As usual I wait until the absolute last minute to start my class assignment. “I’m in college now you’d think I know how to be responsible,” I say aloud to myself. Luckily for me I flew home for the weekend to visit my mom on her birthday. I live in New Orleans and go to school in upstate New York. I usually do not visit home because the plane tickets are too expensive, but after my grandmother won 20,000 in her bingo tournament, I started coming home more often. I now come home for Holidays and important birthdays, such as my moms. “Since we all come from such different cultures and backgrounds, this project will focus on your unique backstory. Pick an item that has sentimental value to you and you will do a presentation on it….due on Friday, October 13th.” I had 3 weeks to start up this project and I waited until the last possible week to start it. I’m thinking of what I could possibly do a whole presentation on and could not think of anything interesting that I own. I decided to make my way upstairs in the attic to see what might be laying around. I am greeted by massive cobwebs and old empty cardboard boxes. “Unless my professor is interested in the spiders that live in Louisiana, I think I’m wasting my time up here.” I laugh to myself. As I was about to turn back down the stairs and just make something up for my project, I saw a glimmer of light coming from the very back corner of my attic. It was a metal chest that had my grandmother’s initials on it. I walk over to the intriguing chest and heavily observe it. It had chains wrapped around it, with an old rusty lock attached to the front. The metals were rusted and the chest appeared to be a rustic orange color. The lock was so old and worn down that I opened it with just a light kick. I shuddered at the sound of the lock dropping to the old wooden floor. I got a very eerie feeling from this chest. I decided to slightly open the chest and peek inside. “There has got to be something in here good enough for my project.” I sigh, now growing impatient. I open the box completely now, “Family photos, more family photos, and old watches.” I sigh, “none of this will do” I say aloud to myself. Maybe I should look somewhere else. Just as I was about to close the rusty chest, from the corner of my eye I see a little black leather book with the words “non aperire- Do not Open” carved into the leather. “Now this… looks interesting” I say. The book was sewn closed and had a mini rusty lock on it. The lock was barely hanging on, and the stitching in the book was very worn. I lightly tug on the lock and it falls to the ground almost instantly. The book looked like it was hundreds of years old. It had a hardcover with a spider engraved on the front, with a blue stone as the body. I start skimming through the pages, and only find a bunch of words that appear to be written in latin that I cannot understand. There are a few rough translations to English but the pages are so yellowed and old it’s hard to make out what it says. “Nunc Ignem” I whisper to myself. Just then, the page I was reading lit on fire. I gasped and threw the book across the room. “A...a spell book?!”
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The Key
I look into the bright blue sky above, not a cloud in sight seen through a broken ceiling. Flashes of a bloody roman bath house with beautiful blue triangular tiles on the wall that dance at the slightest twitch of the eye. Smooth white grouting made of packed sand, smooth granite slabs on the floor kept the house cool in the shade during the summer. All the rooms seem to be looted and disserted. But so strange no bodies in sight just blood splatters. The Year is 502 C.E. The halls of the entire villa lay silent and uncomfortable, home to nothing more than insects and small rodents now. About 4 years ago my entire family had been slain where I stand now, while there was nothing I could do. An army of 2 leagues of Germanic soldiers had descended upon our humble country villa village. I dressed and prepared for war, prepared for victory and triumph, and glory. I was excited to use new spells I had just mastered from my mother’s red grimoire. I descended the stairs ready to hear my commands. And my father and older brother lock me under the false floor in the basement. The false floor has only one exit which leads to our private hunting cabin in the woods. Before he locked the floor, my father said to me “return home for your key on the 3rd blue moon only you can use it” ... The false floor backtracks underground, a 10k cold damp hike. I have done this trek thousands of times alone, even with weights, but never to escape and never with no one on the other side waiting for me... But I stayed and hung to the floor as I listened as my family pulled off their suicide plan and killed everyone who entered our house, including themselves. My father and my brother must have fought off 20 Germanic soldiers each. I could hear the flint of swords clashing together and my brothers grunts, and the enemy soldiers' war cry turn to shrieks as they fought my father. But I know this is just a stall while my mother frantically put together a gas bomb spell which makes the air in the house toxic and non-breathable for humans for 52 moons. A simple spell she conjures into a glass bottle only needing it to be broken to activate. There were a few more parlay attacks to a shield it sounded like and more enemy soldiers screaming “Hilf mir”… Whatever it meant it could not be good but after I heard the glass break.. I heard nothing, just silence. I take a seat next to books packed near the fireplace, thinking about what my father could mean by the key. He left a key for the floor along with $20,000 in the cabin. “How far did he plan ahead?” I think to myself. I wasn't ready to return home and lost track of the moon count. But last night through all the fires in the land I witnessed the 3rd blue moon shining through the endless smog and felt the need to check. But what if I’m wrong and die looking for the key? A mouse scurries chasing after a beetle and catches it just as the beetle starts to fly. The pair land in the sooty books and just as quickly scurries off. I see a light coming from under the book pile and instantly feel adrenaline bubbling, hoping some kindle has not suddenly caught fire from the heat of the day that would surely let anyone know exactly where I am right now, and I have no allies. I frantically dive towards the pile and start tossing books aside left and right. I start to cough due to the soot flying in the air only to see the light disappear when I pick up this Little Black book.
By maybe: maya3 years ago in Futurism
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In the not-so-distant future, the landscape of healthcare is undergoing a profound transformation. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all treatments and generalized prescriptions. Instead, a new era has dawned—one where medicine is tailored to the unique genetic makeup, lifestyle choices, and individual health needs of each patient. This revolution in healthcare, known as personalized medicine, promises to usher in a new era of precision and effectiveness in treating diseases and promoting wellness.
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