SPARKY’S PROJECT
For the sixth Friday in a row, Sparky had come home with a bloody nose. His mother had called the school twice, only to hear glowing reports of his and his classmates’ behavior.
“Sparky dearest, please tell me what is wrong! I’m very worried about you. Is everything alright at school?”
“Everything is fine mom,” said Sparky, running through the kitchen with his nose in a wad of tissues. “The girls are just too pretty at Spinning Breeze Academy that’s all. I’ll get used to them soon.” He added sprinting up the stairs.
Sparky knew he’s just given his mother the lamest excuse so far for his weekly nose bleeds. His life wasn’t a stupid Anime after all! Still he couldn’t very well tell his mother that a bully named Az was beating him up every Friday, especially not when he was being home-schooled for the Foxfang University of Higher Sorcery. A Wizard was supposed to be able to fix his own problems right?
Right!Sparky locked his bedroom door, crossed the room and ran a hand over the magical lock that locked away his workshop. It had been after the third attack that Sparky had decided what his final project to get into the University would be. It lay on the floor before him almost completed except for a few last critical details.
Sparky spent the rest of the day finishing the forming his chosen medium, pale tan clay, into the desired shape. At last the form was finished, and Sparky stood back to look at his handiwork with pride. No one would ever suspect this clay form was anything more than human once Sparky had spoken the incantation to make his creation move.
Carefully Sparky put the hand copied curse paper into the forms mouth, and left it to sit over night. When dawn broke the next morning Sparky wheeled his creation out into his bed room to catch the first raze of the sun and spoke the incantation.
I call upon the Seven Rings of Dest-euteu!
Bind my Creation together with your Mystical Power
I Evoke the One-hundred Staves Of Indestructible Perilu!
Lend him your Strength!
By the Perfected Temple Of Vione!
Lend him your Wisdom and Guidance
I Invoke The Locks Of Kricidyi!
Let him Obey my Every Command!
I Evoke The One-thousand Draughts Of Unkillable Sioliu!
Let my creation LIVE!
There was a great flash of light and what looked like a starburst. Sparky was sure that his creation had been destroyed. However when the smoke cleared the figure was still there, some how even more perfect than before. His bonds had been broken by the starburst, with a shudder and stretch he got down from the platform and seeing Sparky bowed. Sparky had been speechless all this time but now he whooped and danced. This would get him into Foxfang for sure,
AND get rid of his bully problems!
“Quick!” he told the now living servant. “Put these clothes on! No wait, stop!” Sparky had suddenly remembered that in the directions it had warned to never order a newly made servant to do something quickly. Luckily for him the servant hadn’t had time to move. He did however look at Sparky anxiously, wishing to please his master. “Ok, carefully get dressed in these clothes, and if you need help I’ll be glad to show you.” The servant seemed to be very smart except when it came to tying his shoes, Sparky double-knotted them for him just in case.
At last the bus came and took Sparky and his creation to school. It was lucky for him some exchange students had just been enrolled, and the servant could easily pass as one of them. Once they arrived it didn’t take long at all for people to notice the servant.
“Hey Sparky!” Sparky’s eyes got wide. It was Jesika, his former best friend and current crush, only problem was she didn’t know it yet. However before he could do more than murmur a hello, a large crowd of people gathered round.
“Wow who’s the new guy?”
“He’s cute!”
“Where’s he from Sparky?”
“Erm, he’s from Russia,” said Sparky the particular incantation Sparky had used originated from there and so it was kind of true.
Jesika smiled at them both. “What’s your name,” she asked the servant. The servant looked confused and looked at Sparky.
“Erm, he doesn’t speak English well, he can only understand a bit, but his names Golem.” The crowd of teens gave Sparky a weird look.
“Golem? That’s an odd name,” said Jesika, and someone snickered.
Sparky grew nervous. “That’s his last name! His first name is –uh- Greg! Yeah – Greg Golem.”
Greg Golem nodded and bowed shallowly to the group, which instantly caused his charm factor to skyrocket in the teen girls’ eyes.
“Oooo, look Sparky has a body-guard! Aww is poor ittle Sparkles afwraid?!” It was Azrael the school bully. This was the moment Sparky had been waiting for and true to the magic that Sparky had placed in him, Greg Golem grew fearsome and tried to run to confront Az. But Sparky held up his hand in front of the Golem.
“Not yet,” he whispered, “he will come to you. I don’t want you to hit him, just push him across the room, scare him a bit.” The Golem nodded almost imperceptibly.
“Oooo, check it out Sparkles is whispering lies about me,” said Az to his cronies, “I guess he still doesn’t get that I rule this school! I’m just gonna have to teach him a lesson now instead of on Friday!”
It happened very quickly. Az charged, Sparky stepped back, Greg Golem strode forward. Az reared back to punch this meddler, and Greg Golem pushed Az – what seemed to be a small push- and Az flew across the room and crashed into the mural that Sparky’s class had been commissioned to paint. The plastic paint jars flew everywhere, luckily their caps were on tight and none spilled.
“Wow,” said Sparky he had read thoroughly about the Golems immense strength but he’d never expected that. “That’s what you get when you mess with people who are smarter than you Azrael!” said Sparky mockingly, as Az slipped on the plastic floor covering.
“His names Azrael, as in
the Cat on the Smurfs?!” Suddenly everyone was laughing. The bully of the school had been brought to his knees at last, and by none other than the school’s greatest Artist, Sparky! Just then the Art Teacher Mr. Galen B. Sky came running down the hall. He stopped to look at the bumbling bully, but finding the only thing truly hurt was his pride, he turned to look at Sparky.
“Mr. Cobalt, if you and Mr. Golem will please follow me . . .”
Uh oh, thought Sparky, now I’m in for it. Never the less he motioned to Greg Golem and went to follow the teacher. Greg followed him dutifully.
Once they got to The Art Studio office, Mr. Sky closed the office door and leaned on the edge of the desk. At first he didn’t say anything, just looked from Sparky to Greg and back at Sparky.
At last he spoke. “Wow, Sparky, your really are the next Michelangelo.” Sparky stared. Mr. Sky had never called him by his first name before, and why was he bringing up art when he was supposed to be writing Greg Golem up for fighting? “Honestly if I couldn’t feel all the magical forces coming from ‘Greg’ Golem,” he chuckled, “I’d never have guessed he was less than human.”
“
What?!” Sparky squeaked, completely taken aback. Mr. Sky had been their Art teacher for two years now and never had he shown any signs of being anything but a human art teacher.
Wait a sec, thought Sparky,
it was two years ago that Mother told me about Foxfang University . . .“You’re him, aren’t you?” said Sparky aloud. “You’re the recruiter from Foxfang,” Galen laughed.
“You’ve hit the nail on the head Sparky! I am glad, proves there are more than dreams in that artists mind of yours.” Then Galen grew very grave. “However, it worries me that you chose a Golem to solve your problem. Don’t you know how dangerous they can be? Your ‘friend’ Greg here could have really hurt Az, then where would you be?”
“But I told him not to,” said Sparky, knowingly. “Believe me sir, I read almost everything I could once I decided that a Golem was what I needed. I almost changed my mind twice, once I read about their destructive properties. But I figured out a way to make it work, sir.”
“Do tell,” said Galen intrigued.
“Well sir, I didn’t just use the paper curse method. I used that in conjunction with a spoken Spell, so that even if I wrote out the curse incorrectly, I’d still have complete control over -er- Greg here.”
Sparky then took out a Journal and turned it to a page in the middle where he scribbled the words he’d used to awaken Greg Golem.
Galen studied it. He began to look impressed.
“I see – and just what did you write on the actual curse paper?”
“I wrote ‘Protect Sparky Cobalt’, but see because of the spell, he’ll only protect me in a way I see fit. The spell also causes him to last longer than most golems and be smarter than them, right Greg?”
To Galen’s astonishment Greg Golem nodded in agreement and smiled.
Galen smiled proudly at Sparky. “Mr. Cobalt, you not only have earned yourself a place at Foxfang University, but I’d be very surprised if you haven’t also ensured yourself a place in the Division of Mysteries as an Unknown upon graduation. It appears you have solved the Riddle of the Golem! Congratulations.”
Sparky shook Galen’s offered hand. This was the happiest moment of his life and if his Mothers stories were true he knew things could only go up from here.
