The Jar Wizard — Short Story Prompt
It was an extremely gelid, misty evening as dusk settled over the foothills of Damascus. Temperatures continued to drop as time ticked away swiftly on my primordial timer, passed on through generations in my family. Here I stood, lost. Lost in the middle of nowhere, for an adventurous trek had turned into a situation of gloom and despair. It got darker as time passed. I continued to walk, trembling with fear, the glacial temperatures nearly paralyzing my whole body. I was cold, petrified, hungry and tired.
With a sense of hopelessness, I continued to walk until I dawned upon a tiny little opening on a steeply placed, stratified rock. It looked as if it had been hand-carved out of a mountain for a regular-sized person to be able to fit in. With the night set in and nowhere to go, I asked myself, “Is this my way out?” I took a deep breath and climbed into the opening, just about fitting through, only to land on the ground with a loud ‘bang’! It took me a moment to regain my consciousness. That is when I realized where I was. It was a cave. An ancient cave with artworks and figures carved out onto the rocks that made it up. I was trapped indefinitely. The opening I leapt in through was too high to reach. More so, the cave infused a sense of uneasiness. It was pitch dark, for I could see absolutely nothing around me. My trepidation continued to amplify due to the pin-drop silence. After calming myself down, I decided to explore the cave. Everything seemed to be ancient. The slightest of sounds would echo. I continued to walk, hoping to find a way out, hoping that the worst was behind me.
That was the exact moment I was proven wrong again. I heard loud footsteps approaching behind my back, “clunk, clunk, clunk,” and I had no clue what to expect. My feet started to shake, my hands began to tremble, and my face turned pale. Fearing the worst, I quickly hid in a small corner where I hoped I wouldn’t be visible. Immediately, I witnessed a shadow. It seemed to be a gigantic man. Seconds later, he marched past. He was short, muscular, and aged. He wore an ancient attire, much like the ones warriors of the past did, composed of copper and a range of other antique metals. He donned a rather uncanny hat, one that you would expect individuals to wear from centuries ago. His facial expressions portrayed grit, anger, and a sense of revenge. His muscular hands and clenched fists reflected his mighty demeanour. Yet what caught my attention was what he carried with himself. A range of enchanted jars filled with magical potions, mysterious crystals, and knick-knacks from civilizations long dead. The several jars he carried were attached to his clothing and weren’t labelled. Just as I was taking it all in, he mumbled something to himself. “The elixir of almighty is what I hold, the creator of all. I pray I never lose it, for it will destroy the existence of humanity forever,” he said in a deep, rasping voice.
Just as I stared in a state of bafflement, the man vanished into thin air. I was left in awe. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, for he was no longer there. I took a moment to ponder over what I had just witnessed. Immediately, I thought to myself, ‘Was he a wizard? If he was, where did he come from? What was the elixir he talked about?’ With a slew of thoughts and questions flowing through my mind, I fell unconscious.
My eyes peered wide open a few hours later. I was no longer in the cave, nowhere even close to it. I was on an emerald green patch of grass. The mellifluous chirps of the songbirds suffused my ears with the picturesque foothills of Damascus visible in the backdrop. I was left stunned. Was this all a dream? How did I magically make it out of that dingy cave? That was when I realized that the man in the cave was a wizard. He knew I was there the whole time. That just wasn’t any ordinary cave, for it had a mystic aura to it. Similarly, he wasn’t just anyone. He was a wizard, a jar wizard.
