Seminar Three: A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

Incorporate magic realism in a piece of writing

“Again?” I cried in exasperation. Every day I would come home from school, and every day I would find the garden in complete disarray. Those elves would get in there each day and make a mess of everything I did. I drew nearer to the garden. I had built it a makeshift fence after the third week of this – tired of having to replant all of my work. As I bent down I found a gap tucked between the chicken wire and tree branches that made up my garden’s fortress; looks like I’d be needing a mote soon.

My brooding was interrupted when my dog slammed into the garden’s wall opposite me. He began to scratch at the posts, and dig around its edges. Perhaps the elves weren’t to blame for my growing headache. I scowled at Max and shooed him away, but I wasn’t convinced yet. Upon closer examination I found that only the skilled little hands of elves could have peeled back the wire like that. Maybe they had collaborated with Max; perhaps the whole population of my backyard was working against me.  This thought didn’t amuse me.

Why couldn’t my yard have been infested with Keebler elves like Miranda’s down the street? Then I could come home to fresh baked cookies instead of this disaster. Instead I was left with that warm aroma wafting over the houses to mock me.

Not quite willing to rebuild my defence, I sighed in temporary defeat and made my way towards the door – at least inside I was free from their destruction. However, before reaching the door I found my legs out from underneath me and my face meeting with the ground. Breathing past the initial shock and hurt, I was able to hear the tell tale chattering of those infuriating beings. I turned my head and watched as they scurried across the yard, dragging behind them an irrigation hose from the garden, my shoe being carried in tow, hooked on a sprinkler.

I debated hunting them down and retrieving my footwear, perhaps exacting some repeatedly imagined revenge, but upon seeing them crawl up the lilac tree, I decided it just wasn’t worth the humiliation. Eventually they would get bored with their new treasures and leave them abandoned for me to find.

I peeled myself from the grass, and made it to the doorway, taking extra care as I walked. Once inside I took a moment to relish the oasis I had behind these walls: no elves, no chaos, and no garden to worry about. I found my place in an oversized chair and sipped on some tea to tame the anger that was boiling beneath the surface. I glanced out the window and found three little elves hidden within the lilacs leering down at me.