A blur of color invades my mind as I open my eye; wearily, I rub the sleep from them. Looking around my room, I can see a ray of golden light shining in through the window. standing up and peering out, I can hear the honeyed tweets of the singing birds, the smell of the fresh air, and see the myriad of colors from the browns of the dirt road to the greens of the trees and the blue sky blending together into the landscape before me. Just to the right is one of the roads of the humble little village of Woodknot, the place I've called my home for all seven years of my life. My attention is brought to the sound of sizzling, which can be heard over a faint humming.

Heading through the doorway, I enter into the living room. I see the wooden plates all lined up in a stack on the edge of the table along with the spoons and cups, each in their own stack respectively. The smell of fresh bread wafts into the room from the neighboring kitchen. Peeking in, I see the familiar figure of my mom busily working away at the stove while humming lightly. Hearing the creaking of the door, I turn to see my father entering through the doorway, carrying a few wooden logs. Although the logs are about as thick as my head, they look small in his large arms. As he enters he excuses himself past me with a rough pat on my head from the hand on his unburdened arm, and heads into the kitchen.

I hear his gruff voice from the kitchen, “Excuse me”, he says as he steps next to mother, opening the metal grate for the stove and shoving in the wood; To which my mother responds in her light, smooth voice, “Thanks, honey”. Finishing with the pan, she turns and places it on the top part of the stove, away from the heat. Using heavy cloth, she grabs the freshly baked bread and turns to take it to the table. Seeing me she says “Go get dressed for breakfast”. Hearing my mother’s command I turn and head back into my room with quickened pace. I pull off the pieces of clothing one by one, then I reversed the process with clean ones, each piece another layer on my body.

Hearing my mom calling “Aiden”, I quickly finish and go back out into the previous room. I see the set table, the stacked dishes forming an intricate arrangement of spoons, plates, and cups. Taking my seat in between mother and father I see a single egg on my plate, two small rolls of bread, and some steamed deko roots, biting into the slightly stiff, warm bread, I could feel the grit within. Using the spoon I punctured the top of the egg and got a spoon full of yolk and put it into my mouth, slowly the taste spreads across my tongue complementing and intermixing with the bread. Pushing the spoon down it easily cuts a chunk of the deko root off. Bringing it into my mouth I bite down and chew. The dry root mushes into a smooth dry paste as I chew it, the crystal clear water soothes the dryness as I take a sip. I slowly chip away at the food, enjoying every moment of it.

As I finished my meal I gather up the empty plates, spoons, and cups taking them to the kitchen where an empty basin sits. With a splash I pour some water from the pail, which mom gets every morning from the river, and begin to wash them thoroughly, scrubbing every inch with a wash rag. After I set them on the counter to dry I head out into the other room. Grabbing my shoes by the door and putting them on, I alert my parents with “I’m going to play around the village,” and after a nod of approval from my mom I step out the door onto the dirt road and take a deep breath. Closing the door behind me, I smell the crisp cool morning air.

Traversing down the road towards the village center the houses begin slowly fading into larger buildings peaking in the square with the house of the village elder Karl Woodknot. Looking around, I see the familiar buildings around me, each with its own sign; One such sign containing an anvil and hammer. “Aiden” I hear as my name is called; turning, I see Charlotte the shopkeeper of the general store beckoning me towards her. Heading over, she produces a small round green colored pearl. Handing it to me she says, “We got a new candy, I need someone to test it”. Looking at the smooth surface I can almost see myself reflected in it. Popping the candy into my mouth I can feel the strong taste of peppermint as a cooling sensation spreads out. I say “thank you, it’s very good. I think it will sell well”. A triumphant smile spreads across charlotte's face “I knew it would be good, now don’t forget to tell others about the new candy” she said, as she turns and walks back into the store dismissing me.

Turning around I hear a thumping sound and as I look towards it I see a large brown creature with a man wearing a cloak on it. Dismounting the creature, with a whirl of his cape, the man turns towards the elder’s house and approaches. He knocks on the front door, soon enough the door is opened with a creak and the man is let inside. Wondering who the strange man is, I disappear around the back of the elder’s house. The window to his meeting room was left cracked open. Not daring to peek in, I intently listen to the sounds through the window. the whistle of a kettle, the pouring of water, the crisp crack of a biscuit. “Let’s get down to business” I hear in a calm unknown voice, “won’t you have a cup of tea first?” I hear in the familiar voice of the elder, in its signature gritty tone, “tea won’t make me any money”, “okay” says the village elder and then pauses as if deep in thought. I wait with bated breath for what seems like an eternity then he finally resumes “we need a well, when we get water from the stream, we have to boil it before drinking” he says hesitantly. “That will cost you sixteen gold coins” the stranger responds. In a slightly agitated voice, the elder says “that’s far too much, we could dig one manually for just six gold coins, how about seven”.

“I spent a whole week to get here, so I also need payment for that, and with the dangers of digging a well it makes sense that it would cost more, how about fourteen”

“That's still too much, how about ten”

“I have to make a return on this for it to be useful to me, twelve”

after a long pause, the elder pipes up with a dejected tone and a sigh “twelve it is”.

         Suddenly, I feel a yank on my ear as I’m pulled away from the window. “You there, stop eavesdropping” I hear in the shrill voice of the maid. “Now scamper along you little rule breaker, unless you want me to tell the elder” she says in a slightly forgiving tone while pulling me out to the front of his house. The moment she let go I dash off, getting just out of sight then pausing for a moment. When I think it’s safe I slowly peek back around the corner and see that the maid has left and the robed man leaving through the door and heading off. I tail him as he weaves through the busy town looking for something. He suddenly stops near the village edge and says to himself “this looks like a good spot”. Bending down he places his hand on the ground. Closing his eyes he seems to focus and a strange light starts coming from his hands and permeates the surroundings, forming a complex shape full of curves and symbols. The ground begins to move on its own as a hole forms in the center of it and sinks down. around five feet in diameter the hole stops growing, but he continues poised there the circle glowing there for a while before he finally stands up as a drop of sweat wets his brow. Announcing to himself, he says “now that the magic’s done it’s time to leave”, as he turns to leave I jump into the forest to hide. He passes without seeming to see me.

         “Magic”, the word reverberated around in my thoughts. The beautiful ghostly light emanating from his hand staining my memory. I pondered the word as I walked around the village, and throughout the various other events of the day from gathering kindling in the forest with father to helping make the dough for dinners bread. Later that night, at home, after supper while getting ready for bed, I asked mother “mom, what is magic?” Seemingly caught off guard by the question she pauses, a look of deep thinking passes her face and then she responds with “I’m not quite sure, but I know it’s a tool mages use to do things like light fires”, paying attention to her words I decided then that I want to know more; I decided that I wanted to learn magic.