You finish writing your first fantasy story in high school. Your English teacher liked it so much, heh, he made a few copies and took them home. This is his life now.

*My life was normal. It was a Tuesday, I was home from my high school English job, and I was thinking about the papers I had to grade for the following day. I walked into the house I shared with my wife of over 30 years. We were both in our fifties and I had spent most of it teaching high school English to high schoolers. It was decent, but it was starting to be overly difficult. Last week we covered the Beowulf poem and I had never seen so many teenagers confused in my life. Now we were starting to work on fantasy stories written by the kids. I had low expectations, but I was currently going through them and to say the least, I was shocked. The quality was...well, better than I would have expected from highschoolers.* *I got to the last paper and sat down in my recliner. It was double spaced, thank the lord. I loved these kids but some of them didn't know what one and a half spacing was. I was expecting a normal fantasy story, but this kid really outdid himself. It was probably the best story I had read from a high school student thus far. It was about a young man with magic. It was a heavily used concept, but the way he wrote was so.. vivid. I was able to imagine everything in the story. The characters, the world, the magic system. It was all so real.* *I read the story twice and then my wife called me downstairs to eat. We talked about her day and mine. She works as a librarian. I always thought it was ironic, an English teacher and a librarian, but it works out well. We finished eating and I helped with the dishes. I was going to go back upstairs when our cat caught my attention. It was hissing at the wall. Like, full on hissing. I had never seen the cat act like that before.* *Suddenly, I felt a surge of energy. It was strange, but it was the same feeling as described in the fantasy story I had just read. The cat was gone in an instant and I could tell that the magical energy in the house was building. I walked outside and looked up into the sky. A dragon was descending from the clouds.* *This is the life of Elian. The person in the fantasy story.* ***\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*** *I was a young man. A man who had magic. I lived in the kingdom of Teolan, a land of magic and monsters. I lived in a time where humans, elves, and centaurs mixed and mingled. It was a great time to be alive.* *I lived in the small village of Grassdale. It was a small place with barely 1,000 residents. It was nestled in the forest of Mistdale, a forest so thick that visibility was only several feet in front of you. We knew this forest better than the back of our hand. I had wandered into these woods hundreds of times. In fact, all inhabitants of the village would be raised in magic, combat, and survival. We were a village of warriors.* *I was a young man of 16. I had grown up in this village. I knew everyone in the village. We were all like a family. I lived with my parents in a small house. Nothing too big, but it was better than most of the village.* *“Elian, its time to head to training. Your instructors are waiting for you.”* *I stood up, still half asleep. I walked out of my house and followed the small dirt path to the training grounds. Hundreds of other young men and women were walking in the same direction as I.* *We all had magic. The story was that a magical being named the Architect came to the world over 1,000 years ago. The story was that he blessed all of the inhabitants of the world with magic. It sounds crazy, but I have magic. I could make it rain. I could create big storms. I could make the plants around me grow. I could make animals do my bidding. Magic was a big factor in our lives.* *I arrived at the training grounds and I could see my friends. We had all grown up together. They were my family.* *“Elian! Hey, man.”* *“Hey, guys.”* *“Elian, hey.”* *Today, we were training in magic. When we turned 18, we would be tested for our magical levels. If we were high enough, we would be able to join the military. They protected us from the monsters in the forest. The centaurs were mostly in the forest, guarding the borders of Teolan.* *We lined up and our instructor began to speak.* *“Alright, for today's class, we will be practicing your elemental control. Your strength in magic will depend on your control. Remember, the test will be held in a year. I expect you all to be prepared. For now, let’s get started. Turn your opponents flag red.”* *Everyone quickly rushed towards their opponents. I quickly spotted mine. He was a boy who was younger than me. He looked scared. I quickly turned his flag red and headed to the next. At the end of class, I had turned over 20 flags red. My opponents had turned mine blue only twice.* *I caught up with my friends and we headed towards our next class, hand to hand combat. We walked silently. We were all pretty beat from magic class. We could hear the sounds of clashing metal coming from the training grounds for combat training. We entered the combat training grounds. Hundreds of teens were dueling each other with wooden swords.* *“Alright, it looks like the upperclassmen are having fun. Your turn!”* *The instructor yelled as he paired everyone up. I looked at my opponent. He was heavily muscled for his age and had a large sword.* *I gripped my own sword and we began. I immediately knew this wasn't going to go well for me. I was muscular for my age, but I was definitely going to lose this duel. That was when I remembered something from the story. The main character had used magic in close combat. Why couldn’t I? I remembered the feeling of magic and the process of using it. I was able to make my sword slice through the air at a rapid rate. I was able to block his attacks with ease. Soon enough, I had him on the ground. His sword had flown out of his hand.* *Everyone was staring at me. Had I done something wrong?* *“Good job, young man! Did you figure that out yourself?”* *“Uh, yeah.”* *The instructor called everyone back and we all formed a line. He was walking down the line towards me. If I got in trouble, I would have to go to the village elder and explain. He was not a happy man.* *“Elian, what was that you did back there? You had never used magic like that before. Did you figure it out yourself?”* *“Yes, sir.”* *“Good job, son.”* *I let out a sigh of relief as the instructor walked away. It was a good day.* *We had two more classes, survival skills and history. Survival skills were mostly about learning how to hunt, fish, and build a shelter. We learned where to find water and food in the wild. We learned how to make weapons. History was exactly that, the history of Teolan.* *I finished all my classes for the day. I didn't have any more classes until the following day. I walked towards the village square. I could see many other teens walking towards the square as well. We had all finished our classes for the day. That was when I heard a commotion. Many people were talking and pointing towards the forest. I walked closer and I saw it. A dragon. It was a big dragon, probably over 50 feet tall at the shoulders. He was walking towards us. Many of the village guards were rushing towards the dragon, but I knew the dragon would kill them all.* *I knew I had to do something. I rushed towards one of the village elders and told him to evacuate the village. He was in shock, but he called out to the village. Everyone started to run. I turned back to look at the dragon. He was closer now. The village guard was attacking the dragon. Hundreds of arrows were rushing towards it, but none seemed to be sticking. The dragon was swatting the arrows to the ground. He was laughing. He was enjoying this. The dragon was about to destroy the village. That's when I remembered another part from the story. The main character had used magic to fuel his sword. In fact, the whole story had been based on it. Why couldn't I do it too? I rushed towards the armory and grabbed a sword. I filled it with magic. It glowed with blue light. I rushed towards the dragon. Hundreds of arrows were rushing towards him. That's when he noticed me. He laughed as he made his way towards me.* *This is my life. I am Elian. A boy with magic. A boy with a sword.*

You finish writing your first fantasy story in high school. Your English teacher liked it so much, heh, he made a few copies and took them home. This is his life now.

Comments (0) 5 👁️