The Last Magic Store
Idol Mini-Season 2024
Prompt 5: Oubaitori
August 8, 2024
THE LAST MAGIC STORE
The last magic store had finally closed, and only a sad few had mourned its passing.
For many years, the Magic Shop had been the only true magic store; any others just sold gimmicks. It was located between an antique bookstore and an upscale wine shop. Its used brick façade, big display windows, and large, airy space made it the perfect retail space - just not for the Magic Shop.
In its heyday, it had been the only place to buy genuine magic supplies, spell books, and the like, some authentic, others more dubious. The aisles had been full of wizards and witches, mages and wiccans, fairy tale characters, and entertainers looking for rabbits and hats. Sometimes there had been dwarfs, ogres, and trolls crowding the aisles. And if you were really lucky, you could have seen a fairy or an elf. Plus, you could have bought the best enchanted coffee anywhere.
The Magic Shop had been as much about socializing as it had been about commerce.
Cold science had triumphed over the wonders of magic and imagination. No one bought eye of newt anymore; they just wanted a good deal on the latest laptop. It was all experimentation and verifiable facts, not spells.
Taro (“Terry”) Jones had owned it. He was a changeling who was part human, part selkie, and part who knew what else. He was unassuming, quiet, and reputed to be very powerful and possibly immortal. But not even Terry could change the laws of supply and demand or the march of science.
He’d been increasingly saddened by the waning of magic and the waxing of science. The final straws had been the discovery of the God particle and proof not only of dark matter but dark energy.
“There’s no more room for magic,” the few customers had heard him occasionally mutter.
The Magic Shop had been losing money for years and not even Terry could conjure up more bank loans.
Then one day the word went out - the Magic Shop had been closed! A few curious fairies had flown by and seen the “CLOSED” sign with the windows covered by newspapers. Even worse, there had been no sign of Terry. He had gone to wherever immortal changelings go, without so much as a party or even a good bye. The enchanted coffee was gone too, much to the delight of Starbucks.
Magic beings had been assimilating for years in the post-magic world. Many went to work for Disney, despite the low wages and poor hours. This was the preferred route for the various princesses and a few lower-level fairies. The stars from the Grimm world could always get work there, even if it was just meet-and-greet lunches at Disney-themed hotels.
“It’s a living,” Tinkerbell had said, “and I still get to wear sparkly clothes.”
That had been too much for Peter Pan, who’d struck out on his own to become a kindergartner teacher. Mr. Pete had always been the most popular teacher, and famous for his insights into the minds of little children.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had gone to law school and eventually opened a boutique firm specializing in entertainment law. The Giant had become a star in the NBA and Jack had become a sports agent.
A few had still held on to their magical lives, even though it would mean that they would fade away when the magic ran out. That end was getting closer and closer.
“We can’t just disappear,” the Blue Fairy said to Anna, one of the Shoemaker’s Elves, during a coffee get-together. Her two sisters had built a shoe repair empire, but Anna had had enough of shoes.
“It’s not our time anymore,” said Anna, in a voice so sad it could make a troll weep.
“We can’t restore magic,” agreed the Blue Fairy, “but we need to pass on our knowledge. We won’t truly disappear if we can do that.”
“Who knows,” said Anna, “maybe in some future time magic will be needed again and people will begin to believe.”
“This will be our legacy,” said Anna, “and it should survive even if we don’t.”
The Blue Fairy decided to call a meeting of some magical creatures. The Blue Fairy, Snow White, Anna, and the Gingerbread Hag (who was running a very successful restaurant with Hansel and Gretel) all met in the garden behind the Magic Shop, where Terry had grown springwort, mandrake, and all the other plants sold in the store. Terry had carried only the best and freshest plants needed for almost any spell.
The garden had once had a beautiful moon fountain surrounded by marble benches. Now, however, the garden had been taken over by weeds, the magic plants were dying, and the fountain needed maintenance.
“You know why we’re here,” began the Blue Fairy. “We cannot change our doom - there is precious little magic in the world, and before too long there won’t be any at all, and we know what that means.”
“If we cannot survive,” added Anna, “our legacy must.”
There was quick agreement.
“But how can we do it?” asked Snow White.
There was a lot of discussion, until the Hag thought of the best idea.
“The Magic Shop is still empty,” she cackled. “Let’s buy it and restore it, but add a library where we can all contribute our tales, spells, and magic for future generations. When the last of the world’s magic finally disappears, we will not have lived in vain.”
“But that will take money,” added the Blue Fairy, “and not even Terry had enough.”
“We’ll finance it ourselves,” said Snow White. “My law firm has been very successful, and I can contribute something.”
“The Three Billy Goats Gruff have been collecting bridge tolls since forever,” added Anna, “and Rumpelstiltskin can spin some straw into gold.”
“It’s all there if we just work together,” said the Hag.
In the end, the Blue Fairy and Snow White were put in charge of the project. The Blue Fairy was the most powerful of the group and Snow White was famous for her business acumen.
There were many setbacks along the way. There were the usual permit and inspection issues, but the greatest problem was the magic repository. To contain as much knowledge about magic as possible, it needed to be huge, many times the size of the store itself, and inaccessible to the general public.
“This isn’t going to be a public library,” agreed Snow White and the Blue Fairy. “We’ll need a portal to another dimension.”
There was a problem with this, however. Extra-dimensional portals were from the world of science, not magic, and science had no place here.
Word went out to all the magical beings: “Who can build us a portal?”
There were many suggestions, but one name kept coming up - the White Rabbit. Alice had followed the White Rabbit down his rabbit hole, which led to another world full of adventures. If anyone could build a portal, the White Rabbit could do it.
The Blue Fairy went in search of the White Rabbit. She finally found him having tea with Alice just outside the hole to Wonderland.
“We need your help,” said the Blue Fairy.
She explained the problem to the White Rabbit and Alice.
“Portals are easy,” said the White Rabbit, “all you have to do is dig and imagine the other end of the tunnel. I imagined Wonderland, and my tunnel led me to Wonderland.”
The White Rabbit returned with the Blue Fairy and got to work at once. As he dug, he imagined an endless library. When he finally stopped digging, there it was - Magicland.
The portal was in a back room at the Magic Shop. It would store all the knowledge that would be collected, and provide additional inventory overflow space for the bulkier magical items, such as witches’ kettles and flying carpets.
The project was finally finished. The Magic Shop was once again open for business. It carried anything a magical being could want. In addition, to attract a different crowd, it also stocked healing crystals, essential oils, and the like. Most importantly, there was also the new Repository of Magic, the real reason for the shop’s rebirth, safely hidden behind the portal.
And of course there was the enchanted coffee. The Magic Shop now contained a small coffee shop, much to Starbuck’s displeasure.
All things must end, even magic. And so it is with magical beings. But the Magic Shop will survive until the day magic returns. In the meantime, it’s a great place for a cup of coffee.
My sincere thanks to halfshellvenus for beta reading this story.
“Oubaitori” has to do with the growth and blooming of people. I flipped it, and wrote about the decline and ending of magical beings.
Prompt 5: Oubaitori
August 8, 2024
THE LAST MAGIC STORE
The last magic store had finally closed, and only a sad few had mourned its passing.
For many years, the Magic Shop had been the only true magic store; any others just sold gimmicks. It was located between an antique bookstore and an upscale wine shop. Its used brick façade, big display windows, and large, airy space made it the perfect retail space - just not for the Magic Shop.
In its heyday, it had been the only place to buy genuine magic supplies, spell books, and the like, some authentic, others more dubious. The aisles had been full of wizards and witches, mages and wiccans, fairy tale characters, and entertainers looking for rabbits and hats. Sometimes there had been dwarfs, ogres, and trolls crowding the aisles. And if you were really lucky, you could have seen a fairy or an elf. Plus, you could have bought the best enchanted coffee anywhere.
The Magic Shop had been as much about socializing as it had been about commerce.
Cold science had triumphed over the wonders of magic and imagination. No one bought eye of newt anymore; they just wanted a good deal on the latest laptop. It was all experimentation and verifiable facts, not spells.
Taro (“Terry”) Jones had owned it. He was a changeling who was part human, part selkie, and part who knew what else. He was unassuming, quiet, and reputed to be very powerful and possibly immortal. But not even Terry could change the laws of supply and demand or the march of science.
He’d been increasingly saddened by the waning of magic and the waxing of science. The final straws had been the discovery of the God particle and proof not only of dark matter but dark energy.
“There’s no more room for magic,” the few customers had heard him occasionally mutter.
The Magic Shop had been losing money for years and not even Terry could conjure up more bank loans.
Then one day the word went out - the Magic Shop had been closed! A few curious fairies had flown by and seen the “CLOSED” sign with the windows covered by newspapers. Even worse, there had been no sign of Terry. He had gone to wherever immortal changelings go, without so much as a party or even a good bye. The enchanted coffee was gone too, much to the delight of Starbucks.
Magic beings had been assimilating for years in the post-magic world. Many went to work for Disney, despite the low wages and poor hours. This was the preferred route for the various princesses and a few lower-level fairies. The stars from the Grimm world could always get work there, even if it was just meet-and-greet lunches at Disney-themed hotels.
“It’s a living,” Tinkerbell had said, “and I still get to wear sparkly clothes.”
That had been too much for Peter Pan, who’d struck out on his own to become a kindergartner teacher. Mr. Pete had always been the most popular teacher, and famous for his insights into the minds of little children.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had gone to law school and eventually opened a boutique firm specializing in entertainment law. The Giant had become a star in the NBA and Jack had become a sports agent.
A few had still held on to their magical lives, even though it would mean that they would fade away when the magic ran out. That end was getting closer and closer.
“We can’t just disappear,” the Blue Fairy said to Anna, one of the Shoemaker’s Elves, during a coffee get-together. Her two sisters had built a shoe repair empire, but Anna had had enough of shoes.
“It’s not our time anymore,” said Anna, in a voice so sad it could make a troll weep.
“We can’t restore magic,” agreed the Blue Fairy, “but we need to pass on our knowledge. We won’t truly disappear if we can do that.”
“Who knows,” said Anna, “maybe in some future time magic will be needed again and people will begin to believe.”
“This will be our legacy,” said Anna, “and it should survive even if we don’t.”
The Blue Fairy decided to call a meeting of some magical creatures. The Blue Fairy, Snow White, Anna, and the Gingerbread Hag (who was running a very successful restaurant with Hansel and Gretel) all met in the garden behind the Magic Shop, where Terry had grown springwort, mandrake, and all the other plants sold in the store. Terry had carried only the best and freshest plants needed for almost any spell.
The garden had once had a beautiful moon fountain surrounded by marble benches. Now, however, the garden had been taken over by weeds, the magic plants were dying, and the fountain needed maintenance.
“You know why we’re here,” began the Blue Fairy. “We cannot change our doom - there is precious little magic in the world, and before too long there won’t be any at all, and we know what that means.”
“If we cannot survive,” added Anna, “our legacy must.”
There was quick agreement.
“But how can we do it?” asked Snow White.
There was a lot of discussion, until the Hag thought of the best idea.
“The Magic Shop is still empty,” she cackled. “Let’s buy it and restore it, but add a library where we can all contribute our tales, spells, and magic for future generations. When the last of the world’s magic finally disappears, we will not have lived in vain.”
“But that will take money,” added the Blue Fairy, “and not even Terry had enough.”
“We’ll finance it ourselves,” said Snow White. “My law firm has been very successful, and I can contribute something.”
“The Three Billy Goats Gruff have been collecting bridge tolls since forever,” added Anna, “and Rumpelstiltskin can spin some straw into gold.”
“It’s all there if we just work together,” said the Hag.
In the end, the Blue Fairy and Snow White were put in charge of the project. The Blue Fairy was the most powerful of the group and Snow White was famous for her business acumen.
There were many setbacks along the way. There were the usual permit and inspection issues, but the greatest problem was the magic repository. To contain as much knowledge about magic as possible, it needed to be huge, many times the size of the store itself, and inaccessible to the general public.
“This isn’t going to be a public library,” agreed Snow White and the Blue Fairy. “We’ll need a portal to another dimension.”
There was a problem with this, however. Extra-dimensional portals were from the world of science, not magic, and science had no place here.
Word went out to all the magical beings: “Who can build us a portal?”
There were many suggestions, but one name kept coming up - the White Rabbit. Alice had followed the White Rabbit down his rabbit hole, which led to another world full of adventures. If anyone could build a portal, the White Rabbit could do it.
The Blue Fairy went in search of the White Rabbit. She finally found him having tea with Alice just outside the hole to Wonderland.
“We need your help,” said the Blue Fairy.
She explained the problem to the White Rabbit and Alice.
“Portals are easy,” said the White Rabbit, “all you have to do is dig and imagine the other end of the tunnel. I imagined Wonderland, and my tunnel led me to Wonderland.”
The White Rabbit returned with the Blue Fairy and got to work at once. As he dug, he imagined an endless library. When he finally stopped digging, there it was - Magicland.
The portal was in a back room at the Magic Shop. It would store all the knowledge that would be collected, and provide additional inventory overflow space for the bulkier magical items, such as witches’ kettles and flying carpets.
The project was finally finished. The Magic Shop was once again open for business. It carried anything a magical being could want. In addition, to attract a different crowd, it also stocked healing crystals, essential oils, and the like. Most importantly, there was also the new Repository of Magic, the real reason for the shop’s rebirth, safely hidden behind the portal.
And of course there was the enchanted coffee. The Magic Shop now contained a small coffee shop, much to Starbuck’s displeasure.
All things must end, even magic. And so it is with magical beings. But the Magic Shop will survive until the day magic returns. In the meantime, it’s a great place for a cup of coffee.
My sincere thanks to halfshellvenus for beta reading this story.
“Oubaitori” has to do with the growth and blooming of people. I flipped it, and wrote about the decline and ending of magical beings.