The Bookstore Mage

Scanning his surroundings, surprise, excitement, and confusion flashed through Lucien's eyes. "Am I dreaming?" He muttered hesitantly.

The scenery before him seemed too real for a dream. The roar of the ocean behind, the howl of the tornadoes to his right, the crackle of the sea of flames to his left, and the giant mountain formation in the distance. Everything was too real.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Lucien walked forward in an attempt to glance down from the tall platform where he stood. It was then that the world around him suddenly collapsed into countless tiny shards. With a gasp, Lucien suddenly woke up finding himself still seated cross-legged on the dirty bookstore floor.

His eyes glanced at his surroundings in confusion. A strange power now swirled inside of his body. The world before him changed as well. It became more colorful. The empty bookstore now looked brighter than ever, with countless colorful light particles all around. They floated about like dust specks, the only difference was that some were blue, red, and others were green, and grey.

If he strained his eyes, Lucien could see the faint outline of other different colors. "This is ridiculous..." He mumbled in shock. Lucien rubbed his eyes once, twice, and three times just for good measure, yet the floating light particles remained. They aimlessly floated about.

"It worked?!" Still not quite able to come to terms with what he was seeing, Lucien, remained in disbelief before he turned to glance at the ancient book by his side.

"Wait a minute! Are you telling me, grandpa was a wizard?!" He hastily stood up and grabbed the letter, reading it once more.

"Teach me. So he regrets not being able to teach me...magic?!" The absurdity of the situation was too much, yet the results spoke for themselves. The colored light particles were still there, and Lucien doubted he was hallucinating.

After a few minutes of silent contemplation. Lucien found himself unable to hold back the wave of excitement in his chest. Magic, real magic. It was not the stuff from a movie or a novel. No, it was real magic!

Taking a few deep breaths, Lucien resisted the urge to read through the ancient book again. It was already too late, and although his mind was willing, his body was too tired from the long trip. He cautiously grabbed the book and made his way behind the counter where a closed door was situated.

Turning the handle, Lucien was not surprised to find it open. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. An old wooden staircase that led to the second floor was in front of him. Standing there, the wave of emotions and nostalgic memories overtook him for a second before he shook his head as struggled to take the book upstairs.

The second floor was not big, it only had one master bedroom, a tiny living room that opened up to the kitchen, and a toilet. Too tired to check on anything, Lucien walked towards the closed bedroom. Opening the door, the smell of his grandfather still lingered around bringing out a smile to his face.

The room was clean and tidy. His grandad was always obsessed with cleanness. He hated when things were out of order. So it was not much of a surprise that his bedroom was as clean and tidy as it came. Lucien removed his shoes and left them outside of the bedroom, and then walked and laid the book on one side of the queen-sized bed.

Lucien quickly slipped out of his clothes only leaving his underwear and forced himself to fold them before putting them on top of the small desk in the corner. He moved the curtains and glanced at the empty dark street below for a few seconds before he quickly jumped on the bed.

"Tsk, I still have to go bring my luggage tomorrow." He muttered in annoyance, before slipping under the blankets. The ancient book remained by his side as his eyes grew as heavy as lead. The dream world came shortly after.

****

​ Waking up in the morning, a yawn escaped from Lucien's mouth. He rubbed his eyes and stayed motionless for a few minutes, trying to motivate himself to get out of bed. After an internal struggle that lasted longer than it should have, he finally stood up.

His eyes subconsciously glanced at the thick magic book by his side as a smile stretched across his face. It was not a dream. The colorful light particles were still there, and so was the book. Grabbing his phone, Lucien scanned it for a few minutes checking for messages and emails, and finding none.

"Of course, what was I expecting." He smiled sadly with a shake of his head before making his way to the bathroom, where he washed his face, brushed his teeth, and took a quick shower.

"Lucky that hot water is still working," he muttered as he walked back to the bedroom.

Opening the closet, Lucien rummaged through the clothes searching for something to wear. He and his grandad were about the same build, since his grandfather liked to work out until his final days, his figure was rather fit for an old man. The only problem was that most of his clothes were suits and formal wear.

Reluctant to hop back in his dirty clothes; Lucien carefully picked a black suit with dark blue pants. Staring at his reflection in the mirror, he smiled and nodded approvingly, his grandfather would have been proud, he told himself.

Turning around, Lucien grabbed the magic book and strolled downstairs. He settled it on top of the counter and moved to raise the curtains of the window by the door. The sky was grey with the sun hidden behind the clouds. The street looked as empty as always, with few people walking past. Still, Lucien didn't mind, he quite enjoyed this weather, not to mention that he still had no plans for officially opening the bookstore back to business.

After gazing through the window for a while, Lucien moved back behind the counter, pulled the chair closer, and sat down in anticipation as he opened the magic book again. His excitement overwhelmed his need for breakfast so he decided to have a late brunch.

Glancing at his phone, the screen read 9:30 am. "An hour, I'll head out in an hour, grab some food and then bring my clothes in from the hotel."

It seemed reasonable considering he had to check out at noon. The hotel wasn't too far, he could just walk there, hence why he still had some time to spare.

For a while, the sound of pages turning was the only thing that could be heard throughout the old bookstore. Lucien's eyes were shining as he came across another relatively simple spell called Tadawsa. According to the book, this was a spell that healed minor injuries, he only needed to follow certain hand gestures, and recite an incantation while gently guiding the mysterious power that was flowing through his body to the injury.

Lucien continued reading through the page and then memorized the hand gestures until he was satisfied. It was then that the loud growl of his stomach pulled him back to reality. He lazily reached out for his phone, "10:45 am," He raised his brow in surprise at how fast time flew.

Closing the book, Lucien carefully placed it under the counter, grabbed his keys and coat, and then made his way to the door. He threw the bookstore one final glance before stepping outside, locking the door behind him.

A sudden breeze of wind caused him to tighten his coat around his neck. Lucien raised his head and paused. The outside world was more beautiful than he remembered. The colorful light particles did not interfere with his vision, quite the opposite, they added a charm to everything. He quickly found himself enjoying his new perspective and wondered just how many mysteries and wondrous things he had yet to uncover.