Character Backstory: Third Time’s The Charm
This post is a little different. I wanted to make a post having to do specifically with my story, so I tweeted several options for people to choose from.
They were:
1. Deleted Scene
2. Character Backstory
3. Writing Process
4. You Tell Me
I’ll eventually get to do a post on all those but this time It’s Character Backstory. I hope you enjoy. Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Without further ado… Meet Jade and Charlie:
Jade grew up powerful. So powerful she was doing spells by the time she could talk. She had a natural instinct for magical energy and how it worked. Her friend Charlie, on the other hand, was not magical. At least, not as far as anyone could tell. He would chase after Jade wherever she went, and for the most part, she let him. After all, he was a good assistant. He learned the herbs and their uses as quickly as she did, and even helped her when she needed to bind her spell in rhyme. She hated rhyming. Yes, he was very helpful. And he made her laugh.
When she was sad or scared, he could always get her to smile. They would spend hours giggling and playing, but when asked what they talked about Jade could never remember. She would always reply
“Oh, nothing special.”
But Charlie was special, to Jade. He was her best friend.
So, he was there the day she got new furniture for her bedroom, and he was there, watching with her, as her mother had to use a spell to shrink her bed enough to fit it through the narrow doorway. And of course, when Jade decided she had to try the spell herself, he was right there. Helping her.
Jade knew that as powerful as she was, she wasn’t near the level of her mom, so she would need some herbs to do the same spell her mom did with just her mind. She sent Charlie back up to her room to get them from her magic chest, while she walked around downstairs trying to decide what to do the spell on first.
Her parents were High Priest and High Priestess of their coven. They had left to settle a dispute between two coven members and Jade doubted they’d be back any time soon. By the time Charlie came back downstairs, she had decided on the dining room table. It was big enough to fit eight people comfortably, and made of solid mahogany; an heirloom passed down in their family for many generations. Jade had always loved the dark red wood, and the way the top was so polished you could see outside the windows reflected in its surface, if you were at the right angle.
Jade sprinkled some of the herbs Charlie had brought on the table and anointed herself with others. She closed her eyes to concentrate and said the spells’ words carefully. She felt energy flowing through her. She smiled and repeated the words louder for effect.
“Um. Jade?” Charlie said timidly. “What did you just do?”
Jade kept her eyes closed. “Shush, I’m casting.” Jade went back to her chant.
“But, Jade. Look.” Charlie insisted.
Jade opened her eyes to find the beautiful, dark red wood, antique table was now… blue. A bright electric blue. Jade stared at it in disbelief. “Um… oh.” She looked at the labels on the Jars of herbs again then frowned back at the table. She heard giggles from behind her.
She turned around and frowned at Charlie. “Not funny.”
He stopped laughing. “Oh, I’m sure your mom and dad can fix it when they get back.” He said dismissively. “It’s not like that time you turned the dishwasher inside out. We were looking for parts for ages.”
Jade couldn’t figure out what went wrong. She glared at the cartoon table as she said, “I need something bigger.”
Charlie’s eyes widened, “Bigger? You sure?”
Jade nodded once and strode out of the room. “Bring my things please,” she called behind her.
Jade was in the front yard, looking at her dad’s car, by the time he caught up to her.
He ran up to her, arms full of glass jars. “No way. What if you turn this blue too, or worse?”
Jade said confidently, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” She took the jars from him and repeated what she had said in the kitchen. This time she tossed the herbs with flourish, and closing her eyes, said the words in a loud commanding voice. After a moment she peeked at the car with one eye. “Nothing.” It was still the exact same size. “Well, at least it’s not blue, I guess.” Jade smiled at Charlie. Her smile faded when she saw his hands clasped tightly over his mouth, his eyes wide. “What’s wrong?”
He pointed with one hand at the car. She turned and looked closer. Then she saw it. The front windshield had a thousand little cracks spider-webbing all over it. “Oh,” she said.
“Oh? OH? Isn’t your dad gonna freak?” Charlie looked nervously at her.
“No. I don’t think so. He’s really good at fixing stuff like that.” Jade was already trying to work out what went wrong and how to make adjustments. Maybe I got it backwards, she thought. To Charlie she said, “Let’s try something smaller.”
Charlie reluctantly agreed. Jade got an idea. “Charlie…” she said with a gleam in her eye, “Where’s your cat?
