A Wednesday Writing Prompt Ms. Zachik stole from the internet began . . .

“A strange meteor shower lasted for hours before you went to bed. The next day, technology across the earth fails. However, when you snap your fingers in frustration, the lights come on. The Age of Magic has begun.”

Ms. Zachik asked us, “If you were magic, what would it look like? What could you do? And, what would you do?”

Responses compiled and edited by Blog Staffer Renée Vazquez.

Renée responds . . .

“The Leonids meteor shower is coming Sunday night, and peaking during Monday night. Those in New Zealand should have a fair to a good chance at seeing one of the best meteor showers of the year when it peaks. The Leonids are one of the most dazzling meteor showers and every few decades it produces a meteor storm where more than 1,000 meteors can be seen an hour. Cross your fingers for some good luck – the last time the Leonids were that strong was in 2002, lighting up the Yucatan sky. Its parent comet is called Comet-Temple/Tuttle and it orbits the sun every 33 years.”

I was born in the Yucatan peninsula in 2002. During the exact peak of one of the strongest Leonid meteor showers ever seen. I was the only baby born that night, which was strange according to the nurses and doctors, but we lived in a very small, touristy town. They shrugged it off. I was sickly and struggled with my health all my life. Then in 2035, I experienced another meteor shower just like the one 33 years ago. This time I saw it, I was near my home in New Zealand when I saw the meteor shower begin. I felt all my worries slip away. My muscles relaxed. I felt every breath, every internal motion of my body. A comforting heat crept up my heart. And then the power went out. Everywhere. Well, just in New Zealand. But it was still shocking. When my husband and I went home, the power was still out, and after an hour we were getting antsy. I tried, for the 100th time, to flip the light switch on but, of course, it didn’t work. 

“Aw shucks, ” I said snapping my fingers cynically. All of a sudden. The light returned.

Katelin responds . . .

The sky was lit up with the shower of a thousand meteors. We watched in awe of the glory. It lasted hours, and soon we fell asleep to the bright flashes through the window. Clouds came from the meteors and settled down on Earth. They blocked the radio signal, stifled the electricity and power lines, and cut off any form of power. They demagnetized batteries of all kinds, ruining technology as the world knew it. But just as man was about to wake up in a world with no technology, we breathed one final breath before waking up.

Most of the clouds were absorbed into the machines, but some of us breathed in the mist. That is how we got our powers. Not everyone had a power, but those that did were limited to a certain range of them.

One power was the power to control plants. To make them grow as you wished, to manipulate small shrubs to become tall trees, or to grow a year’s worth of crops in a minute.

Another power was the power to control water. To control the tides of water, control the shape, and even draw water and energy from the sky’s vapor.

Another power was the power to control metal. These people could shift metal into any shape or form that they wanted to, forming deadly weapons at a single thought.

There were many more powers, all unique and different with the power to kill. I was with the power of lightning. I could control electricity, and create it too.

Luke responds . . .

First of all, the “Age of Magic” starts with me. Everybody else can snap, sure, but ONLY I CAN CONTROL THE MAGIC. If everyone’s special, nobody’s special, and I want to be special. So, the first thing I do with my magic is figure out how far my magic goes. Ideally, I’m a master of the elements. No, not the typical ice and fire type elements. I will be controlling THE elements. People will tremble as I walk around in my shiny robes and I start shooting PURE and UNMATCHED OXYGEN at them. In one universe of my wizardry, I become a supervillain with my elements. However, my primary element would be helium. It’s the coolest (forming at -269 degrees Celsius). In another universe, I start a school for elemental wizards and we save the world from climate change with the power to control carbon, oxygen, etc. Magic.

Chelsea responds . . . with “The Age of Magic”

As I snapped my fingers, everything stopped. The world was covered with blue hemisphere; golden sparkles rained down onto the ground while I blinked. I could move, but others could not. Thus I knew I had the power to stop time. It was in my wildest dream to do that and once I resumed the time with another snap of my fingers, the world was recovered from the blue hemisphere and the noise of people and cars started to fill my ears with unpleasant feelings. But I could care less, because I had the ability to stop those noises anytime as I want. 

I smiled to myself.

¨I win.¨

If you were magic, what would you do?