Word: Thaumaturge

              

thaumaturge

\ THAW-muh-turj \  , noun;

1. a worker of wonders or miracles; magician.

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                “So, what do you guys think?”  Adam asked.

                “No way.  There’s no way he’s a magician.”  Peter said.

                “Yeah, definitely not.”  Roger agreed.

                The three young boys looked at the man laying on the bench.  He was covered in rags, sported a large, bushy beard with more than a bit of dirt in it, and was ultimately, nothing but a standard homeless man.

                “He is too.”  Adam said.  “I know he is.”

                “How?”  Roger asked.

                “Jack told me so.”

                Peter and Roger looked from Adam to the homeless man, and then to each other.  That was more than enough proof for them.  After all, Adam’s older brother was the authority on just about everything as far as the three of them knew.  If Jack said the man was a magician, then he was a magician.

                “Are you sure about that?”  Peter asked, just to be on the safe side.

                “Yup.”  Adam said confidently. “Well, said the guy’s a thaum…something.  He said it was the same thing as a magician though.”

                A big word that Adam couldn’t quite pronounce was proof enough for them.  When it was Jack who said it, that was irrefutable, undeniable information that simply could not be false.

                “So what should we do?”  Roger asked.

                None of the boys answered.  They were looking at a real life magician.  It was understandable that they didn’t know how to approach him, especially when he looked like some other, less magical, homeless people.

                Adam was the first to take action.  He simply started walking and his friends feel in line behind him.  The stopped when they got closer to the man.  Then, they simply stopped and waited.  The homeless man did not react to the presence of the boys for quite some time.  Eventually though, he started stirring and even sat up.

                “What d’ya want?”  He asked.  He seemed more annoyed than anything else.

                “Is it true you’re a magician?”  Adam asked.

                “Huh?  A magician?  Who told you that?”  The man asked though his bushy beard.

                “My big brother, Jack.”

                “Jack? Jack who?”

                “Jack Franklin.”

                “Is’at so?  You’re his little brother, eh?”  The man asked, doing his best to run his fingers though his tangled beard.  He didn’t get very far and stopped before his fingers got stuck.  Adam nodded in response.  “Huh.  He did tell me he had a kid brother.  What about you two?”

                “They’re my friends.”  Adam said.

                “Let them talk, boy.  Unless they can’t.”

                “No, sir, we can talk just fine.”  Peter said.

                “Well, alright then.  You never know who can and can’t talk in this life.  Remember that, boys.”

                None of them knew what to make of that advice, or if it even was advice at all.  They just nodded slowly, which seemed to satisfy the man.

                “So, then, what did you want again?”

                “Are you really a magician?” Roger asked.

                “Oh, right.  That.”  The man said.  He leaned back on the bench and thought.  “Well, yes and no.  I guess I’m a kind of magician.  Real word for is thaumaturge though.”

                “What’s that mean?”  Peter asked.

                “It’s…well…it’s a special kind of magician, I suppose.  A bit different, but similar enough.”  The man replied.

                The boys looked at each other excitedly.  They had found a magician, a real one.  Not like the ones of TV or that came to little kid birthday parties or anything.

                “Can you show us some magic?”  Adam asked.

                “Nope.”  The man said.

                “How come?”

                “Listen, kid, thaumaturgy isn’t like the magic you see in movies or TV.  It’s real and it’s powerful.  This is the kind of stuff that can change the world.  I can’t just go firing it off willy-nilly you know.  There’s rules on when I can use it and when I can’t.  Even a little bit can have a big effect someone else.  I need a real good reason to do anything.  I mean really, if I could use my power whenever I wanted, you think I be sleeping on a park bench?”

“No?”

“Damn right I wouldn’t.  I’d be on a nice beach somewhere sipping drinks out of fruit with a fine lady on my arms.  That’s what I’d be doing if I could use it whenever I wanted.  Sorry, but it’s just not the right time now.”

“Well, when is?”  Roger asked.

“Hm, let me think.”  The man closed his eyes.  His eyes closed and his forehead wrinkled in concentration.

              “Ah, looks like you’re in luck.”  The man said.  “Ideal conditions for some nice thaumaturgy will be coming up in six months.”

              “S-six months?”  Roger exclaimed.  The other three were equally shocked at what was to them, a huge amount of time.

              “Yup, six months.  Of course, that’s a rough estimate.  I’ll be able to tell more precisely when it’s closer to time.  Come by then if you want to see something real good.”

              “Why so long?”  Peter asked.

              “Long?  Boy, six months isn’t long.  You three are lucky.  Usually I gotta wait a few years before I can do anything of any value.  So you’d better be thankful it isn’t six years.”

              “Ok.”  The three boys said in unison, and with equal disappointment in their voices. 

              “Good.  Now, unless any of you three have anything else to say, you’d better get going.  I’ve got places to be, you know.  Oh, and uh, kid, make sure to tell your brother to come by some time.  The two of us have a lot to talk about.”

              “Ok.”  Adam said.  He wanted to ask why the man knew Jack, but he figured that was a question for his brother.  Anyway, the man was getting up from the bench, and seemed like he wouldn’t be answering any more questions at that time.

              The three boys watched the dirty, homeless magician walk down the park path, heading towards the city streets.  They had no idea what the man was talking about, but they all knew where they’d be in six months.

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So, is this homeless man really a thaumaturge?  Can he really work magic?  Or is he just an old homeless guy with delusions of grandeur and a vivid imagination?  I have no idea.  Could go either way, really.  Maybe someday we'll find out though.  Maybe.

Word: Sternutation

 

sternutation

\ stur-nyuh-TEY-shuhn \  , noun;

1. the act of sneezing.

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Mike and Sue walked along the sunny forest trail, enjoying the sights of nature at its finest.  At least, the finest it could ever hope to get in a well traveled state run park.  Their enjoyment was cut short when they noticed the third member of their party was conspicuously absent.  They both agreed to simply stop and wait for him.  They didn’t have to wait long, as a sudden noise alerted them to the presence of their missing companion.

                Derrick trudged through the trail.  His feet seemed heavy and his thoughts clouded.  His eyes were red and watery, his face was even redder than his eyes, and he was breathing heavily through his mouth, as his nose was too stuffed to be usable for the intake of air.  As he approached Mike and Sue, he stopped and entered a furious fit of uncontrolled sneezing. The sound filled the otherwise peaceful forest, causing a few small songbirds to flutter away.

                “I tink dere mighd be some pollen in de air.”  Derrick said though his stuffed up nose once he stopped sneezing.  As soon as the words left his mouth, his nose acted up again, and he entered another sneezing fit.

                “Can’t be.  It’s too early in the season for pollen.”  Mike said. 

                “Trus me, dere’s pollen.  Lods of id.”  Another round of sneezes filled the air.

                “Did you bring you allergy meds?” Sue asked.

                “Uh huh.  Took’em.  Didn’d work.”

                “How long ago?”

                “An hour.”

                “Huh.”  Mike said.  Derrick took some pretty strong allergy medicine, and it usually started clearing him up in a matter of minutes.  “You sure you took the right pills?”

                “Uh huh.”  Derrick said before launching into more sneezes.  Once he quieted down, he took a deep breath through his nose in an attempt to clear it, if only a little.  All he accomplished was make an odd sound that was somewhere between a honk and a hiss.  “Id was working fine before.  Bud now dere’s too much pollen around.  I don’ dink I should keep going.”

                “Oh come on.”  Mike said.  “You’re gonna let a little pollen stand in your way?  We’ve been planning this for weeks.”

                Both Sue and Derrick looked at Mike blankly.  Well, Sue did anyway.  It was a bit hard for Derrick to look at anything, since he was once again, too busy sneezing out the pollen that had invaded his nose. 

                “Seriously, Mike?”  Sue asked. “You really want him to keep going when he’s like this?  If Derrick keeps going, he’ll sneeze out every drop of water in his body.”

                “Oh come on, it’s not that bad.”  Mike looked at his friend’s condition. “Ok, maybe it is that bad.  But still.  We’ve got plenty of water here.  I bet we can flush some of it out.”

                “Uh, ew?”  Sue said, clearly disgusted by the idea of using one of their water bottles to expel large amounts of mucus from Derrick’s nose.  Derrick didn’t seem to thrilled with the idea either. 

                “I’ll jus come back anoder day.  Jus make sure to look ad de pollen forcasd before, kay?”

                “Yeah, sure thing.”  Sue said.  “Go back and clear yourself up real good.  We’ll make sure to take some good pictures for you.”

                “Uh huh.” 

                Derrick turned to leave the pollen infested forest.  Before he got too far though, Mike called out to him.

                “Don’t go in the car before you’re dried up, ok?  I don’t want your snot all over everything.”  Sue glared at him for that.  “What?”  

Sue just rolled her eyes and kept walking.  The two continued their hike, doing their best to ignore the sounds of sneezing that filled the forest behind them. 

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I had allergies once.  At least, I think I did.  It was kind of weird, actually.  I didn't get any of the normal stuff.  Instead, I just got this weird little half cough thing that was really annoying and made my throat sore after awhile.  It lasted for a few years and then just disappeared.  It probably wasn't allergies because of that, but I'm not really sure what it was, so that's the best I can do.    

Word: Brobdingnagian

 

Brobdingnagian

\ brob-ding-NAG-ee-uhn \  , adjective;

1. of huge size; gigantic; tremendous.

noun:

1. an inhabitant of Brobdingnag.

2. a being of tremendous size; giant.

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                 Don craned his neck to take in the large mish-mash of metal and plastic that had been roughly formed into a roughly human shape.  It was blocky, clunky looking, and had a few too many small pieces sticking out of it, but it was still recognizable as a man.

                “It’s kinda…big.”  Don said.  It was all he could think to say about the twenty foot structure.

                “Well, yeah.  Of course it is.”  Adam said.

                “Couldn’t you make it, you know, smaller?”

                “If I did that, it wouldn’t be a giant robot, now would it?”  He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.  Adam had to admit he had a point, even if it was kind of stupid.

                “Well, why does it have to be a giant robot?”  He asked.  “I mean, couldn’t you make a smaller robot?”

                “Why would I do that?”  Adam asked.  “I mean, why make a normal robot when you can make a giant one?”

                “Because it’s easier?”

                “Pff, lamer is more like it.  I mean, I guess a normal sized robot is cool, but giant robots are just awesome in every single way.” 

                Don wished he could argue with his friend’s logic.  But he had to admit Adam had something not unlike a point.  Still, this one was somewhat less than awesome.  In fact, it looked silly to Don.  He just couldn’t bring himself to tell Adam that though.  He would leave it to others in their social circle. 

                “Wasn’t it expensive though?”

                “Oh yeah, definitely.  It cost most of my life savings.  Not to mention the better part of a year to put it together.  But it was so worth it.”

                Don didn’t know what the worst thing about his friend’s words was.  He did suppose there could be some merit to the large mechanical monstrosity, but he couldn’t think of any. 

                “So, does it do anything?” Don asked.

                “Of course it does.  You didn’t think I spent that much on a building a big statue, did you?  Hang on, I’ll show you.”

                Adam ran off and returned a few minutes later with a small tablet computer in his hands.  He messed around on the screen for a minute or so,, then the robot came to life.  Sort of, anyway. 

                A loud mechanical whir issued out of the chest of the giant robot and it raised its right arm.  The movement was painfully slow, and took almost two minutes to do just that one task.  The forearm curled up at a snail’s pace and started to move back and forth.  Don sighed as he watched the robot wave to him with all the speed of a moving glacier. 

                “Pretty cool, huh?”  Adam asked.  He was clearly very proud of himself.

                “It’s a bit slow, isn’t it?” Don asked.

                “Oh that.  Yeah, I guess I couldn’t really afford parts that would let it move faster.  But hey, at least it moves.  That’s a huge achievement right there.  I mean, have you ever heard of anything this big having this level of articulation?”

                Adam emphasized his point by having the robot open and close its fingers, even moving one at a time.  Then he had it lift its leg and move its foot back and forth.  None of the movements were fast, but Don did have to admit it was impressive in its own way.  That something that big could move at all was probably quite the feat of engineering, particularly because it was able to balance on one foot for a decent length of time.

                “Ok, yeah, I guess that’s pretty good.”  Don admitted.  “But still.  It’s not really good for anything is it?”

                “Not a damn thing.  But that’s not really the point.”

                “Than what is the point?”

                “The point is I now have my own working giant robot.  Now I just have to work on a functional laser sword and flight systems for it.”  Adam was clearly very excited about the prospects of all that. 

                “Right, you get on that.”  Don said skeptically.  He was somewhat less happy about the idea of Adam having a twenty foot robot that could fly and had weapons.  He did take quite a bit of solace in the fact that such a thing would probably never happen.  At least, not in his lifetime.  

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Someday, giant robots will be a reality, and it will be glorious.  Life will be like those giant robot animes, of that, I have no doubt.  Maybe not exactly, but close enough.  They may even watch those shows and think of it like we do with other sci-fi shows (I'm looking at you Star Trek).  

Word: cabotage

  

cabotage

\ KAB-uh-tij, kab-uh-TAHZH \  , noun;

1. navigation or trade along the coast.

2. Aviation . the legal restriction to domestic carriers of air transport between points within a country's borders

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              Matt looked at the board and blinked.  He glanced over at Ken, who had a very similar expression on his face.  Glenn, on the other hand, looked quite happy with the current state of the game they were playing.

                “Well?”  Glenn said, “Are you gonna make a move or not?”

                “Give me a minute, I’m thinking.”  Matt said.  He had no idea how the game had gotten to the state it was in.

                Just a few turns ago, he was winning.  And now, Glenn completely controlled the board.  He didn’t have nearly as much power as Matt or Ken did, and yet he was beating them both.  As Matt further studied the board, it quickly became clear how it was done.  Glenn controlled the game’s economy.  The guy only controlled six of the twenty city spaces in the game, but every single one of them was vitally important.

                The three land locked cities each had no less than five routes connected to them, which made them vital to moving troops and resources around the board.  Since Glenn controlled them, doing those vital tasks were far more difficult than they needed to be.  But Glenn’s real power was the costal spaces.  He only held three cities there, but they were all the best trading spots.  Any one of those coastal towns could turn a five turn expedition into a two turn trek. 

                “Come on, we don’t have all night.”  Glenn taunted.  He knew he had complete control of the game.  He not only held the best cities, but had chosen skills and abilities that both made it very hard to avoid his areas, and then crippled the economy of those that entered his domain.

                “Actually, I’m pretty sure we do.”  Ken said.  He didn’t want to see Glenn win any more than Matt did, and having more time to think was a vital part of that process.

                Matt knew he needed to do some costal trading to get into a good position, but with Glenn in all the god spots, that wouldn’t work.  The only thing he could do was get more troops and hope he could gather enough strength to take one of those key towns.  But Glenn had fortified them well enough that even Matt’s superior military strength would have trouble getting through.  With the current economic lock, it would take no fewer than five turns before he was in a position to take one of Glenn’s cities.  But by then, Glenn would’ve used his massive economic engine to further fortify his strongholds, making it even harder to attack.  No, going through Glenn’s cities would be a bad idea.  He would lose more than he would gain by doing so.  He would have to use the longer, less efficient routes if he hoped to make any progress.   

                Matt moved the appropriate pieces around the board, aiming to go to one of his coastal towns for trading resources between his cities.  Maybe by doing that he could take one of those land cities.  That would help a lot.

                “You sure you want to do that?”  Glenn asked with a smirk on his face.

                “Pretty sure, yeah.”  Matt replied.

                “Oh, that’s too bad.  See, it turns out there’s a nasty whirlpool on that space.”  Glenn took an action card from his hand and placed it on the table.  The image of a whirlpool made Matt cringe.  He was forced to move the boat piece he had just moved again, this time to one of the routes Glenn controlled. 

                “You suck.”  Matt said bitterly as he moved the piece. 

                “That’s not what the game says.”  Glenn was clearly enjoying himself a bit too much.

                Matt didn’t reply.  He just drew his own action card and did all that was needed to end his turn.  The card he drew was useless in his current situation.  He lamented that he didn’t get it a few turns ago, when it would’ve been handy, but such was the way of the game.

                Ken started his turn immediately, and took much less time to do so than Matt had.  Since Ken was able to think about his turn while Matt was going, he knew exactly what he wanted to do.  Ken had opted to focus his attention on Glenn’s least fortified city, one of the land ones.  He even used half of the action cards in his hand to rush his troops into position.  He couldn’t attack, but it was good enough.

                “Hm, let’s see.  I wonder what I should do…”  Glenn said.  “I think I’ll play this.”  He played a card that granted him even more troops than he could afford from his large reserve of resources alone. He placed it so Ken’s inevitable attack was bound to fail.  “And, oh, this one too.”  Another card came out that further rendered all six of his cities untouchable.  “And I’m good.”

                “Fine.  Let’s just get this over with.”  Matt didn’t bother thinking.  He just went through Glenn’s coastal city, took the penalties for doing so, and went on its way.  He used as many of his action cards as he had that would allow him to get more troops into position.  He knew it wouldn’t help, but it was something.

                “You know, you can feel free to give up any time you want.”  Glenn said to Ken as his turn started.

                “This game isn’t over yet.”  Ken muttered.  “I’ve got some things I can do.”

                “Well then, I you think you can turn this around, make your move.”  Glenn said.  The two looked at each other for a moment.  Glenn’s face was filled with confidence, Ken’s with determination.  After spending a moment to size up the situation, Ken made his move.

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Games like this can be fun, but can also turn nasty in the right situation.