may have noticed the recent changes. It is on a very small scale at the moment, but I have been informed it will reach global proportions very soon.” He paused to take a drink of water; one could see a visible quiver in his arm as he did so. “Our top scientists and those from around the world have confirmed that our water table is reversing itself. Simply put, rain is going in reverse. I cannot explain the reach or implications of this information, so I will turn the podium over to a top American scientist who can explain further. Dr. Schmeckle, if you please.”

My jaw dropped. I ran over to the calendar that sits on my desk in the office. It was certainly not April first, and this was not simply an elaborate joke. I could not hear any laughing though my television from the pressroom either. This was real. I started getting text messages, left and right, from friends, obviously news was travelling fast.

Dr. Schmeckle eased onto the platform soundlessly. He was improbably old looking, but you could see a youthful fire in his impossibly blue eyes. He wore a traditional empowering white lab coat, but lacked all the other traditional mad scientist accoutrements. I was honestly hoping for rubber gloves or welding goggles; the best I was going to get were a pair of thick-rimmed glasses that he wore. His hair was slicked back with copious amounts of gel and was as white as freshly fallen snow.

“As you have already heard the President say,” His voice was low and hearty, “The water tables are reversing. In essence, clouds are no longer depositing rain on the earth, but rather sucking up water like a sponge, and then it is disappearing, we’re not sure how.”

-V-

Read Part 2