I wasn’t quite finished with the story I was telling by the time 2025 ended and so decided to continue it until it reached an ending point. Then I will start a new one. Besides, I kind of want to see where Penelope ends up. And so we have…
Day 206: The two men seemed unconvinced.
The two men seemed unconvinced. Penelope listed as the two men tried to convince Emily that her magic couldn’t be used to heal. Listening to them discuss magic was interesting but the arguments left a lot to be desired.
As the trio consumed their picnic Penelope thought the men believed what they were saying and felt that Emily should just trust them. At first Emily argued, pointing out some rather glaring holes in their theories. They claimed healing was fixing and therefore not natural. Emily countered with the fact that healing was generally viewed as a natural process and that she was just speeding things up.
They then tried to explain to her that that sort of magic dealt with time and time magic was impossible. Anthony even went on a long winded discourse regarding the disasters of those who attempted time travel.
“And you remember Heath Wetherspoon,” Anthony said. “He built that machine believing he could convert his magical energy into fuel for his time machine and he ended up blowing himself up.”
“Didn’t they claim that his faulty wiring caused sparks that landed on combustible material and that was what caused the explosion?” Emily asked.
The meal was finished now and Emily seemed to no longer take the discussion seriously. She had a small smile on her face and seemed to be simply provoking Anthony and the other gentleman into more and more elaborate arguments that had little do to with the original discussion.
“She’s decided they aren’t worth listening to,” Penelope decided watching them.
“That is just what was told to the general population,” Anthony declared. “We couldn’t very well tell them magic was involved.”
The speaker stood up from the ground as the other two continued to lounge on the blanket and he took up the position Penelope saw him in when she arrived. “Time travel magic is impossible,” he said adopting the air of a lecturer. “Time itself may flow like a river but we mortal beings are like rocks imbedded in that stream. We occupy the space and time where we are placed. We can no more move than a boulder.”
“What about avalanches,” Emily asked, a smile teasing her lips.
The speaker frowned. “It’s a metaphor.”
“So there are no metaphorical landslides?” she asked. “I know a few people who might disagree with that.”
“Like who?” Anthony asked.
“Colin Mastrson,” Emily said. “He seems to be going through a metaphorical landslide at the moment.”
“His father’s company went bankrupt,” the speaker said.
“This disrupting Colin from his place in space and time.”
“It does not,” Anthony said.
“He doesn’t occupy the same space as he once did,” Emily pointed out.
Penelope smiled at her mock serious tone. It seemed calculated to wind both the men up and it worked perfectly as both the speaker and Anthony pointed out how Colin’s reversal in fortunes had nothing to do with time travel.
As they spoke there was another heat ripple and the scene seemed to reset. Penelope blinked as she watched the trip once again open the picnic basket.
Ten til Midnight 