"See Magic" — A Short Story

In "See Magic", a young lawyer encounters a mysterious stranger on a bus who shows him that magic is a much more real thing than he ever could have imagined. 

My inspirations likely include The Little Prince, among other works that aren't coming to mind right now. I hope you like it!

The world outside is gray. The sun hasn't yet awoken, and the glass of my window is cold. I glance at my watch: 6:43 AM. The bus is set to leave in two minutes. 

From the dark corner of my window seat, I peek up from the laptop on my knees to the people shuffling through the aisle, their faces expressionless and their eyes lifeless in the dim glow of white fluorescent lights.

I poise my fingers over the keyboard, my eyes returning to the laptop screen before me. Where was I? Oh, yes. I was writing a lengthy email to a coworker on our latest case brief on some silly divorce settlement. I take a deep breath and start typing again, my fingers clicking and clacking in rhythmic monotony.

Suddenly, a shadow falls over me. Dazed, I look up to see a tall, foreboding figure standing in the aisle. He holds a worn, wide-brimmed straw hat in his massive hands, calloused from years of hard labor. A white button-up shirt covers his muscular torso while a pair of black slacks fall to his ankles, nearly covering his bare feet. But the most distinctive thing about him is his impossibly deep blue eyes, twinkling like stars against his skin, as dark as night.

The corners of his mouth turn up in a smile as he holds out his giant hand. "Hello," he booms, "I'm Gabriel." His voice is like no voice I'd ever heard before—as soft as rain and as deep as thunder.

His voice is like no voice I'd ever heard before—as soft as rain and as deep as thunder.

Dumbly, I take his hand in my own and shake it. "Adam Young, Attorney at Law," I answer mechanically. "Can... can I help you?"

"No," Gabriel answers, as he takes the seat by me.

My heartbeat quickens. Instinctively, I fold my laptop and stand, but Gabriel's hand is on my arm in an instant. 

"Sir, I don't have any money, just heaps of student debt. That's why I take the bus!" I try to yank free, but then his calm blue eyes meet mine, and I no longer feel the need. 

"Hey, it's okay," he says. "I don't want your money." 

My heart still throbbing, I sit back down.

He smiles at me reassuringly. "Adam, do you believe in magic?"

A laugh makes it half-way through my throat before my good sense gets the better of me and I choke and start coughing. "Come again?"

Gabriel's smile disappears. "Do you believe in magic?" he asks, in a measured, even tone.

"Of course not."

"But you did once."

"Well, maybe when I was a kid. But I believed in a lot of things. I believed in magic, in happily ever afters, all the things." I pause, tearing my eyes from his soulful gaze to the ashen, predawn world outside. "But then, I grew up."

"I believed in magic, in happily ever afters, all the things. But then, I grew up."

"You fell asleep. You've been asleep for a long time, Adam."

I run my hands through my hair. "I wish you were right. I only had four hours last night."

Gabriel rubs his temple. "I mean a different kind of sleep. A sleep from which I'm here to awaken you."

"I'm... pretty sure I"m awake," I insist, adding silently, I wonder what asylum this guy escaped from.

The bus starts the moment I glance at my watch. It's 6:45 AM, right on schedule. Just beyond my window, I can see the eastern sky brightening from between the hulking downtown buildings we pass. The sky is overcast and thunder rumbles in the distance, but the people outside pay it no mind, as though as dead as the winter-stripped trees in the deserted park we pass by, cold and desolate.

Suddenly, Gabriel's deep, calm voice breaks the silence. "Adam, close your eyes."

"I'm sorry?" I look up at Gabriel, who, even when seated, is still a good foot taller than me.

Gabriel smiles gently. "Close your eyes. This is how you awaken."

"Wait, I know how this trick goes. I close my eyes and then you slip my wallet out of my pocket while I'm not looking. Sorry, I'm not falling for it."

"You said you didn't have any money," Gabriel chuckles, as I feel the color rush to my cheeks. "Just close your eyes. I won't steal anything."

"Fine."

I shut my eyes and wait three seconds.

"Do I get to open my eyes now?"

Gabriel's calm, deep voice feels far away. "Not yet."

Moments pass.

"Now."

I open my eyes.

Shining, twinkling motes of dust swirl before my vision.

I look out the window.

The sun shines through the jewels of icicles that hang on the bare branches of trees, white and wonderful. For the first time that morning, I feel its warm caress on my face. Its golden light sparkles on the intricate patterns of pure white frost that begin to lace the windows in crystalline paisleys, curlicues, and diamonds.

Darkness envelopes us as the bus enters a tunnel and the vision vanishes as suddenly as it appeared. The courtesy lights are flashing on and off—utter blackness one instant and eerie green light the next. A couple rows back, someone coughs. 

I look to Gabriel, my heart beating wildly. “What’s happening?”

He cocks his head to the side, his face flickering on and off in flashing green fluorescent light. “You’re starting to see things the way they are.”

Suddenly, in a flash of white, the darkness is gone. A sea of green grass and shining yellow daffodils bow before a breeze, sprawling beneath a vast, gray expanse of sky. A forest touched with green looms on the horizon. Foreboding thunder reverberates in the great dungeon vaults of the sky and lightning flashes, blue, beautiful, and terrible. Great drops of rain fall from the tear-streaked face of the sky, shattering on my window like liquid crystal and glowing like bright cerulean with every flash of lightning. A single cherry blossom lands on the glass, its soft, pink petals seeming to melt into the water until suddenly the wind whips it away and it's gone.

“You’re starting to see things the way they are.”

Everything—the rain, the lightning, the daffodils—all disappear the instant I blink.

When I open my eyes, brilliant white light streams through, pouring into the darkest depths of my soul. 

The rain is gone. Warbling songbirds fly into the light blue sky, with puffy white clouds sailing through its ocean to lands unseen. The laughing sun shines through the trees, running through the sky as if to keep up with a playmate. It sparkles on the dark green lake, and the rippling waves that rise to meet it shine like diamonds on its surface. The breeze tousles the long green grass and moves through a forest of sunflowers, waving their bright, cheerful heads as the bus passes.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” I turn away from the window to look at Gabriel, shaking his head. 

"How… how is this happening?” 

Gabriel smiles, his calm blue eyes twinkling. "Magic, my friend. Magic.” 

The light on Gabriel’s face suddenly changes from a warm gold to a cool white. I look outside my window. 

Mountains and hills, covered in a cloak of autumn splendor, rise to touch the sky, while morning mist ascends from the forests to greet the dawning sun hiding behind a cloudy shroud. The sky is overcast and colorless, but the trees glow with purple, gold, and crimson fire. The bus crests a bluff, and I see verdant, green pastures and fields of grain ready for the harvest. 

The cloudy sky parts and a single shaft of sunlight alights on a white farmhouse standing under an ancient assembly of grey oaks. Laughing children play a game of tag with their dad underneath the canopy of their golden brown leaves. One of the children—a freckle-faced, redheaded boy—looks up and waves at me.

The cloudy sky parts and a single shaft of sunlight alights on a white farmhouse standing under an ancient assembly of grey oaks.

Then the bus enters a tunnel, and it all disappears. The courtesy lights flash on and off, and I close my eyes. 

And open them. 

The world is gray once again. Gray buildings, gray streets, and gray cars. I catch a glimpse of the all-too-familiar shape of the Unwin & Lewis Law Firm looming in the distance just a short walk away as the bus settles to a stop with a hiss. 

"All passengers," the PA crackles, "we've reached stop 105, Lead Street."

"I think this is where you get off," Gabriel says.

"Yeah." As if in a dream, I stick my laptop into my briefcase and get up from my seat, only vaguely noticing by a brief look at my watch that the time is 6:56.

I feel Gabriel's hand on my arm, and I turn to him.

He sits back in his chair, sighing as he looks out the window. "The world may seem colorless and plain, but it isn't. It's magical." Gabriel's eyes meet mine again. "Always see magic, Adam, because it's always there. You just need to have the eyes and the heart to see it." 

I smile and clear my throat. "Where are you headed?"

"Home," Gabriel answers. "It's far away, but much closer than you would expect." He grins. "Now, I'm guessing you don't want to be late for work?"

"Hmm? Oh, right. Work." 

I squeeze through the narrow space in between Gabriel's knees and the back of the seat in front of him. In the aisle, I pause and turn toward him. 

"Hey, um... thanks." 

Gabriel's blue eyes shine as they look into mine. "You're welcome, Adam. You're very welcome."

What did you think? Did I do a good job showing rather than telling? Should I have excluded some unnecessary info? Thanks so much for reading!