Rab

I was one of those people who didn’t believe in magic, until the day that Rab appeared. He came to me with a flourish and a smile, appearing from a cloud made from thousands of purple sparks. He introduced himself, acting quite the gentlemen, thusly:

“Good day, milady. I am Rabertereses Blumm, and your name is what, may I ask?”

“Um, It-It’s Erin, Erin Liber.”

“Ah yes, Erin Liber. Might it trouble you if I called you Erin?”

“Well, No,” I answered, surprised, “Mind if I call you Rab because your name is so long?”

“Not at all, Not at all,” He replied, smiling beautifully, “Now, to business. Could you do something for me?”

My return smile turned into a cautious frown. I had only met this guy a minute before this! How could he ask me for a favor?

“Depending on what it is,” I said cautiously, after a minute had passed, “I’ll try to, as long as it’s reasonable.”

“I would like you to buy something for me,” Rab told me, then he saw my look and interpreted it correctly, “No, don’t worry about the money, I’ll pay for it.”

“Then why do you want me to get it?” I asked him, utterly confused at this point. He smiled again.

“Because, my dear, only a girl can buy it,” He explained, “but only a man can use it.”

I didn’t like how he referred to me as a “girl”, and himself as a “man”.

“Then why should I get it for you?” I asked him, trying to reason out an answer with my inner self, “I mean, why shouldn’t I just give it to, say, my friend, Jon?”

“No!” he snapped out quickly, “NOT HIM!” he realized his outburst, and regained his composure, “I mean, it is incredibly hard to control and you shouldn’t attempt that without knowing everything about it first.”

“Alright,” I said, finally finding an answer, “I’ll do it.” He looked incredibly triumphant, “But, now I need to know what it’s called.”

“It’s called a Typhoon Wand,” he told me, “Now remember that name because you need to make sure you get it right.”

“Ok, Typhoon Wand, (A rain cloud appeared) Got it,” I mimicked back, “Now where would I get a Typhoon Wand? (More clouds appeared)”

“Right in this store,” He pointed behind me, at a store that had not been there before, “Now, here’s the money you’ll need, and go in there and tell the storekeeper what you need.”

“A Typhoon Wand (Even more rain clouds appeared, Rab looked up at the sky a worried look on his face) Right?” I asked him.

“Yes,” he replied, quickly, “Now go in there and get the wand, quickly now.”

“Ok,” I told him. As I walked towards the store, I thought I heard him say, “The sky might not last long enough.”

I walked into a very odd store. It was lined, floor-to-ceiling with shelves of weird and interesting things. I saw something and picked it up. It was a squat little jar, about the size of a softball. The label it had on it said:

Invisibility Dust!
Play the greatest practical jokes, ever!
Warning: Washes off in cold water.

I snorted softly, and put the jar back on the shelf. I walked up the aisle to the counter in the back of the store. There was a man behind the counter that looked to be in his late thirties, and he wore glasses in the shape of eyes. He smiled when he saw me.

“Hello, Erin Liber,” he told me, “And how are you today?”

“How do you know my name?” I asked him, confused once again.

“Because I am the knower,” he replied, smiling again, I now noticed that his eyes were yellow, “Which is also how I know what you want.”

He pulled a stick from beneath the counter, it was designed oddly. It was as long as a walking stick and was swirled, as if its previous living quarters had been the ocean’s floor for a few hundred years. It had a knob on it that was as white as a cloud on a sunny day. I touched the stick.

“Typhoon Wand?” I asked, unsure. (It started to downpour outside, vehemently.)

He nodded. And then he also pulled up two more sticks. One that was orange and red, and looked like a tongue of flame. The other looked a bit like a very skinny cloud. I frowned.

“I was only sent here for the Typhoon Wand, (Thunder this time, the lake that we were by began to flood, and water began to soak the rug and form puddles.)” I told him, thinking he misunderstood, “And besides, I only have enough for one.”

“It’s ok,” he told me, but he frowned. Then I realized that he was looking at the water that was soaking the rug in his shop, “They’re free, besides, you’ll need them.”

After paying, he waved me out of the store, and brushed off my thanks. I got soaked the second I stepped from under the eaves. I ran over to Rab, who looked half-drowned, and gave him the wand. Immediately, the clouds blew away and the sun shoved its way through the remaining ones. He raised the wand triumphantly into the air.

“At last!” He cried, and promptly disappeared the same way he appeared, with thousands of purple sparks.

I gave the Fire Wand to Jon, and kept the other one for myself. Days passed and nothing happened. Then, one day, we heard about the storms.