The Magician

The Magician

Dust motes danced in the attic's pale sunlight, swirling around Marcus as he knelt by the forgotten trunk. Its leather, once supple, now crackled like a forgotten whisper. Inside, nestled among forgotten toys and moth-eaten treasures, lay a deck unlike any he'd ever seen.

Each card shimmered with an otherworldly iridescence, their painted figures swirling with impossible colors. Marcus’ eyes grew wide with wonder as he shuffled the cards tentatively. It glided through his fingers like whispered secrets, their edges catching the light with an almost metallic tang.

Suddenly, the air crackled with a barely perceptible energy. The deck lurched, cards whipping through the air in a whirlwind of gold and violet. They landed face down, arranging themselves in a perfect circle around Marcus, a single card flipped in the center.

A gasp escaped his lips. The card depicted a man cloaked in midnight blue, his hands raised in a gesture of command. Symbols danced around him – a wand, a chalice, a blade, a coin – and a golden serpent coiled sinuously around his staff. His face, though, remained obscured, shrouded in an impenetrable shadow.

"Who are you?" Marcus whispered, his voice was a fragile thing against the hush of the attic.

A voice, aged like a forgotten library, filled the air. It rumbled through the rafters, weaving through the cobwebs, and settled around Marcus like a warm cloak. "I am the reader of destinies, child. And the card you hold whispers of yours."

Marcus stared, mesmerized, as the card shimmered, the man's face slowly taking shape from the shadows. He looked like Marcus, yet older, his eyes twinkling with the wisdom of a thousand forgotten stories.

"The Magician," the voice boomed. "A card of creation, of potential, of holding all the tools you need within your grasp. You are gifted, child, unique in your spark. With your mind, your heart, your strength, and your spirit, you can weave magic, build worlds, and bend fate to your will."

A thrill shot through Marcus, igniting a spark in his chest. He looked at his own hands, suddenly seeing them not as just appendages, but as instruments of creation, capable of anything he dared to dream.

"But," the voice continued, its tone turning somber, the warmth in the cloak receding, "power is a fickle beast. The Magician's tools can be used for good or ill. The choice is yours, child. Will you build or will you break?"

Marcus stared at the card, the weight of the choice pressing down on him. He looked up, the attic no longer dusty, no longer forgotten, but a canvas brimming with possibilities.

"I choose to build," he declared, his voice ringing with newfound conviction. "I choose to use my gifts to create, to help, to make the world a little bit brighter."

The Magician's face broke into a proud smile, then dissolved into a flurry of golden light. The voice faded, leaving Marcus alone with the echo of his own vow and the deck of cards whispering promises of a future yet to be written.

He closed his eyes, feeling the power hum beneath his skin, a spark ignited in the dusty attic, waiting to be unleashed. The Magician's destiny, it seemed, was only just beginning. But it wasn't just his own destiny; it was the beginning of a journey, a story yet to be written, a canvas waiting to be splashed with the vibrant colors of Marcus's imagination and the unwavering courage of his heart.

The attic, once a forgotten corner of the past, now hummed with the promise of a future built by a young Magician, armed with the tools of creation and the unwavering spirit of a builder, not a breaker.

WORD COUNT: 617 Words
WRITTEN FOR: "The Writer's Cramp"  | "Click Here" 
PROMPT:
1. Make the card you choose the TITLE of your static item.
2. Weave the *meaning of the card (as found in the dropnote) into the plot of your story or poem. You don't have to quote it exactly, but the card meaning must be obvious.
3. Choose MYTHOLOGY as one of your genres.
4. Mention of Tarot cards or a Tarot reading is optional.

PROMPT USED:
The Magician
The Magician card is a reminder that you are unique and have many gifts. These skills set you apart from the crowd and can help you begin new projects or overcome adversity. When The Magician comes up in your Tarot reading, it's a reminder that you already hold everything you need to move forward and accomplish what you've set out to do.