#DWJMarch : Charmed Life

Charmed Life! Let me tell you a little about it. There's this kiddo named Cat (Eric, really) Chant and he and his sister, Gwendolen, have been newly orphaned by a boat accident. They live for a bit with a kindly witch where Gwendolen gets magic lessons and Cat gets violin lessons -- until his sister changes his violin into a cat. Everything seems okay until Gwendolen and her tutor concoct a mysterious scheme, of which one of the steps is to get the kids living with their parents' cousin, the current Chrestomanci. They don't really know who he is or what he does but head off to his castle anyway, taking nothing with them but Gwendolen's secrets.

Many will see this story as a cautionary tale -- either about choosing carefully whom you trust or about telling the truth and not holding things back. If Cat had done any of these things, he wouldn't have already (unknowingly) lost some of his nine lives. I also think it's a tale about finding your place and your talents and embracing them. If only we all had the chance of our place being Chrestomanci Castle!

And, since we are focusing on lives this month ...

Question of the Day: The reason an enchanter has nine lives is that he has no counterparts that existed or survived in the eight related worlds. Would you rather have nine lives all to yourself or eight living counterparts in the other worlds?

My answer? The thought that I would have to die some sort of death nine times before leaving the world is actually a bit stressful. Knowing that the ones who are more or less "me" in the other worlds are survivors in a variety of conditions would actually be reassuring. But, the magic ... hmm ...

Living one non-magical life,
K