Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Anatomy of the Magician

So I'm glad you all enjoyed reading my short story. Even though it was considered "cute" on occasion. Gross. Basically, this blog is to analyze the Magician character.

When you first see the Magician, he is sitting in a tent with a deck of cards, a table separating him from the people in line. He treats the people like they don't really matter, they just have to do what he says. I used words like "wryly" and "crooked" to show that he wasn't necessarily good. People were nervous around him, they were afraid of him, and he didn't seem to care. He used deceitful comfort when it was the little boy's turn to pick a card. His false sense of free will was shown when the townspeople picked their own card/destiny/task. The only thing he really cared about was that people followed him and did as he said.

I probably could've done a better job at making him seem more evil or twisted or dark.

JJ pretty much hit the nail on the head when he commented saying that the Magician is sometimes how we might view God - never to be questioned. And that sometimes we act like that. When in reality, God is the Servant that we love because he first loved us.

That is all.

peace, love, and flowing juice of creativity.
kae ricc

Sunday, August 24, 2008

The Servant and the Magician

The Servant and the Magician. A short story by Kaeli Riccardi.

"Pick a card, any card," the Magician said wryly.

A middle-aged man in line drew a card from the deck, and sheepishly looked at it. Then, with a blank expression on his face, put the card back in the deck and went outside of the tent to do what he was told.

"Next!" said the Magician.

This time, a woman in her early twenties with a baby in her arms approached him.

"Pick a card, any card," he repeated, maintaining his crooked smile.

The woman hesitated for a minute, remembering what she had been told about this man. Her baby fussed in her arms. Full of anxiety, she took a card from the deck and read it to herself. A haunting expression appeared on her face. She turned her head to see the rest of the line, but it stretched too far out of sight to see the end. Reluctantly, she put the card back in the deck and left the tent to do as she was instructed.

"Next!" the Magician said again.

A young boy stepped up to the table in which the Magician was behind. The boy looked scared.

"Oh, don't you worry, little guy," the Magician said with an eerie calm in his voice. "Just pick a card like everyone else did, and do what it says, and you'll be fine." The Magician winked at him.

The boy covered his eyes with one hand, and reached his other hand out slowly to pull a card from the deck. He peeked through the cracks in his fingers to see what the card had to say. The little boy quickly put the card down, and ran out of the tent, almost knocking over a teenage guy.

"Easy there, kiddo," said the teen. "Hey, are you all right?"

Shivering, the boy just stared at the teen for a long moment before he ran off to fulfill what the card said for him to do.

'That's weird,' thought the teenager. After watching the boy run off, he turned to see what he was running from. The teen noticed a red and yellow circus tent with a long line coming from inside. 'I wonder what this is all about,' he thought. The young man stood there for a few minutes observing the people that went in and those same people that came out. Everyone in the line had the same solemn look upon their faces. The people that exited the tent looked as though they were in a hurry to accomplish a task, but a task they wished they didn't have to do.

"There has to be something wrong with this picture," said the teen aloud. Finally, he walked up to a girl about his age that was waiting in line and asked her what they were waiting for.

"Oh. We never question the Magician. We go in, we pick a card, and we do what it says," she replied matter-of-factly.

"What if the card tells you to do something bad?"

"If we don't do what the card says, we will be punished."

The young man noticed the emptiness in the girl's eyes.

"Well that doesn't seem like a very nice man. Making you do things you might not want to do. Don't you get a choice?" he asked, curiously.

"What are you talking about?"

The teen decided to go another route with his questions. "Have you done this before?" he asked the girl as she moved up in the line.

"Oh no," she replied, "we only go once in a lifetime. The Magician says if we do what the card says, we will live in a great place forever."

"How do you know he's not lying to you?"

The girl seemed astonished as to why he would ask such a question, and focused her attention on the tent.

'Why would these people put so much trust into someone they know nearly nothing about? But more importantly, the things that this "Magician" are making these people do seems so unjust. Why don't they make a choice and not follow him? From what I can see, he has done no good for these people. They are just too blind,' the teen thought.

The young man looked down at his shoes, realized they were untied, and bent down to retie them. When he stood back up, he noticed a purple tent to the right of the Magician's tent. No one was standing in any line outside of this tent, so being the curious guy that he was, walked into the purple tent. In it was a man sitting on a wooden stool across from a big red comfortable chair.

"Hello," said the man on the stool, serenely.

"Um, hi. Do you know why all those people are standing in that line outside?" asked the teen.

"They have made a choice," replied the man, simply. "Come, let me wash your feet."

Confused, but still interested, the teen sat down in the luxurious chair and began to remove his shoes. The other man stopped him.

"Please, allow me."

The young man allowed the other man to do as he wished. He removed the teen's shoes and washed his feet. The younger man noticed holes in the hands and feet of the older man, but thought it rude to ask why they were there.

"What shall I call you?" asked the teen.

"You can call me the Servant, for that is what I am."

"Why are you doing this for me, Servant? I don't even know you."

The Servant man replied, "Because I love you."

Three hours had passed and the teenager had been served delicious food and drink from the Servant. They had wonderful discussions, but the Servant asked the teen questions that made him think for himself. Three hours ago, the teen didn't understand how the Servant could say he loved him, when he'd only just met him. But in the last few minutes he had begun to understand.

"How come I didn't see this tent before?" the young man asked, still relaxed in the big red chair.

"You did not see this tent because you did not want to see it. I've been here all along, asking you if you would like to come in, but until you opened up your eyes, you did not see me."

"You are so different than that Magician. Can I tell others about you?"

The Servant looked pleased. "It would be the best thing you could do."

"You could save hundreds of people from doing those awful things that the Magician is making them do if you only showed yourself to them!"

The Servant became more serious, but still as gentle as he had been. "I give people the choice to see me if they wish. I will not force anyone into coming to my tent, but if they do, I will welcome them with open arms and treat them with respect and love. But if you go out and tell others about me, they will see what you see, and will be able to enjoy this same gift."

"Then I'll do it!" the teen exclaimed. "I will go out and tell everyone about you!"

The teen rose from the chair, gave the Servant a giant hug, and left the tent to tell all the others about the man who changed his life.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Blogosphere

Okay, okay, okay. So I heard these jokes the other day and I thought I'd share them with you. (WARNING: Cheesiness may be involved.)

Joke #1 - Why did the bicycle fall asleep?

...Because it was two tired!

Joke #2 - Why was the Kool-Aid man depressed?

...Because he always felt empty inside when he was drunk!

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Okay. Sorry, I just felt the need to lighten the mood since a certain respected comedian passed away.

On a completely different subject.
I miss writing. I used to write all the time, and now I'm lucky if I decide to take time out of my life to do that anymore. I wrote poetry and songs and meaningful blogs... what happened to all of that? I think I'm going to try to start blogging with more insight. Obviously, this is a bad first try, but maybe I'll get back into the swing of things.

Well, tomorrow is my birthday and I will officially be allowed to gamble, smoke, and go to jail. Such uplifting and positive things to look forward to. Even though I would never smoke. That's just gross. And the only gambling I'd do is buy a scratch off ticket just so I could say I did it. Eh, I guess that's life.

peace, love, and not looking forward to turning 18.
kaeli.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Fight for your right to paaaarrrtttaaaayyy!

There's something coming up, and it's kind of important. It's a little thing called my 18th birthday.

So in celebration of that, I'm having a party. I know, right? How lame is that?

Well, I just wanted to let you know that you are invited.

Yes you, with the face.

HOWEVER.

My party WILL NOT be on the same day as my birthday, because there will be the end of the year thing for youth group. So do not fear.

It will take place Friday night, August 15 at Denis' house where I had my Christmas party.

You can swim, eat cake, and we will have various things to do besides that.

It will probably be around 6:30ish.

Tell anyone you want, because they're invited. Even if I don't know them. Whatever.

RSVP ASAP
727.366.3956

peace, love, and legality.
kaeli

Friday, August 1, 2008

Blah. Guh.

I'm sad... Do you know why I'm sad? I do. It would be bad if I didn't know why I was sad.

Cory left this morning to head towards Ft. Sill, Oklahoma at 6 am. I miss him terribly. None of you probably want to hear about this stuff, but oh well. I have a point to all of this. So I cried at least seven times yesterday and a little bit this morning as I said goodbye, but then I went to work where I was distracted by my friends there and I was okay. Until I got home. I cried a lot because I was alone and there was nothing to distract my thoughts from drifting toward Cory.

But every time I cried (and here's my point), Bible verses flooded my brain. The first person I went to for my sorrow was God. Not having Cory around whenever I want to see him is a huge change and I miss him so much, but I know I would be worse off if I didn't have God. Almost every time I cried and prayed, I felt a peace come over me, and though I was/am still upset, I know God is keeping an eye out for me - 1 Peter 5:7 says so. Plus, I know God wouldn't let anything happen to me unless He knew I could handle. Obviously He thinks I'm pretty strong. I don't know where He's getting that from...

My emotions have been pretty crazy these last few days (and he only left this morning), but I know I'll be okay. I am so thankful I have a boyfriend who I know would do anything for me, but I am even more thankful that I have a God who offers His unconditional love and protection when I need it most.

peace, love, and roller coasters.
kaeli.