02-07-2026, 06:50 PM
You knocked all the certainty right out of me. Well, Jude thinks, you started it. Jude had felt very certain of himself too, walking out of the fog into The Reaches, convinced he would find Courtland the Elder waiting with open arms and the blueprint to salvation. To receive all the acclaim of a tired sideshow act beheld by a spoiled middle-schooler made Jude question his own reality. Now he has been firmly parted from that reality, a piece of it severed, and some alternate limb sewn back on in its place, a crab's claw or a centipede's leg.
There's something about the witching hour, the bad dream, Near's endless, circular protestations, that combine in a sweet cocktail just as Near presents the garnish of 'I'm a wizard'. Jude starts laughing again, palm over his eyes, rocking back slightly so his toes are pointing straight up as he balances on the edges of his heels. He is reminded again of the Harry Potter reruns that are so popular on hotel television. Jude's laugh is an echoing closed-mouth huff, 'hmph hmph hmph', denoting amusement because the octave goes from lower to higher, and the corners of his lips curl up outside the shade of his hand. Hmph hmph hmph!
What does he want Near to do about it? Dropping his hand, he raises his eyes and his voice gamely. "Well, I think two wizards are better than one." Maybe this is still part of the dream. He's dreaming yet, hasn't woken up from his car. Soon Near will pull a wand from the refrigerator and that familiar theme song will begin, along with their great adventure. Then, Jude will wake up, no closer to a productive conversation, but no further.
There's something about the witching hour, the bad dream, Near's endless, circular protestations, that combine in a sweet cocktail just as Near presents the garnish of 'I'm a wizard'. Jude starts laughing again, palm over his eyes, rocking back slightly so his toes are pointing straight up as he balances on the edges of his heels. He is reminded again of the Harry Potter reruns that are so popular on hotel television. Jude's laugh is an echoing closed-mouth huff, 'hmph hmph hmph', denoting amusement because the octave goes from lower to higher, and the corners of his lips curl up outside the shade of his hand. Hmph hmph hmph!
What does he want Near to do about it? Dropping his hand, he raises his eyes and his voice gamely. "Well, I think two wizards are better than one." Maybe this is still part of the dream. He's dreaming yet, hasn't woken up from his car. Soon Near will pull a wand from the refrigerator and that familiar theme song will begin, along with their great adventure. Then, Jude will wake up, no closer to a productive conversation, but no further.