Shortz

An Ordinary's Tale

"THOMAS MAYER, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GOD DAMN MIND!?" A distraught mother yells, breaking the usual calm of the Mayer household.

"I swear to Merlin, Mom, it's not as big a deal as you are making it out to be." Thomas tries to reason, but as expected, it falls on deaf ears as his mother bangs her hands on the table making the pale green porcelain coffee pot levitate inches above the chocolate-colored dining table.

"NOT A BIG DEAL? How is 'an Ordinary'* being hired by the biggest UnOr* school on the continent, not a big deal!?" Thomas's mother continues to yell; Thomas takes another sip of his lukewarm coffee.

"HOW DARE YOU JUST SIT THERE DRINKING YOUR COFFEE AFTER ALMOST GIVING ME A HEART ATTACK!?"

Thomas looks at his watch and rinses the now empty cup; he kisses his mother's forehead and smiles.

The fuming lady calms down instantly. 'How can the council say that my son is an Ordinary, when clearly, his smile is magical?' The woman wonders, reciprocating the blindingly beautiful smile.

"I love you too, Mom. Got to leave now if I am to make it on time. As you know, it's difficult to find cabs that will willingly take one to Lowlaw Street. See you at school." Thomas informs, picking up his official teaching staff robes. He stuffs it in his satchel and walks out the door.

The door clicks shut, and Nysa Mayer - the HOD of magical law enforcement at the EliXer Institute for UnOr Higher Learning (EXIL) - snaps out of her daze.

'How did he even get accepted?' She contemplates, making a mental note to ask about this strange turn of events to the headmaster.

LATE, LATE, LATE!

The pet parrot of Mayer house announces, and Nysa is pulled out of her reprieve.

"Oh my Merlin! Thank you, Aristotle. What would I do without you." The woman coos and waves her hand over the sink.

The table gets cleared systematically as the cutlery levitates to the sink; not even a crumb of food hits the floor. The dishes arrange themselves systematically, ready to be returned to their former glory.

Satisfied, Nysa waves her hand again, and the scrubber kept next to the sink gets to work, scrubbing the dishes clean. Meanwhile, the tap opens and lets out a steady stream of water, to facilitate the scrubber.

Mrs. Mayer sighs, "I need to find Thomas a good UnOr girl, or his home will never get cleaned." With that, she picks up her purse and snaps her fingers. She vanishes into thin air.

******

The cabbie drops Thomas off at Lowlaw Street and drives away, praising 'the Lord' under his breath.

"Have a magical day, Mister," Thomas calls and walks to the huge green dumpster placed at the corner of the street; he knocks on it thrice.

"An Ordinary at EXIL's dooooor." The dumpster drags, and an eyeball pops right at its center.

Thomas smiles; the eyeball gives the young man in front of it a once over. "Shame, I have no eyelids, or a twin, for that matter."

"Why is that?"

"If I had, I would have offered you a wink." The dumpster teases, and Thomas nods, "Thank you, Mr. Dumpster Sir, but I don't think my mom would appreciate that."

The eyeball stops its leisure roll on its axis and stares at Thomas. A split second later, it almost pops out of its nonexistent sockets, "You are Nysa's child."

Thomas nods; the dumpster sighs, "In that case, am glad of this lonely existence. Farewell, dear boy." It adds, sounding dejected, and slides to the left, revealing a six-feet-tall, three-feet-wide opening in the wall.