Fic: Falling :Leaves (DCU, Madame Xanadu, G)
Author: skjam
Title: Falling Leaves
Fandom: DCU
Characters: Madame Xanadu
Summary: Madame Xanadu gets ready for Halloween night.
Spoilers: None.
Rating: G
Prompt: from ficticons DCU, Madame Xanadu, what a magic-user feels about Halloween
FALLING LEAVES
by Scott K. Jamison
Disclaimer: Madame Xanadu and associated characters are the trademarked property of DC Comics. No infringement is intended or should be inferred.
The sun woke Madame Xanadu by forcing its light through a crack between her bedroom curtains. She rose, did her late morning ablutions, and ate a light brunch. The calendar reminded her that it was Halloween, as though she might forget.
"Time to clean," she sighed. Xanadu thought again about getting a cat so she could at least pretend to be having a conversation. It had been long enough since her last for the grief to fade. She set about sweeping and dusting, polishing the furnishings and making sure that her consultation room was suitably low-lit. Fresh candles went in.
The interior of her shop clean, Xanadu took her garbage out to the alley and tossed it in the can, then went around to the front to sweep the stoop. There were quite a few brightly colored leaves that had accumulated overnight.
"Aftenoon, Madame Xanadu. Happy Halloween!" This was from Cygnet Bell, a teenaged girl who worked at her mother's flower shop next door.
"Good afternoon, Cygnet. I see your mother is keeping you busy today." Indeed, the girl was struggling with a variety of autumn-themed arrangements.
"Why should today be any different? I'll be switching into my costume soon. I wanted to be Goth Death, but Mom just took out the old 'flower fairy' dress again. One more growth spurt, and I'm going to spilt it at the seams!" Cygnet giggled. "And good riddance too!"
Xanadu smiled as she bagged up the sweepings, leaving aside two particularly lovely leaves. "Parents always have difficulty letting go of their children's childhood. Enjoy it while you can." She stuck the leaves to the railing as decorations. "I'd like to see your flower fairy costume."
Cygnet grimaced. "You would. Oh yeah, you only moved in last December. Sometimes it seems like you've always been here."
"Magic does that to you sometimes."
"That reminds me, that book you gave me on herbalism, it's all botany but with fancy handwriting. I was kind of hoping to learn real magic."
Xanadu raised an eyebrow. "It is real magic. And something you might be good at, given your experience with plants." Cygnet had just a tiny bit of magical talent, enough to be a hazard to herself and others if left to try it on her own. Xanadu had seen too many girls of Cygnet's type fall in love with the first handsome monster they met, or join sacrificial cults, or summon things they couldn't control. So she'd tried to give her neighbor some guidance.
"The flowers were easy, yes. But half the herbs have names I can't even pronounce, and there's no recipes!"
"Those are in the next book, once you've learned to tell which plants are which by heart."
Cygnet sighed. "Hey, are you doing anything special for Halloween? I mean, because you're a real sorceress?"
"Halloween is always a busy night for me, lots of customers." Xanadu noticed Cygnet looked disappointed. "You must remember that dates only have the significance we give them. In the Celtic lands, it's time for Samhain, the harvest festival, but in the southern hemisphere it's time for spring. And the Christians moved their All Saints' Day to tomorrow so that they'd have something to do in the fall too. You Americans piled all sorts of commercialism on top and borrowed from a dozen immigrant cultures to make Halloween what it is. It's true that the borders of the spirit world will be a bit more blurred tonight, but that's because people think they are and so make it true. A kind of magic itself."
"So if we were in Mexico, the Day of the Dead would be just as important?"
Xanadu nodded. "While I was living there, that was the case. I don't need my cards or even second sight to tell you most of what will happen tonight. There will be a pack of giggling girls, not much older than you, daring each other to have their fortunes told. A young couple will want me to say pretty words of a bright future together. There will be a grumpy man trying to prove I'm a fraud, usually because one of his relatives took my advice. Late in the evening, I'll get someone wanting me to channel their long lost loved ones, because all psychics are also mediums."
"But can't you actually do that?" asked Cygnet. She'd gotten the displays wrestled into place.
"Not as well as a full-fledged medium. And calling ghosts is dangerous--too often you get hostile spirits along for the ride."
"So, busy night but nothing special for you."
"I'm not even going to wear a different dress than usual--for card readers, this is the work uniform."
"Huh." Cygnet brushed off her apron. "Time to go change, hope I see you later."
A sudeden gust blew more leaves down the street; an autumn chill was in the air. Xanadu's thoughts went back to when she'd been Cygnet's age. The winter was coming, but this would not be the final one, so she opened her arms to the breeze, and the leaves danced around her as of old.
FIN
Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!
Title: Falling Leaves
Fandom: DCU
Characters: Madame Xanadu
Summary: Madame Xanadu gets ready for Halloween night.
Spoilers: None.
Rating: G
Prompt: from ficticons DCU, Madame Xanadu, what a magic-user feels about Halloween
FALLING LEAVES
by Scott K. Jamison
Disclaimer: Madame Xanadu and associated characters are the trademarked property of DC Comics. No infringement is intended or should be inferred.
The sun woke Madame Xanadu by forcing its light through a crack between her bedroom curtains. She rose, did her late morning ablutions, and ate a light brunch. The calendar reminded her that it was Halloween, as though she might forget.
"Time to clean," she sighed. Xanadu thought again about getting a cat so she could at least pretend to be having a conversation. It had been long enough since her last for the grief to fade. She set about sweeping and dusting, polishing the furnishings and making sure that her consultation room was suitably low-lit. Fresh candles went in.
The interior of her shop clean, Xanadu took her garbage out to the alley and tossed it in the can, then went around to the front to sweep the stoop. There were quite a few brightly colored leaves that had accumulated overnight.
"Aftenoon, Madame Xanadu. Happy Halloween!" This was from Cygnet Bell, a teenaged girl who worked at her mother's flower shop next door.
"Good afternoon, Cygnet. I see your mother is keeping you busy today." Indeed, the girl was struggling with a variety of autumn-themed arrangements.
"Why should today be any different? I'll be switching into my costume soon. I wanted to be Goth Death, but Mom just took out the old 'flower fairy' dress again. One more growth spurt, and I'm going to spilt it at the seams!" Cygnet giggled. "And good riddance too!"
Xanadu smiled as she bagged up the sweepings, leaving aside two particularly lovely leaves. "Parents always have difficulty letting go of their children's childhood. Enjoy it while you can." She stuck the leaves to the railing as decorations. "I'd like to see your flower fairy costume."
Cygnet grimaced. "You would. Oh yeah, you only moved in last December. Sometimes it seems like you've always been here."
"Magic does that to you sometimes."
"That reminds me, that book you gave me on herbalism, it's all botany but with fancy handwriting. I was kind of hoping to learn real magic."
Xanadu raised an eyebrow. "It is real magic. And something you might be good at, given your experience with plants." Cygnet had just a tiny bit of magical talent, enough to be a hazard to herself and others if left to try it on her own. Xanadu had seen too many girls of Cygnet's type fall in love with the first handsome monster they met, or join sacrificial cults, or summon things they couldn't control. So she'd tried to give her neighbor some guidance.
"The flowers were easy, yes. But half the herbs have names I can't even pronounce, and there's no recipes!"
"Those are in the next book, once you've learned to tell which plants are which by heart."
Cygnet sighed. "Hey, are you doing anything special for Halloween? I mean, because you're a real sorceress?"
"Halloween is always a busy night for me, lots of customers." Xanadu noticed Cygnet looked disappointed. "You must remember that dates only have the significance we give them. In the Celtic lands, it's time for Samhain, the harvest festival, but in the southern hemisphere it's time for spring. And the Christians moved their All Saints' Day to tomorrow so that they'd have something to do in the fall too. You Americans piled all sorts of commercialism on top and borrowed from a dozen immigrant cultures to make Halloween what it is. It's true that the borders of the spirit world will be a bit more blurred tonight, but that's because people think they are and so make it true. A kind of magic itself."
"So if we were in Mexico, the Day of the Dead would be just as important?"
Xanadu nodded. "While I was living there, that was the case. I don't need my cards or even second sight to tell you most of what will happen tonight. There will be a pack of giggling girls, not much older than you, daring each other to have their fortunes told. A young couple will want me to say pretty words of a bright future together. There will be a grumpy man trying to prove I'm a fraud, usually because one of his relatives took my advice. Late in the evening, I'll get someone wanting me to channel their long lost loved ones, because all psychics are also mediums."
"But can't you actually do that?" asked Cygnet. She'd gotten the displays wrestled into place.
"Not as well as a full-fledged medium. And calling ghosts is dangerous--too often you get hostile spirits along for the ride."
"So, busy night but nothing special for you."
"I'm not even going to wear a different dress than usual--for card readers, this is the work uniform."
"Huh." Cygnet brushed off her apron. "Time to go change, hope I see you later."
A sudeden gust blew more leaves down the street; an autumn chill was in the air. Xanadu's thoughts went back to when she'd been Cygnet's age. The winter was coming, but this would not be the final one, so she opened her arms to the breeze, and the leaves danced around her as of old.
FIN
Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!