The Seven Spells Of Renewal
-
Tiffany Petrosino, Grade 8, St Mary's Institute School
-
Short Story
-
2001
Finalist in the '2001/2002 Schools Short Story Competition - Magic and Mystery Theme' competition
Heather decided to take a walk around her new neighborhood. She had to clear her mind. Heather thought about her deceased mother. She had been quiet and true, and she never seemed to care about the people who gossiped about her. She loved that about her mother. Heather realized that she would have just punished the terrible people. Just then, Heather tripped over something. She steadied her balance and then scanned the ground. She noticed two small, smooth stones. On them, the words “Envy” and “Wrath” were scratched. Then, all of a sudden, the peculiar stones disappeared. What was going on? Heather was abruptly overwhelmed by a serene emotion. As she thought about her mother once again, she understood how she dealt with the gossip. Her mother was superior to the hatred that attacked her. The teenager felt closer to her mother than she had ever felt, and she forgot about those who had wronged her. The vices of envy and wrath had left her.
Back at her new apartment, Heather listened to her father’s recollection of his day’s occurrences. He nervously told about his trip to the local diner. He had ordered a big plate of fries and a large shake. The middle-aged man had just received his first paycheck at his new job. He had money to spend. Then, he told her how he accidentally knocked his fork on the floor. As he bent under the table to retrieve it, two small rocks with the words “Greed” and “Gluttony” scribed onto them caught his eye. However, as he picked them up, they magically vanished from his hand. Afterward, a homeless man shuffled into the diner asking for spare change. Heather’s father had the urge to give up his plate of food to the man.
That night, Heather wanted to check out her new school’s website. It was late, and she was getting very tired. As she waited for the page to load, her eyes concentrated on the white screen. The site loaded and across the top was the school’s slogan, “Sloth destroys a perfect student.” The word “Sloth” was in big, bold letters. Outside, a clap of thunder startled her, and suddenly, the lights went out, along with the computer’s power. Heather was left sitting in the dark with infinite energy.
Her father pounded on the door. Heather scrambled to find a flashlight, but then the lights came back on. She ran to the door to let her father inside.
“You will never believe this, but I met this beautiful woman today at work. Then there was this small rock…….” He said excitedly.
Heather’s mind raced. “Let me guess. Lust?” “How did you – what’s going on?”
The next day, Heather and her father realized that something had helped rid them of their demons so they could become better people. The six words on the stones were six of the “seven deadly sins.” However, there was one left. Heather and her father both knew what it was, but they knew that they had earned it by losing the other six.
Mysteriously, pride filled them.