We-Write #14: At the Club - A magician in distress - Short story
This is my entrance to WeWrite challenge by @freewritehouse and @zeldacroft.
This Week's Prompt
At the Club
The club lights flashed and waved to the beating music. They washed the dancefloor in neon colors, in time to the heavy vibrations of the giant speakers. Surprisingly, Toby admired the bright lights, how they illuminated the huge space and modern architecture. Though he found himself nursing a headache at the bar.
Jan from accounting had organized the “bonding time” for the office, saying how it’d bring everyone closer together. Toby had been devoid of any good excuse, so now he was stuck between a beer, clubbers, and Jan, with her volume louder than the pounding speakers.
“And so that’s when I said, ‘Kevin, that’s the wrong variable!’” She snorted in laughter at her own joke. Toby managed a smile. “You see, he made a simple mistake!”
“No, I get it. I think Susan’s around here somewhere, she’d appreciate hearing it too.”
“That’s a good idea, but I can tell her on Monday!”
Toby took another drink. He liked Jan well-enough at work, but tonight was proving a little more difficult.
“That does bring up a good point, though. I haven’t seen many people from the office here." Scanning the room, she asked, "Do you think they're stuck in traffic?”
“Yeah, maybe,” Toby answered, knowing full well it was more a case of empty promises. Still, there was something about the disappointment in her eyes that struck him. “But hey, you got some of us here.”
She gave a small smile and looked around again, this time lingering towards the lights.
“Hey, let’s go dance!”
Before Toby could gently protest, she’d swept him onto the floor, beer and all.
A magician in distress
Toby's distressed gaze swirled like a bird dizzy from an impact in one wing. He fell, he fell like in slow motion, as his body struggled to get up as immediately as it could, but nothing grabbed him, his head had been hit hard. He staggered and rolled much more in the attempt to stop, until he stopped fighting with gravity and stopped. No thought, a mixture of anger and shame screwed him to the floor more than was right and necessary.
He managed to stand up with the help of some of his club mates, who asked him carefully if he was not in any harm. But, even with his head stunned, he could see that they were pushing him and not letting him balance. That's why he pushed them and ran off the track, followed by Jan, who apologized with words tangled in compliments about how well he overcame the mishap, trying to keep up. However, there was no way to reconcile Toby's anger with his rosary of apologies.
He got into the men's room and Jan had to stay outside. He went to the toilets and looked into the mirror without recognizing the image of the man in front of him. Surprised, he cursed in such a loud tone that from the outside Jan asked him, "Is there something wrong with you, Toby, can I come in?" But he got no answer.
"Toby, please, let me help you. I didn't mean to make you fall."
Meanwhile, he said to himself, "I can't face her in this state. Courage, you can if you concentrate, that witch is powerful, but if you remember how to do it, you can use your weapons linked to the spell, enchanted by yourself. I lost my wand, I must look for a new one. But I don't remember the spells. Concentrate, concentrate."
According to his mind, he was a powerful Alliance magician, pursued by Horde witches, among them the one waiting for him at the bathroom door. It seemed that the video game had been activated in his brain and his character had come to life in his body as a result of the blow to the head. That's why he didn't recognize the image that the mirror gave him back.
"Toby, here's Susan, we want to help you, please come out!"
And from inside the bathroom there were only whispers, screams and incongruous words that the women did not understand.
"Let's go in, Toby may be sick!"
And what they saw filled them with wonder. Toby sat on the floor, in a water well, with a basin hose in his hands, waving it like a magic wand, saying words that reminded them of scenes from a Harry Potter movie.
While, he saw two evil witches laughing at him and looking at him as if he were being sentenced to death. He drew back as far as he could, but his wand was not well conjured because it did not give off lights of power. His eyes were unusually large and the women looked at him and looked at each other, agreeing without words, to take him by the arms and take him out of the bathroom to help him.
He did not fight, his failed and desperate confection of an improvised wand left him exhausted, he had no strength, the spells did not work, materializing on the track turned out to be a bad idea, the lights and the music at such high volume consumed the little energy it brought, now he would be easy prey of the witches' horde, so he surrendered.
Outside the bathroom, the women called 911 for an ambulance to pick him up and take him to a hospital, because for them, the blow to the head drove trastorn him. Jan, felt guilty and told Susan that if she hadn't obligated him to dance against his will, he wouldn't have fallen and this outcome would have been avoided.
"I'll walk him to the hospital," she said to Susan, "Are you coming?"
"I'll go later. I will wait for the rest of the office team to come and explain what happened. Then, we will go to support you and inform ourselves about your evaluation and evolution clinical.
And as he was getting into the ambulance, Toby was thinking only of dematerialization spells, closing his eyes and whispering... "Concentrate, concentrate"
15/11/2019 If you want to participate in this challenge, the link is here The images are from Pixabay CC0 Creative Commons: Man by geralt Separators: For your kind reading, simply THANK YOU
Wizard by LeandroDeCarvalho
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://egalitarian-force.000webhostapp.com/2019/11/we-write-14-at-the-club-a-magician-in-distress-short-story
Aw, poor Toby - I keep hoping he really is a warlock (witch) but I don't hope Jan and Susan to be adversarial witches that he could wish away with his wand. What a comic/tragic image of him on that bathroom floor! And that ending - that's what has me wishing he really will hone some mystical powers. The poor guy could use 'em. Great story, and Congrats on your Curie!
Yes, poor Toby... Ha ha ha ha. So much video game upset him and that was activated with the hit. Thank you for your timely visit, @carolkean, it's a pleasure to have you here.
Hi zeleiracordero,
Visit curiesteem.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.
I am honored to receive your support. Very much appreciated... THANK YOU!
Hello Hello!
When the writing stops being so exciting for me, I will stop reading any hahaha story and you still can't get me to stop reading, it is more, it motivates me to continue :)
Greetings from Venezuela
I'm thrilled that you feel stories written that way. That wonderful world that unfolds before our eyes with imagination. Thank you for your kind comment. By the way, I'm also from Venezuela.
I like your work with words. Your native language must be very expressive. The plot twist is pretty funny. What made you think that Toby was a loony? )))
You should watch out for your gender pronouns. Jan is a woman.
Good job!
Ha, ha, ha... Yes, I got a funny story. I still have some problems with the translations, I know Jan is a woman, but the translator doesn't know to be and I didn't notice that he turned her into a man. I'll check it out. Thank you, I'm delighted that you liked it. I have a lot of respect for the way you write. :)
Thank you! I am flattered! So you first write it in (what is it Spanish?)
I am also not a native speaker and I write it in English from the get go. If I cannot express myself 100% I have to look up the word.
Good luck to you!
Yes, my native language is Spanish. I'm from Venezuela... and you?
I am from Russia. )))
Oh...far away! The magic of the internet and these social platforms in action. I would never have thought I could alternate with a person from his native Russia. :)
Yeah, the Internet is amazing! Glad you meet you!
Equally, it's been good for me, too.
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STOPThank you!
It is a great pleasure to have read this wonderful continuation @zeleiracordero. You made a wonderful story. At first I thought it was a fantasy story (for the title) but I loved how you developed the story. Poor man! have you seen too many times Harry Potter hahahaha
Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha... It seems. I love that you liked my sequel, @marcybetancourt. Thank you for supporting me.
dear @zeleiracordero, great story !! you really have a very nice way of writing! poor Toby, banging your head is really dangerous :-)) keep on and congratulations on your curie vote
Thank you very much, @road2horizon. I appreciate your comment.
Nice! I love that a head injury left him imagining he was IN the game. That perhaps he has been playing a bit too much? I fear for what is going to happen to a delusional patient in the hospital though.
Thank you, dear @owasco. Such dedication to video games alter the chemistry of the brain and it didn't go well with that hit on the floor of the track.
@zeleiracordero your wizard in trouble I hope he was able to heal, he had a hard time with those two women and the office staff pending him. Receive my affections.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha... Poor! I hope he has recovered. Thank you for visiting, @felixgarciap.
@zeleiracordero That's right, go read my story, that day when he fell was his birthday and they sang Mariachis. By the way. there he also got very upset with his friend ha ha ha
Very nice continuation! I wonder if Toby ever imagined he was a wizard without getting conked on the head?
Ha, ha, ha... It is possible that this has been fluttering in his psyche.