MATT
THE MAGE - FIRST SPELLS.
MAGE MAIL.
From Parramatta Wheatslump, somewhere in Yewrope, to Merv
and Raelene Wheatslump, Starvation Station, Somewhere in Australia.
Dear Mum and Dad,
Parboil said I should write to say I'm okay. I am okay.
Sheelah and Bertie said to say g'day. You remember Bertie,
the camel I- but that can wait until later.
Parboil says I need to get
responsible. He says I have to practise analytical thinking. You know, sort of
asking myself questions and giving myself the answers.
I've
decided to write down what's been happening to me as if it was a story. I'll
send you the first chapter soon, and you should get a new one every week after
that.
From
your son,
Parramatta Wheatslump, A.M. (Apprentice Mage)
PART ONE. A SPELL AT STARVATION STATION.
CH.1. INTRODUCING PARRAMATTA WHEATSLUMP.
First Question: Is it possible
to become a mage in Outback Australia?
Growing
up in the outback isn't easy for a kid who wants to be a mage.
"What's
a mage?"
That's the first thing Merv and Raelene
Wheatslump asked when their son Parramatta mentioned his career plans.
Parramatta
(who preferred to be called Matt) was eleven. He was small and freckled with
hair that blew in all directions at once. His clothes always wore out
because... well, the reason was pretty embarrassing.
It
was just after lunch that he broke the news to his mum and dad.
"Mum,
Dad - I'm going to be a mage."
"What
the flippin' heck is a mage?"
asked his dad (whose name was Merv), scratching a sand fly bite on his ankle.
"Do you know, Raels?"
"No," said his mum (whose name was
Raelene). She was tall and red-haired with one green eye and one blue one. She
could throw a javelin so far it could get halfway to Windigurrup where Matt
went to school. Merv always said she should have been in the Olympics, but
somehow she'd never got the chance.
"A
mage is like a magician or a wizard, but not quite," said Matt.
"Magicians and wizards are flashy. Mages sort of nudge things into
place."
Merv
and Raelene laughed like mad at that.
"You
want to be a wizard?" cackled
Merv when he got his breath back. "Ooh, that's a good one, Parramatta. The
Wizard from Aus?"
"That's
a top joke that is," chortled Raelene.
"It's
not a joke," said Matt. "I want to be a mage."
Merv
and Raelene stopped laughing. "You can't do that, son," said Merv.
"A little bloke like you would look a proper galah in one of them long
black robes and a silly hat. You'd be tripping over the hem all day long."
"I
wouldn't wear that silly stuff. I told you, mages are different."
"You'll
get over it," said Merv. He slapped his vast chest. "Once upon a time
I was going to be an artist. I was going to be painting portraits for a
living."
"You
could have been an artist," said Matt. "You're really good at
drawing."
"Yeah,
but it wasn't practical," said Merv. "Starving in an attic is not the
way to go. I gave it away and took up wheat farming like my dad."
"It's
years since you've grown any wheat," Matt pointed out. "There hasn't
been enough rain. If I was a mage I could do a weather spell."
"No
need for that," said Merv. "The government's got it all under
control. Cloud seeding and all that. Science is the way of the future, son, not
magic."
"How
can they seed clouds if there aren't any?" asked Matt.
Merv
rolled his eyes at Raelene. "Where's he get these weird ideas from, Raels?
Is it that computer game he's playing?"
Matt
had got the idea from his computer
game, and he always chose to play the mage character, because the mage was
cool. Instead of explaining, he went out in the yard and kicked up a cloud of
dust. The outback was having a drought. As usual.
Matt
stared at the burning sky. It was bluer than blue on blue. Sky had to be grey
for rain to happen. If he could nudge it into turning grey...
He
stared at the patch of sky above the pepper tree and tried to get his mind into
gear for magic. He wasn't sure how, because the computer game never said, so he
did what came naturally, sat down cross-legged and waved his arms. "Go
grey," he told the sky, "go grey!" He pictured the sky beginning
to swirl, just like the monitor did when the mage was making magic in the game.
"Go
grey," he instructed the sky, and the blue began to fade like the pair of
jeans Raelene had left on the Hills Hoist when they went to the coast...
It
was working! His spell was working! Matt held his breath and used his mind to
push the grey in the sky together in a cloudy lump.
"Go
cloud," he said between his teeth. "Go cloud..." He closed his eyes. Go cloud, go cloud, go cloud.
It
was working! A cool shade fell across his face and a drop of water splashed
down onto his chin. Another drop and-
Splosh!
Raelene
was standing over him with a dripping washcloth.
"Yuck!"
Matt spluttered and squinted up. His mum looked like a giantess against the
sky.
"What've
I told you about sitting in the sun, Parramatta? You'll get sunstroke. You'll
get a melanoma. Come inside and stand against the wall."
First Answer: It probably isn't possible to become a proper mage in
Outback Australia.
