Jiwa

Chapter Three

Mme T was not surprised to see me walk into her studio late at night. She ushered me immediately to a stool and plopped down a lump of clay. I tried to tell her about the yellow mannequin but didn't get a chance. The lady talked a kilometer per kilo, as my cousin would say.

"Dearie, I need you to make a sculpture with no wheel. That will mean it is a bit more unrefined, but you can connect with it more. I need to see if it's your skill or your jiwa or something else that's making the sculptures. Then most likely, if and when it comes alive, you may have some control over it. You should be able to correct the plant charm then. OK? Does that make sense?" I mumbled a "yes Mme T" and flexed my hands. Then I drew my fingertips together and yanked them upwards.

With a snap, two balls of clay formed into two tiny pyramids. I did this a few more times until I had a tiny spiky ball. Then, I formed a fist with my right hand, and splayed my left fingers outwards. As I rotated my right hand, the clay spikes grew thinner and thinner until they folded in on themselves. As my right hand continued rotating, I slowly flexed the fingers on my left hand, causing the center of the clay to expand and contract like a beating heart. When I had repeated this process for a few minutes, I had a shape that resembled a tiny cactus, with groupings of thorns on the tips.

"Very good! Now, can you use your new charm to see if it comes alive?" I nodded and rested my hands above the cactus. I took a deep breath, and said, "Nor the night is long and hard, rise above ye baird!" The same thing happened as with the mannequin. The cactus shriveled and shook, and the clay cracked and dried. It fell off of the cactus like raindrops being shook by a dog, revealing a bright green cactus with deep green thorns. This time, though, it was made of paper machê. Surprised, I smiled and clapped my hands against the table, and I heard Mme T gasp.

"My goodness! Have you ever done this before? And why doesn't it end up with clay?" she asked. I nodded and pulled out my plastic mannequin. She took it in her hands and shook her head. "You did this one on a wheel, correct?" I nodded. She nodded also and turned it over in her hands.

"Hand me that cactus," she said, flicking her wrist in my direction. I dutifully handed her the cactus, and watched in awe as she set down the mannequin and poked my sculpture. As soon as her fingertips made contact with the group of thorns, a drop of blood materialized and dripped down her finger. She swore and stuck her hand in her pocket. Mme T eyed the cactus, swore some more, and walked to the other side of the room. In a flash she was back at my side, huffing and puffing.

"Dearie, fetch me some water, would you?" I reached my hand above the mound of old clay and pinched my fingers together. The clay smushed below my touch and shriveled up. I made my hand into a fist, and a ball of water rose from the clay. With a half step backwards, the water froze around the outside, becoming a glass of water made of ice. I reached out and grabbed the glass, and handed it to Mme T.

She nodded and thank-you and downed the whole thing in one gulp. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and tossed the glass casually behind her. Without missing a beat, I reached my arm out and scrunched it into a fist. The glass froze in midair, then rotated ninety degrees and floated onto the nearby table. I received a nod of appreciation. If only I could figure that out to clean up the dorm room, I laughed to myself.

"Dearie, what you have made today is an incredible feat! I am going to petition the headmaster to move you up a year!" I glanced at her, alarmed. 

"What!? Move me up a year? With no placement test?" I yelped. Noticing my alarmed face, she halted the spell that was writing a letter to the headmaster, sighed, and motioned towards the door. 

"Alright, fine. Maybe you'll take a placement test later. Now go to sleep, please."

I nodded my thanks and ran.