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<h1>Zk | Where the Dust Comes From</h1>
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<p><span class="tag">writing</span> <span class="tag">flash-fiction</span></p>
<p>&ldquo;Alright, now, as soon as you see it, you must scoop it up!&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Okay!&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;So what do you do when you see it?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Scoop it up!&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Good boy, good. Now, watch&hellip;&rdquo;</p>
<p>Anne tapped the tip of her &lsquo;wand&rsquo; against the edge of her plate. Once, twice&hellip;three times and a small plume of dust spilled out onto the table. Jamie, wielding his cooking scraper well, scooped the dust off to the side.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Scoop! Scoop!&rdquo; Anne encouraged, laughing along with the boy as he nudged the flurry of dust onto the small pile he&rsquo;d accumulated next to the plate. Once he was done, they both cheered and clapped to each other, pleased as peach to have piled up some dust.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Anann Anann!&rdquo; &mdash; Jamie&rsquo;s name for her since before he could pronounce &lsquo;aunt&rsquo; &mdash; &ldquo;Can you do it again?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Alright, alright,&rdquo; Anne laughed. &ldquo;Once more, and then it&rsquo;s off to bed. Get ready though, okay? What will you do when you see the dust?&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Scoop!&rdquo;</p>
<p>Anne nodded. She drew herself upright, positioned her chopstick of a wand imperiously, then tapped at the side of the plate, scuffing her dirty fingers against each other to cause a small cascade of flour to sift down around the chopstick. It wouldn&rsquo;t have been so dramatic if the last rays of the sun coming in through the blinds make it so that they dust only showed at the last moment.</p>
<p>They&rsquo;d made a pie that morning, of course. Jamie had helped with the mixing, mostly by making a mess of himself, though he might&rsquo;ve gotten some of the flour in the bowl where it belonged.</p>
<p>That was hours ago, though. Ages. That had been in the <em>kitchen</em> and this was in the <em>dining room</em>. Two vastly different worlds separated by eons of time, in the mind of a child. That was cooking, this was magic.</p>
<p>That night, Anne would tuck him into bed, and she knew that some tendril of thought about this moment would creep through, and he would ask about the magic. &ldquo;Where does the dust come from? Are you magical, Anann? Can you teach me some magic?&rdquo;</p>
<p>She&rsquo;d do what adults did. She&rsquo;d beg off. She&rsquo;d lie and cajole and bribe him to bed without ever revealing her secret. Tomorrow, doubtless, she&rsquo;d come up with some other bit of magic, but for now, he had a bit of mystery. Dust came from Anann. Anann was magical. That would be enough to get him trying to conjure up dust for weeks.</p>
<p>That was the real trick. That was the real magic.</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2020-06-24</p>
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