Notepad Mage

Samantha sat at the corner of the café, sipping her lukewarm coffee while idly doodling in her notepad. The place was unusually quiet for a Saturday morning, and she found comfort in the hum of muffled conversations and the clinking of cups. Her pen traced abstract shapes—spirals, zigzags, and triangles—shapes that felt instinctive yet random. She wasn’t thinking about anything specific, just letting her mind wander while the pen moved across the page.

As she sketched, a strange sense of déjà vu washed over her. The patterns on the page didn’t seem as random as they had moments before. They were taking on a distinct rhythm, like an ancient language calling to her. Her hand moved almost of its own accord, drawing symbols that looked like runes—circular patterns, angled lines, and interconnected dots. She paused, staring at the design she had just created. The runes shimmered faintly on the page, glowing with an ethereal light, and she could feel a peculiar warmth in her chest, as though they were stirring something long buried within her.

Confused and intrigued, Samantha shifted in her seat, her gaze flickering between the glowing runes and the rest of the café. She shook her head, chuckling at herself. “It’s just a doodle, Sam,” she muttered under her breath. But something inside her—something deep—began to stir. Her fingers itched to continue, to finish what she’d started.

Without fully understanding why, she drew a line beneath the circle of runes, completing the final mark. The instant the last line touched the paper, the café was suddenly bathed in a flash of light. A deafening sound—like the crack of thunder—split the air, and before Samantha could react, a blazing fireball shot out from her notepad.

It rocketed upward, straight toward the ceiling, trailing sparks and flames in its wake. The café’s overhead light fixtures rattled with the force of the explosion, and the entire room fell silent. For a split second, time seemed to freeze, everyone staring in shock at the fireball that hovered inches away from the ceiling.

“Is this real?” someone whispered, their voice shaking.

Samantha’s heart raced. She stood frozen, staring at the fireball with wide eyes. How was this possible? She had just been doodling—nothing more.

And then, as quickly as it had appeared, the fireball dissipated, leaving behind a faint scorch mark on the ceiling and a lingering heat in the air. The room was still. The sounds of the café—the clink of cups, the murmur of conversations—seemed to return all at once, but now, everyone was staring at her.

"What... what just happened?" A barista, wide-eyed, asked from behind the counter.

Samantha looked down at her notepad, and the runes that had caused such chaos were still there, faintly glowing. A strange sense of power thrummed through her, as though something ancient and powerful had been unlocked inside her. The notepad felt heavier in her hands, as though it carried the weight of an unknown force. Her doodles had become more than just abstract art; they had become runes—symbols of magic.

The realization hit her like a wave. She had rediscovered runic magic. She wasn’t sure how or why, but she knew one thing for certain—her life was never going to be the same again.

People began to murmur around her, their voices laced with a mixture of awe and fear. Some even took cautious steps toward her, eyes wide with curiosity.

“Are you... okay?” someone asked hesitantly, a woman with dark hair and a green apron.

“I... I think so,” Samantha replied, her voice shaky. She was still processing everything. She had just unleashed something incredible, something wild—and she hadn’t the slightest idea how to control it. “I didn’t mean to…”

Another fireball? She had no idea. Could she summon it again? Her fingers twitched involuntarily, but this time she forced herself to stop. She needed to think, to understand what was happening.

"I—I don’t know how to do this," she stammered, looking at the notepad, her pulse quickening. "It just happened."

The room remained tense, everyone unsure whether to back away or approach her. Samantha’s hand hovered over the notepad, and she could almost feel the runes pulsing, alive under her fingertips. They weren’t just drawings—they were keys, each symbol a doorway to something vast and incomprehensible. Magic. Real, undeniable magic.

A low murmur spread through the crowd, some faces in awe, others in fear. The woman in the apron stepped forward, eyes locked on the notepad. “You’re a mage,” she said, her voice trembling but full of wonder. "You’ve tapped into runic magic. It’s—it's been lost for centuries."

Samantha swallowed hard. “A mage? I didn’t mean to… It was just a doodle…”

“I know,” the woman nodded, “But some things can’t be controlled. You’ve awakened something ancient.”

Samantha wasn’t sure if she was ready for what came next. Could she learn to control this newfound magic? Or would her doodles continue to wreak havoc on the world around her? The possibilities stretched before her, vast and uncertain.

But one thing was clear. She was no longer just a regular person. She had discovered a power that had been hidden from the world for centuries.

And that fireball? It was just the beginning.

• A story made by our Creative Collaborator --