Word: coup de foudre

coup de foudre

[kooduh foo-druh]

noun, plural coups de fou·dre [kooduh foo-druh] /kudə ˈfu drə/. French.

1. a thunderbolt.
2. love at first sight.

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               It was a lovely, clear day without a cloud in the sky.  Which is why Julius was so shocked—both literally and figuratively—when a bolt of lightning crashed down less than twenty feet in front of him.  He covered his eyes against the light from the literal bolt from the blue and shook out his limbs.  The electricity did not seem to have done him any harm him, so that was good.

               When he finally opened his eyes, he froze.  There was a woman there.  Standing right where the lightning had struck.  And she was exquisite.  It was like the best features of every Hollywood actress were combined into one perfect woman.  And when he looked at her, a large, goofy grin spread across his face.  He was not sure if it was because of the electricity or something deeper, but he swore he heard a chorus of angels singing Barry White songs.

               The woman wore a shimmering grey jumpsuit that hugged her flawless figure.  Her glistening black hair was cut short, ending at the top of her neck.  Julius had never been a fan of short hair, but on her, he could not picture her any other way.  His heart beat like a jackhammer when he saw her lustrous, hazel eyes.  Everything about her was amazing.

The woman was looking at the area where she stood.  She had a curious expression on her face.  She looked at a silver armband on her right wrist.  She tapped at it a few times, like it was a tiny keyboard.  She muttered something and resumed looking around.  She saw him and made her way towards him.

Julius tried to calm his breathing, but was unable to.  The goddess-like woman was clearly going to talk to him!  The very idea was the greatest thing ever.

“Excuse me.” She said.  The sound sent butterflies loose in his stomach.  “I seem to have gotten lost, and my band doesn’t seem to be connecting to anything.  Perhaps you can help?”

Julius was too lost in her eyes to say anything.  She frowned.

“Is there something wrong?” She asked.  “Do you require medical attention?”

Julius finally managed to shake himself out of his stupor.  “Uh, no, no.  I’m, uh, I’m fine, really.”

“Are you sure?  Perhaps you should seek a medical professional.  I will go seek aid from someone else while you do so.”

“No!” Her leaving would be terrible.  He needed to stay near her.  His very soul cried out for her presence.  “No, I’m fine, really.  I was just, uh, surprised by your arrival is all.”  There was so much else he could have said, but not without coming off as desperate or creepy.

“I…see.” She said slowly.  She raised an eyebrow and continued.  “Well, regardless, I would like to request aid.”

“Okay.  I can do that.  Probably.  Maybe.”

“Good.  I have become lost, you see, and since my band seems to lack a connection, I am unable to determine my current location.”

“Oh, sure.  I can do that.  We’re in Bear Mountain State Park.  I can even help you get back to the road.  And then maybe I can show you around a bit more.  I live around here, so I know all the best places to do, uh, stuff.”

“Geographic location is appreciated, I suppose, but I require more detail.”

Julius was getting a bit confused.  What kind of specifics did she want?  The county?  Surely not the state or country.  But best to give as much as he could.  It might help get on her good side, which is something he definitely wanted.

“Uh, well, it’s in Rockland county in—”

“As I said, geographic data, while appreciated, is not needed.” She said calmly. 

“Oh.  Okay, what do you need then?”

“I require chronological coordinates.”

It took him a moment to realize what she was talking about.  Most of that was spent gazing at her perfect beauty, but he finally managed to say something.

“You mean the date?  Uh, it’s August, 11^th.”  When she simply looked at him, he kept going.  “It’s 2:30 pm if that helps.”

“Any data is appreciated.”

“Okay.” He was starting to get a little worried.  What did she want.  She still looked at him like she wanted more details.  “Uh, the year is 2018?”

That got her attention.  She looked worried and suddenly nervous. 

“2018 of which calendar?”

Julius struggled to remember what it was called.  “I think it’s the Gregorian calendar, but I could be wrong.”

The woman’s eyes opened wide and she opened and closed her exquisite, bright red lips.  Her entire body seemed to shake.

“No.  No, that…that’s impossible.  I…I can’t be…no.  How…how could this happen?  This shouldn’t have happened.  There must be some mistake.  You.”  She said the last word quickly and with a hard edge.  “Have you ever seen anything like this before?”

She held up her wrist, presenting the band to him.  He looked at it closely.  It seemed like a normal silver armband to him, which he told her.  She let out a pained wail and collapsed.  It pained Julius to see her like that.  But he was also unsure of what to do to comfort her.  Should he rub her shoulder?  Should he say something? 

“Is…is something wrong?” He ended up asking.

“I’m trapped.” She said.  “I’m stuck here in an early digital era.  No way home.” She said quietly.  She kept saying the same general thing over and over in different ways.  Once Julius recovered from the heartache he got from seeing her like that, he managed to piece together what he was saying.

“Wait, are…are you a, a time traveler?” He asked.  She nodded.  “And that lightning was, like, the method you use or something?”

“Lightning?  Did…did you see a bolt of lightning?”  He nodded.  “Oh dear.  That would do it, yes.  No, the lightning has nothing to do with my method of temporal traversal.  It must have interrupted my travel and caused to me exit the time stream too soon.”

“I have no idea what any of that means, or why a normal bolt of lightning would do anything to you, but if you need help, I’ll do what I can.”

A sad smile crossed her lips, sending the butterflies swirling again.

“You have my thanks.  And I believe I will accept your offer.  I will, after all, need a guide to this time period.  I have only read about this time in historical data, and have no information on daily activities.”

“Okay, great.  Let’s get started.  I’m Julius.  What about you?  Oh, uh, are there still names in the future, or do you, like, use numbers or something?”

A slight chuckle escaped her.  “We use names.  Although, there was a period where serial numbers were used in the 25^th century, that period was short lived.  My name is Keela.  It is a pleasure to meet you, Julius.”

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Some Barry White songs for you.  Because everyone needs more Barry White in their lives.

Word: Exoteric

 

exoteric

[ek-suh-ter-ik]

adjective

1. suitable for or communicated to the general public.
2. not belonging, limited, or pertaining to the inner or select circle, as of disciples or intimates.
3. popular; simple; commonplace.

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             “I’ve done it!” Mr. James cried as he barged into Mr. Martin’s office.

               Mr. Martin was so startled by the sudden intrusion that he nearly spilled the cup of coffee he had been sipping. 

               “What?  What did you do?” He asked his portly colleague.

               “I’ve created the ultimate music group.  One engineered to be so popular it’ll be everywhere.”

               “A music group?  Really?  Single acts are more popular these days.”

               “Yes, but groups are due for a comeback.  And this one will be the one to do it.  Come on, I’ve got them getting set up with testers right now.”

               Mr. Martin sighed and followed.  The building was large, and neither of the men were in particularly good shape, but they still arrived at the small test studio in a reasonable amount of time.  Inside, a group of employees were fussing over five girls that could have been anywhere from 18 to 23.  They were all very pretty, and each was of a different ethnicity, consisting of the board room’s five major ethnicities; White, Black, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latin American.

               “So?  What do you think?” Mr. James asked proudly.  “Perfect, aren’t they?”

               “All I see is a group of girls that can be found anywhere.”

               “That’s part of the charm.  They’ll make girls think they can be famous too, and boys think they can meet them, and maybe more.  It’s perfect.  They’ll be this generation’s Spice Girls.”

               Mr. Martin was unimpressed.  The only thing he could see was that, while all of them were very good looking, each of them was also quite a bit different than the others.  Each one would appeal to a different type of person, which would indeed give them wide ranging popularity should they hit the mainstream.  Still, that was only on the surface.  There was a lot more to a group than just looks.

               “There had better be more to them than looks.” Mr. Martin said.

               “They do, trust me.  And they each add to the diversity.  Let’s see, Jessica is the shy, quiet one.” He pointed at the blonde, white girl with thick but somehow stylish glasses.  “Lin is a lesbian, enough said.” He said while pointing at the slender, doll like Asian, who was indeed doing everything she could to get closer to the others.  “Destiny is the sporty, athletic one.” He motioned towards the tall black girl who was indeed in very good shape.  “Maria is the fun one.  You know, the one who likes to party and stuff.” He nodded towards the Latina who looked like she could be on the cover of any fashion magazine.  “And Leah is the geeky, nerdy one.” He motioned to the short, curvy Middle Eastern girl.  “Together, they cover just about any and every group there is.  They’re perfect.”

               “Okay, that sounds good, I guess.”  Mr. James said.  His mind was starting to work.  He could not help it.  His business senses were feeding him ideas, and about how each girl could have a unique set of songs related to their individual traits.  It could work, at least on some level.  “But what about songs?”

               “Songs?”

               “Yeah, you know, songs?  What will they be singing?  And can they even sing?”

               “Oh, probably some peppy, pop things that the kids love and parents don’t dismiss.  You know the kind.”

               “You haven’t thought of the actual music?”

               “Let the music people worry about that.  We have more important things to work on with these five.  Now, let’s talk merchandise.”

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Why do I get the feeling that this is how most boy bands got started?  Seriously, some of them feel like they were cooked up in a board room instead of a music studio.

Word: Scry

scry

[skrahy]

verb (used without object), scried, scry·ing.

1. to use divination to discover hidden knowledge or future events, especially by means of a crystal ball.

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               Grace held the box curiously.  She shook it, hearing the solid thunk of whatever was inside.  She had not ordered anything recently, and the box had no clues as to who sent it to her.  All that was on it was her name and address.

               She shrugged and did the only other thing she could think to do with it.  She opened the box.  Inside was a glass ball the size of a large orange.  It was perfectly clear, flawless, and had nothing inside of it.  It was simply a solid ball of glass.  The only unusual part was the lack of air bubbles inside of it.  She was no expert on the material, but she was fairly certain a solid glass ball should have some imperfections.  Fortunately, she knew someone who was an expert on glass.

               “Hey, Steve, can you come out here and take a look at this?” She called.

               Steve, her glass blower boyfriend, called out to her in response, “What’s up?”

               “I got this weird glass ball in the mail.  Can you take a look at it?”

               She could almost see him shrugging, even though he was in a different room.  He soon joined her and examined the ball.  He studied it carefully for a moment before handing it back to her.

               “Well, it’s not glass.  Not sure what it is, but definitely not glass.  It’s too perfect.  Maybe some kind of quartz or something?  Probably some kind of crystal.  Maybe bring it to a jeweler or something?”

               “A jeweler?”

               “Just an idea.  You know, someone who knows about crystals and minerals and stuff.”

               “I’ll think about it.  Thanks anyway.”

               Steve nodded and returned to the bedroom to resume whatever he had been doing.  That left Grace alone with the ball.  She thought about what he had said.  Some kind of crystal.  She let out a quiet snicker at the thought that she now owned a real crystal ball.  She could not help what happened next.

               Grace got an empty flower vase and set the ball over the opening.  She waved her hands over it dramatically and intoned in the most over the top, Hollywood fortune teller voice she could muster:

               “Oh crystal ball, show me what is to come.” It was so ridiculous she almost laughed at herself.

               She lost all humor when the ball lit up with a pale, ethereal glow.  Her eyes widened when she saw an image appear in the depths of the material.  It showed her and Steve, walking down the street.  There was a flash, and suddenly they were on the ground.  Then the image went dark.  Grace stared, wide eyed at the crystal ball, unsure of what to make think.

               “Show me…next Tuesday’s dinner?” She tried.

               The ball lit up and she saw the two of them eating Chinese takeout.  Both of them were looking at their phones.  Steve showed her something, and she smiled and laughed for a moment.  Then the image went dark.  Grace did the only thing she could think to do.

               “Steve, get in here!  You need to see this!”

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Amazing how words can change meaning over time, right?  These days, when you say scry, most people think of staring into a mirror or a pool of water and seeing some other person.  It's the same with the suffix -mancy.  It used to mean a form of divination, with the first part of the word telling what was being used to tell the future (necro would be the dead, aero would be air and so forth), but now it's a general term for magic of a certain type.  It really is amazing how these things happen, isn't it?