With Eyes Wide Shut
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 8:17 am
James sat at the table, staring at the crystal ball sitting on a stand of four thin, curvy, golden prongs with a mixture of trepidation and casual disinterest. The ball was clear cut and polished, with almost perfect clarity throughout the sphere, despite the faint teal discoloration near the edges of the crystal. James continued to stare at the ball, his eyes probing deep inside the clear recesses of the crystal, as if willing the crystal into action. If anything, the crystal stared back with equal, and unrelenting intensity.
“It’s not going to work if you just stare at it boy.” The deep rumbling voice of Ryan Walker spoke suddenly behind him. James didn’t take his eyes off of the crystal to look back at his granddad…he already knew what he was doing. Grandad was standing behind James with his arms crossed and a mixture of tiredness and frustration on his features. Grandad had tasked James with looking ahead towards Westbrook Academy, seeing the school before he would actually arrive there to help get his bearings and ease the transition. It was a simple enough scry, looking at another place in the present, which shouldn’t take too much effort or strain on the mind, but the crystal resolutely remained clear, as if thumbing its nose towards James.
Stupid ball.
“What’s wrong?” Grandad asked, sitting down heavily in the chair beside James. Ryan Walker was a large man with small legs, giving him the appearance of a candy apple that was standing up on its stick-handle. His belly spilling over the belt he wore as he sat, Ryan wiped his hands on it before leaning forward towards James and looking at the crystal ball himself. “Hmm…the Weave is good on the ball…there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re just not concentrating.”
James sighed inwardly. Yeah, he didn’t want to look ahead to the school, he wanted to look at other things, more exciting things. Things that could lead to something amazing or help prevent something disastrous….not doing something he could do with Google Maps. “Why can’t I start looking into other Planes yet Grandad? This stuff isn’t helping my sight get any better.”
Grandad thwapped James on the back of the head with a quick cut of his palm. Stunned by the sudden quick blow for a moment, James gave a small cry of protest and rubbed the back of his head as he had done hundreds of times before. Looking up at his Grandad, James made a face before returning to the crystal ball and putting forth some magical effort into the clear crystal.
The effect was immediate as the teal-tint of color deepened along the edges and a cloud of opaque mist began to form in the center of the ball, billowing outward until the entire crystal became filled with cloudy gray mist. After a moment, shapes began to form in the mist, outlines of buildings, roads, and people walking through those misty streets. As the image sharpened, color started to spring into the picture, painting it like a fresco. Inside the crystal, the picture was not perfectly clear. Instead, the people moving in the misty background seemed to have a little after-image following them around, like a little psychic tail.
“Better.” Grandad muttered, leaning back in his chair.
“I don’t know why you want me to look at this place Grandad, those buildings are much too small for me to fit inside.” James muttered, pointing to the two inch tall buildings inside of the six-inch diameter crystal ball. It earned him another thwapping from his Grandad, who was all but immune to James’ quips.
“Hush boy and watch. A Seer has to be able to see things in the past, present, and future, but before you can go off and tackle the hard sights, you need to perfect the easy ones. Build you-“
“Yeah yeah, build your basics and the rest builds itself, I remember. Though that never works with Legos.”
Thwapp.
“Focus boy!” Grandad said in a mildly irritated tone. “Just being able to See doesn’t make you a good Seer. You gotta understand what you See. Scrys and Visions don’t always give you clear answers. You need to be able to do research and observe patterns before you can act on what you see. Now tell me what pattern you see here.”
James shrugged and gazed into the ball a little harder. “Everyone’s moving into that building there. Well, not everyone, but most.”
“Good, now look closer.”
Instantly, the scene zoomed in, as if the crystal ball flew down towards the people below, and into the side of the building. There was no delay in the image shifting to the inside of the building, revealing the inside of the cafeteria.
“Okay great, now I get to see what they’re all eating. Looks like a fish meal, some corn and carrots, a salad bar, and whatever type of meat that is over there…”
“Keep looking.”
James frowned and moved his head in various positions around the crystal ball, though even by doing so, it would not change the orientation of the image he was looking at. “No one is eating the meat.”
“Good, now find out why.” Ryan Walker stated, but James was already a step ahead of him, as the image had zoomed towards the kitchen.
“Oh there we go….oh….ewww….” James said after a quick glance. “Okay, so now I know, and now I will never eat the mystery meat at the school.” James shuddered gently. “Also, Mrs. Thyme is at the door.”
Sure enough about two seconds later, there was a knock on the door and Grandad looked up from the crystal. “Oh, right. My noon appointment. Alright boy, go ahead and clean up. We’ll get back to it in three hours.”
James shrugged, taking a soft red velvet cloth and tossing it over the ball before standing with a groaning stretch. More Sight drills, more practicing, more of this, more of that. It was getting tiring. James just wanted to be able to start looking into the tougher areas, dive in headfirst and learn as he went. Maybe he'd be able to get that chance in Westbrook...who knew?
“It’s not going to work if you just stare at it boy.” The deep rumbling voice of Ryan Walker spoke suddenly behind him. James didn’t take his eyes off of the crystal to look back at his granddad…he already knew what he was doing. Grandad was standing behind James with his arms crossed and a mixture of tiredness and frustration on his features. Grandad had tasked James with looking ahead towards Westbrook Academy, seeing the school before he would actually arrive there to help get his bearings and ease the transition. It was a simple enough scry, looking at another place in the present, which shouldn’t take too much effort or strain on the mind, but the crystal resolutely remained clear, as if thumbing its nose towards James.
Stupid ball.
“What’s wrong?” Grandad asked, sitting down heavily in the chair beside James. Ryan Walker was a large man with small legs, giving him the appearance of a candy apple that was standing up on its stick-handle. His belly spilling over the belt he wore as he sat, Ryan wiped his hands on it before leaning forward towards James and looking at the crystal ball himself. “Hmm…the Weave is good on the ball…there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re just not concentrating.”
James sighed inwardly. Yeah, he didn’t want to look ahead to the school, he wanted to look at other things, more exciting things. Things that could lead to something amazing or help prevent something disastrous….not doing something he could do with Google Maps. “Why can’t I start looking into other Planes yet Grandad? This stuff isn’t helping my sight get any better.”
Grandad thwapped James on the back of the head with a quick cut of his palm. Stunned by the sudden quick blow for a moment, James gave a small cry of protest and rubbed the back of his head as he had done hundreds of times before. Looking up at his Grandad, James made a face before returning to the crystal ball and putting forth some magical effort into the clear crystal.
The effect was immediate as the teal-tint of color deepened along the edges and a cloud of opaque mist began to form in the center of the ball, billowing outward until the entire crystal became filled with cloudy gray mist. After a moment, shapes began to form in the mist, outlines of buildings, roads, and people walking through those misty streets. As the image sharpened, color started to spring into the picture, painting it like a fresco. Inside the crystal, the picture was not perfectly clear. Instead, the people moving in the misty background seemed to have a little after-image following them around, like a little psychic tail.
“Better.” Grandad muttered, leaning back in his chair.
“I don’t know why you want me to look at this place Grandad, those buildings are much too small for me to fit inside.” James muttered, pointing to the two inch tall buildings inside of the six-inch diameter crystal ball. It earned him another thwapping from his Grandad, who was all but immune to James’ quips.
“Hush boy and watch. A Seer has to be able to see things in the past, present, and future, but before you can go off and tackle the hard sights, you need to perfect the easy ones. Build you-“
“Yeah yeah, build your basics and the rest builds itself, I remember. Though that never works with Legos.”
Thwapp.
“Focus boy!” Grandad said in a mildly irritated tone. “Just being able to See doesn’t make you a good Seer. You gotta understand what you See. Scrys and Visions don’t always give you clear answers. You need to be able to do research and observe patterns before you can act on what you see. Now tell me what pattern you see here.”
James shrugged and gazed into the ball a little harder. “Everyone’s moving into that building there. Well, not everyone, but most.”
“Good, now look closer.”
Instantly, the scene zoomed in, as if the crystal ball flew down towards the people below, and into the side of the building. There was no delay in the image shifting to the inside of the building, revealing the inside of the cafeteria.
“Okay great, now I get to see what they’re all eating. Looks like a fish meal, some corn and carrots, a salad bar, and whatever type of meat that is over there…”
“Keep looking.”
James frowned and moved his head in various positions around the crystal ball, though even by doing so, it would not change the orientation of the image he was looking at. “No one is eating the meat.”
“Good, now find out why.” Ryan Walker stated, but James was already a step ahead of him, as the image had zoomed towards the kitchen.
“Oh there we go….oh….ewww….” James said after a quick glance. “Okay, so now I know, and now I will never eat the mystery meat at the school.” James shuddered gently. “Also, Mrs. Thyme is at the door.”
Sure enough about two seconds later, there was a knock on the door and Grandad looked up from the crystal. “Oh, right. My noon appointment. Alright boy, go ahead and clean up. We’ll get back to it in three hours.”
James shrugged, taking a soft red velvet cloth and tossing it over the ball before standing with a groaning stretch. More Sight drills, more practicing, more of this, more of that. It was getting tiring. James just wanted to be able to start looking into the tougher areas, dive in headfirst and learn as he went. Maybe he'd be able to get that chance in Westbrook...who knew?