Under Her Cursed Scythe

"Well, if magic is true, why not miracles?"

"Then it must be the same thing as magic."

The boy shook his head. "Magic and miracles are two very different things that are often mistakenly get folded in together." he explained patiently. "There are many rules, conditions, constraints and price tags behind each magical act even for our magic…" He then murmured an unintelligible tongue and spread his right palm upturned after which a ball of yellow flames with tiny zig-zags sizzling around it, emerged. Yet, he didn't seem to be able to maintain the flame for long in that the size of the ball of flames quivered and grew smaller and smaller by second no matter how hard the boy stared at it to keep it going. "But for miracles, there isn't a price tag or a why they help you…" He eventually backed out and closed his palm to let that flame die out.

'No price?' Alivia pondered. 'I doubt that... there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.'

"Yes, you can never predict its occurrence." the boy carried on. "And very often, it just happens naturally without any notice."

'That means no control of it.' Alivia thought. 'Risky.'

"But as far as I know, it will always occur as long as one condition is fulfilled- you have to have faith and belief in it."

'Faith and belief!? Not again…'Alivia rolled her eyes.

"Faith and belief are the keys for miracles to happen...keep building your faith on the thing you wish to have the most, keep believing in miracles and one day, it will -"

"One day? When's that? After my death?" Alivia mocked.

At first, she decided to keep her mouth shut and let the boy babble nonsense. However, she couldn't hold it any longer when it sounded more and more absurd to her ears, making her uncomfortable.

"And PLEASE...please spare me the hope, faith crap!" she cried. "I've heard enough of these rubbish from those annoying people who wear black clerical shirts or black robes during summer!"

'Why is it so popular these days for people to talk about stuffs like belief, faith and miracles?' She wondered at the back of her head. 'That man, that song, that…little girl to her teddy bear…even Joshua was talking about it yesterday. I don't get it. What's the use of talking about something that has no concrete effect on our lives? Something that is so vague and unreal…'

"You are a disbeliever of miracles." the boy kept the babbling on. "I understand. A lot of people are too, as did myself, once... I'm not asking you to sit there and wait, but when you've tried your best and nothing seems to work in the way you wanted, then perhaps, believing in it is a better way than harming and robbing from others. You might not think miracles exist. But it does and it's just because you haven't noticed it yet. Think again...carefully, there might be tiny little clues, events or people that might have slipped past your mind, that were in fact parts of miracles' act. Or maybe miracle is already here. The only reason it hasn't appeared to you is because you haven't-" The dullness that overcast Alivia's eyes and her yawning made the boy wary about to say more.

The boy didn't go on with his talking but instead, he gave a little thought. Then, with a murmur of a few words as well as a wave of his hand, a flash of lightning accompanying with a gust of strong wind zoomed past and a plate full of colourful and mouth-watering desserts appeared among his left palm.

"Would you like some Japanese Mochi, Chinese egg tarts, Turkish delights, macarons or some churros?" the boy asked, attempting to draw back Alivia's attention. "They are all freshly made, collected the second they were ready... from all over the world."

"No, thanks." Alivia answered, attempting to remain impassive.

"Are you sure? Or you would prefer some Thai desserts? Tako, maybe?" the boy asked as he gestured at an empty space on the plate after which a green, diamond shape of jelly appeared from another flash of light and another puff of air.

"No, thanks. " Alivia firmly replied even though on that plate, were sweets that she had never got a taste of and were something among the many that she had secretly longed for ever since she was introduced to them during one of her lessons at school.

"You don't want this plate of delicious sweets to go into waste, do you?" the boy persisted. "Look at the egg tarts, they look so smooth and the churros, they look so crispy and-"

"No!" Alivia snapped, her voice sharp with great agitation.

"Don't worry. They are made from real ingredients... not a single drop of magic is in it." The boy popped a piece of macaron into his mouth. "Here, *crunch, *crunch...you should grab one. *Crunch, *crunch...You must be starving from all those running, jumping and flying, right? You should try one!"

"No! I said 'no'!" Alivia bellowed. The word that had been bothering her so far had finally got on her nerves. If her limbs were strong enough, she would have forcefully pushed the whole plate of desserts away from her and let all those wonderful sweets crashed towards the ground just because of that one infuriating word- "should".