The door to wisdom

[Gryphon]

In a faraway land an incantation echos to completion and a weary wizard surveys the results of that which he has wrought. Laying on a pedestal is a glowing sphere of shifting light and incredible beauty. Its muted glow throws the strangest light over the contents of the room, seeming to make the very surfaces it touches shift in nature from second to second.

 

Well pleased indeed with his creation the wizard steps forward to claim his prize noticing as he does so the strange way in which the fine cloth of his robe seems to alter as the light hits it. Pausing in fascination he watches as his very clothing starts to turn into the roughest sack cloth, the lightest gauss, the most supple leather.

 

He experiences a moment of concern, wondering if perhaps he has captured forces not meant for mortals to trifle with.

 

For an instant he hesitates in the very doroway to wisdom before turning away, after all what can possibly be wrong with laying claim to your own creation?

 

And so the exhilarated spellcaster reaches out and takes the orb from its resting place...

 

As he does so a cold wind blows, chilling him to his very soul. Fear flickers across his face and a fire ignites inside him, casting body and brain toward madness.

 

Throwing the sphere away the wizard seeks to escape his fate, but it is too late. His flesh twists, melds, alters; again and again.

 

Crying out with horror and pain the spellcaster flees, never to return again to the place where he once in his hubris dared to try bottling for his own glorification part of the very essence of change.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sometimes I write this kind of thing on the way to work on the bus.. or on the way home again. Usually the stories and poems are short because there's only so much I can write in the length of one bus trip. I'm fairly certain that if only I could somehow connect all these story snippets or at least keep writing them to one theme I'd be able to publish a book by now. Regretfully however, each seems to come out as this one has - a brief scene isolated from what is surely a greater tale.

 

Feel free to comment if you so desire - on any of this type of post from me. I'm interested in what others think of them and certainly dont object to comments or suggestions for improvement.