Photo by: Kent Bonham
Dr. Olazábal gasped. “Can it be?”
Kimmy helped him move the ancient book to a stone table. The cover was made from jaguar hide, the pages from human skin. Carefully, Olazábal opened it. “It’s The Tome of Urquizá!” cheered Olazábal. “It is said the spells within could move entire continents! The sorcerer, Apezteguia died casting a spell from it in 1943.”
“It killed him?” goggled Kimmy.
“A volcano erupted beneath him.”
Olazábal read the rarest hieroglyphics in the world. “Uh…oh, I see.”
“What?”
“Apezteguia was a fool. I know why he died.”
“What happened?”
“Look! There’s an obvious spelling error right there!”
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Author’s Notes:
The Mexican Vocano, Parícutin, formed in 1943: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par%C3%ADcutin
Written for the Friday Fictioneers. Look here for this week’s prompt and a blue button leading to many more stories: https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/15-april-2016/
EagleAye
Momus News 
Proofreading is a good thing!
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Yep. It’s critical, especially when transcribing spells for moving continents. 😉 Thanks much for stopping by! 🙂
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Wow, Olazábal sure knows his rare runes! Although just in case he doesn’t have as good a grasp as he thinks, if he tries casting something from that book, I’ll be standing faaaaaar away.
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No kidding. If I could, I think I would observe from orbit! With things of that magnitude it’s “Trust but verify,” you know. 😉 Thanks so much, Joy! 🙂
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Great take! A spelling error killed this sorcerer. Someone should have mentioned to him, details are important 🙂 The detail about the pages being made of human skin — creepy. I would not touch this book.
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Me neither. Books made like that have nothing I want inside. The sorcerer was dealing with fantastically powerful forces. You really need your I’s dotted and your T’s crossed when working with such things. 😉 Thanks so much, Mandibelle! 🙂
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I like the blend of history and the ending is obviously hilarious. 🙂 Wish they had auto correct hehe
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Haha! That makes wonder if there isn’t a “spell” for autospell. Seems a guy that powerful would have one. 😉 Thanks so much! 🙂
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Dear Eric,
I’m so glad I wasn’t drinking or eating when I came to the last line. OMG a spelling error. LOL!
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Hehe. I’ll have to try harder to catch you unprepared next time. 😉 Don’t wonder if they ever made “human mistakes” in hieroglyphs? There had to be one somewhere, right? 😉 Thanks so much, Rochelle! 🙂
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The devil is in the details. Too bad the ancients couldn’t have developed Spell Check. Good piece. 🙂
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Always is. I guess the ancients were too busy learning how to move mountains with a wave of the hand, to learn how to spell properly. Priorities. 😉 Thanks kindly! 🙂
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Yeah, yeah, Olazábal. Nobody likes a smartarse
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He’s a nerd. He can’t help it. 😉
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Apezteguia should have listened to his mother and finished school. Too bad he can’t warn his children not to make the same mistake. A classic Eric last liner 😀
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Clearly he was more interested in power than studying. Let this be a lesson boys and girls. 😉 Glad you enjoyed my zinger. Thanks kindly, Lyn! 🙂
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Whoopsie! Should have sent the galleys to the proofreaders. Tune in next time when the sequel, “The Golden Screw,” gets removed and the entire earth’s keister falls off. 😀
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Haha! We need to find another sorcerer with little knowledge of grammar for that episode. 😀
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Indeed!
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Love the humour in this piece! Caught me off guard and laughed out loud!
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I love hearing that. That’s great. Thanks Emmy! 🙂
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And that is why spelling matters! Great build-up to the that very witty ending.
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Yep. Maybe I should sell the story to an educational company? 😉 Thanks so much! 🙂
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Harumphed with laughter!
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I’ll take a harumph any day. 😉 Thanks much! 🙂
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Spil – uh, spelling will get ya’ every time.
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Haha! It certainly will. I hope the manuals for controlling nuclear weapons were spell-checked. 😐 😉
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Ach, with out luck they used auto-correct… that leaves us thirty sec-uh secretaries, right? LOL!
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Haha! Yep. Auto-correct which accepts “Rubble” even if we meant the Russian “Ruble.” *sigh* 😉
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Of course it’s a spelling error, everyone can see that… snort. Great funny twist, I love it.
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Yeah, I mean you’d have to be blind to miss THAT! 😉 Thanks so much! 🙂
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*Snort*! Indeed.. a spelling error… The equivalent of measure twice, cut once; or rather, proofread twice, incant once!
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Haha! I love that, “proofread twice, incant once!” Great words for budding sorcerers. Thanks so much, Dale! 🙂
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You are most welcome!!😜
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That was very good. I love the fun twist at the end. Who says spelling doesn’t matter?
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Even sorcerers need to know their letters. Apparently, it’s even more important for sorcerers. Somebody might lose an eye. 😉 Thanks so much, Margaret. 🙂
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Now I know why I keep away from magic. Can’t spell. Laughter will have to do instead, and you made me laugh.
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Haha! So glad to hear that. Thanks Mike! 🙂
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Even magical books have typos? Great ending! 🙂
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I mean they’d have to. I’ve read books edited by seasoned professionals and they still had typos. Magical books would have them too, right? Could be dangerous. 😉 Thanks so much, Josslyn! 🙂
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You’re welcome. 🙂
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Wow, Eric. That’s far worse than anything the grammar police would do. No National Spelling Bee Championship for him. Hilarious. 😀 — Suzanne
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No, he was shunned at the spelling bee preliminaries. The psychological trauma is probably the reason he became a sorcerer. 😉 Glad you got a laugh. Thanks Suzanne! 🙂
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