That may well be, if one is a skilled numbers cruncher. All I discovered was that prolonged periods of time spent staring at rows of little numbers are a pain . . . literally and figuratively. Specifically, after a few hours hunched over the reports, I was feeling cramps and stabbing pain in my eyes, my neck, my back, and regions lower.
Leaning back to ease the strain and stretching a bit, my eye fell on the pencil I had tossed down on my desk from disgust and frustration. With a smirk, I reached out with my mind, grabbed it, and flipped it into the air. What do magicians do when they get bored or depressed? Tinker around with magik, natch!
Remember once upon a time when I used to sweat and groan to levitate a feather? Well, those days are long gone. Nothing like a few years of using the basics like levitation to save your skin to increase one’s confidence . . . and, as Aahz always told me, confidence is the key to magik.
I took the pencil up to the ceiling, paused, then took it on a tour of the room, stopping cold at each corner to give it a right-angle turn. I realized I was humming a little tune under my breath as I put it through its paces, so I brought it down over the desk and started using it like a conductor’s baton, cueing the drums and the horns as the tune built.
“Nice to see you’re keeping your hand in.”
I glanced over at the door, and discovered my old mentor leaning against the frame watching me work.
“Hi, Aahz,” I said, keeping the pencil moving smoothly. “Well, things have been so busy I haven’t had much time to practice, but I do still turn a spell now and then.”