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Adrienne de Toulouse hurried upstairs to Magister Phillippe’s study atop the tower overlooking the Collegia Magica. She needed only to obtain his permission before she could resume her studies. The teachers in the ordinary subjects had excused her absence, even rejoiced at her return after her family’s difficulties. She had less confidence about Magister Phillippe, with his well-earned reputation as a curmudgeon.
Was it surprising, when one considered his status as the only master of the deep shaping in an entire generation. A man in his position could write his own ticket, and peole would overlook his difficult disposition to gain access to his tutelage. And without the teaching only he could give, she couldn’t complete her studies.
When Adrienne opened the door, Magister Phillippe did not stir from his spellbook. Adrienne crossed the room to stand before him.
“Magister, I apologize for the delay, but I have returned–”
Magister Phillippe’s gaze remained on his work. “You have already missed two weeks.”
“The absence was unavoidable, Magister. My father required my assistance, and — ”
“And I required your presence here, Mademoiselle de Toulouse.” For the first time he looked up. “The time for beginning your studies has passed.”
“I studied while I was gone.” Adrienne extended the spellbook he’d lent her only days before her father’s accident.
The Magister pushed it away. “But you were not here. The time is past, and you cannot bring it back.”
“Then why can I find a spell to turn back time?” Adrienne leafed to the appropriate page. “When I cast it, I can change the past so I will be here on the appointed day, and you can’t shut me out.”
“It is beyond your skill. Even if you manage to cast it, you cannot control how things happen after you re-make your choice. You could easily create an even worse present, and the time stream will not bear a second casting over the same section.”
Adrienne grabbed the clock from the mantelpiece. “I’ll take that chance.”
Chanting the words of the spell, she turned the clock’s hands backward. The currents of magic flowed through its works, carrying her back to the lost moment. She willed the all-important change, to have been present to begin her studies with Magister Phillippe.
Casting accomplished, she sped the clock’s hands forward to the new present. Now the old man could not punish her for being loyal to family.
The room was dark and silent. Ashes lay in the grate.
“Magister Phillippe?” Adrienne’s throat tightened.
The door opened and a cleaning woman thrust in her head. “Mademoiselle, haven’t you heard? Magister Phillippe died of apoplexy last night. There was a quarrel…” Her voice trailed away as she averted her gaze, unwilling to meet Adrienne’s eyes.
Adrienne stared at the spellbooks lining the walls, full of magic he’d never teach her. After all she’d done to be Magister Phillippe’s student, it had come to naught, forever. Perhaps in a century another mage of his talent would appear, but by then she would be long gone.
Leigh Kimmel is a writer, artist and historian with degrees in Russian langauge and literature and in history.
GD Star Rating
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12 Responses to “TO TURN BACK TIME • by Leigh Kimmel”
Comments
« June’s Table of Contents | Home | POLAR EXPLORATIONS • by Annie Tupek »
June 1st, 2011 at 4:37 am
I feel that this type of thing – wizards, wizard schools, spellbooks, etc – has been done to death.
In addition, I saw the twist a mile off.
A well enough written story though – just the subject matter didn’t work for me.
June 1st, 2011 at 5:20 am
Not to be a curmudgeon, but I have to agree with the esteemed Mr. Freeman above (#1): I find this well-written, but a little too derivative of the Harry Potter magician-in-training shtick, I’m afraid, and that motif has become so ingrained in our culture as to be a bit of a cliché.
The ‘can’t-undo-the-past’ twist is also a well-trod ending, but I have less of an issue with that — I think a familiar message can always be told again, as long as its done in a way to make it seem fresh.
Nicely crafted, but just a little too clichéd. I give this four stars for the execution, but only two stars for originality, averaging out to 3 stars.
June 1st, 2011 at 5:36 am
So…she could have changed time so that her father’s accident never happened?
I would have liked more emotion, more description. Show her pleading because her studies mean so much to her. Show him making more of an attempt to stop her cavalier playing with time.
I never get tired of magic, though.
June 1st, 2011 at 6:50 am
I thought the beginning of this story had too much narrative. The first two paragraphs filled in the story background, but I would have much rather seen that played out in action (perhaps as dialogue between the MC and the Magister).
Once I got by that, I was ready, however, for it to take off, but alas, it seemed to lack the energy necessary to get me fully engaged. The writing was fine, but it just didn’t create enough “juice” for me. Sorry. Two stars..
June 1st, 2011 at 7:08 am
Think this is more allegorical, and original, than is at first apparent. In any case, good writing.
Three stars.
June 1st, 2011 at 8:08 am
The Harry Potter-esque fantasy elements didn’t bother me (wizards and witches have got to learn magic somewhere, right?), but like Paul and Chris I found the plot too derivative. Ray Bradbury nailed this type of story with “A Sound of Thunder,” and that was 60 years ago.
For me a time travel story has to bring some serious philosophical complexity to the table to seem fresh, or at least feature strong and compelling characters.
Still, as fishlovesca said the writing itself was quite sound. I would love to see a more original story from Leigh in the future.
June 1st, 2011 at 8:27 am
Competently told, but the take on magic and time-travel was neither sufficiently original nor inventive enough to stir my interest. Looking forward to something a bit more creative in the future.
June 1st, 2011 at 9:44 am
At first I thought I missed something, upon rereading I figured out the twist but didn’t much care for it.
June 2nd, 2011 at 9:32 am
I enjoyed this story–I like fantasy better than sci-fi and really liked the twist at the end.
June 3rd, 2011 at 8:52 am
Anytime you’re dealing with alterations to the timeline, the author is going to have to be pretty creative to overcome the resulting plot holes, and I didn’t see that happening in this piece. A few that come to mind are:
Why couldn’t Adrienne, as ajcap (#3) has indicated, simply have altered the timeline to prevent her father’s accident and negate the need for her to delay her studies in the first place?
What is the relation between her alteration of the timeline and the “quarrel” and “apoplexy” that killed Magister Philippe in the new timeline? I don’t see the tie-in but maybe I missed something? I might have been more satisfied to learn that Adrienne’s flippant application of magic led to the Magister’s death, but that’s just me.
Obviously, her family’s predicament was so important to Adrienne that she felt compelled to drop everything, return home and help. Yet when faced with the consequences of her decision she is willing to alter history so that she was present to begin her studies and, therefore, not back with her family lending her assistance. As a result, one can infer that whatever was wrong with her family wasn’t really that important at all. Again, I might have missed something, despite two re-reads.
Given the general public’s lust for all things Harry Potter-esque, I’m never surprised (or bothered) to see authors trying their hands at the genre. As others have said, the genre is nearing cliché status but this can be overcome by an original take on it. I don’t feel that was accomplished in this story, unfortunately, but the potential might have been there in a longer telling. It’s tough to break through the cliché barrier for this type of story in less than 1,000 words, I guess.
I thought the writing was competent, if uninspiring and see loads of talent that would shine through in a more original story. Thank you and best of luck with your future works!
June 4th, 2011 at 7:24 am
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June 7th, 2011 at 9:20 am
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