People warned that the creek was magical yet none could describe the sorcery of it people warned that the creek in the forest was magical but magic is not real it’s a supposition to frighten children, a myth created by people a surmise woven by folklore certainly not real. People warned that the shallow, musty grey creek was magical but the only thing that looked special were the rocks rocks as far as the eye could see lining the creek porous coral rocks and ancient, stratified rocks and solid crustal rocks and grey, rough-cut rocks, moss-covered rocks and glass-like jagged rocks and slippery flat rocks and sunbaked brown rocks. People warned that the almost stagnant creek was magical but magic is not real so I leaped over the creek hopped over the rocks danced as I mocked the notion of the creek with magical abilities. But what happened next is lost in history I slowly started to vanish. From my toes to my ankles to my shins to my knees to my thighs to my body to my arms to my neck to my chin to my ears nose and then to my eyes. It felt like I was falling. My body, stock-still. My arms merged with my torso. My eyes cemented to my face. Finally the realization hit me I had turned into a rusty red rounded rock. Devoured by the magic of the creek. And now I whisper my warning to the trees, the birds, the frogs, the air, the wind, the sun, the clouds, anyone who listens. The creek is magical.
Shireen Arora is an Arizona resident. She likes to explore various art forms such as painting, calligraphy, writing poetry, playing the piano, and learning Indian classical dance.