Once upon a time, in the village of Inglewood Hamlet, there lived a Scribe and his lover.

The Scribe wrote stories of love that were so real to so many people in the village and the surrounding townships, many villagers felt that the characters were people they knew or friends that they had known for a long time.

Oddly enough, Jaxon knew his characters better than he knew most people. They were all a part of him. They were wiser than him, more adept at speaking their mind and following their hearts. He wished that it was just as easy for him to do so.

When he met Mikhail, the money lender had enthralled him Jaxon with his kindness and his strength of spirit. Jaxon had never met anyone like him. Mikhail was chivalrous, funny, incredibly smart and so down to Earth that Jaxon wondered if was made from the Earth itself.

They were out one morning, in the pub they had met in, having coffee when it happened. Jaxon realized he was in love with Mikhail. It was as if someone had lit a candle inside of him, so warm was the love he was carrying inside of him.

Jaxon almost dropped his coffee cup when there was a throb in his heart. He realized it was his heart starting again after being still for so long. He must have let out a small noise, for Mikhail took his free hand.

“Are you all right? Is there anything that pains you?”

Flushed with desire for Mikhail, Jaxon shook his head. “No, I’m all right. Just a little light headed.”

When he looked into Mikhail’s eyes, their blue-grey colour seemed to be even brighter than it had been only a second ago. Sparks jumped from his fingers and Jaxon wondered if it was because of the candle inside of him.

When Mikhail noticed the sparks, he only smiled. “This is new. You really are magical.”

Jaxon blushed an even deeper red and more sparks jumped out of his fingers. “Oh, this happens when I haven’t written in a little while.” He said. He wasn’t sure he could tell Mikhail what had caused the sparks. It was too soon, he had only known Mikhail for a month or so. It was too soon.

“Let me take you home then so you can write. One must not ignore their passions.”

Jaxon’s heart warmed even further at his words and even more sparks escaped his fingers. Despite the sparks, Mikhail took Jaxon’s hand anyway as he took him home. The sparks didn’t bother him, even though Jaxon was afraid they would hurt him.

Far from being afraid of the strange changes taking place inside of Jaxon, Mikhail only held on tighter to his hand. The candle flame within Jaxon grew brighter still and more sparkles fell from his fingers.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s causing this.” He said. He couldn’t tell Mikhail the truth, that he was completely in love with him. Jaxon was so worried about doing anything that would make Mikhail run.

For his part, Mikhail only brought Jaxon’s hand up to his lips and kissed it. “You have nothing to apologize for. Simply be yourself. You’re a scribe and that’s a certain kind of magic, isn’t it?” Mikhail kissed him softly on the lips. “Never apologize for being you. I’ll see you later this evening, yes?”

Jaxon assured him that he would and stepped inside his small living quarters. Unlike the tent he lived in previously, this new bedsit had walls and a proper floor, places for his books and a desk to write upon. It was a virtual palace to him after spending so long in the desert sands.

Trying to calm himself, Jaxon went to his desk, drew out his new quill and a bottle of ink and took out some parchment. He was writing. He was penning a tale of two men who had come together to find each other, despite life trying to keep them apart.

He wrote for an hour, feverishly filling up page after page of parchment, that he did not notice his bed sit was now filled with sparkles and the pages themselves now let out their own sparks. He was so intent on what he was writing that he didn’t even notice the wind that had started building inside his small nest of rooms.

Jaxon knew none of this of course, so intent was he on his writing. He only noticed when a particularly strong blast of wind came from the pages he was writing on. He was blown back onto the floor as the pages whirled around him. He shook his head to clear it and was startled to hear another voice in the room with him.

“So sorry about that. Let me help you up.”

A hand reached down to take Jaxon’s and pulled him up onto his feet. Jaxon was astounded to look into the face of one of his hero’s, a man named Gabriel. Jaxon would know his light hair, blue eyes and chiseled features anywhere.

“How can this be? How are you here inside my bedsit?”

“Well, don’t you know? Look around you.”

It was then that Jaxon noticed the brightness inside of his home. The sparks and sparkles filled every corner of his home with a light golden light. Jaxon felt as if he could step onto the clouds of light and walk upon it.

“I don’t understand.”

Gabriel smiled. “Don’t you? The light inside of you for Mikhail is so bright, so alive, that it can’t help but escape. It’s in your word, in your stories, in you. You write so beautifully of love that you bring your characters to life.”

“How do I stop this?”

“Why would you want to?”

“I can’t tell Mikhail that I love him, I just can’t. He’ll run away, I’ll frighten him away.”

“How do you know that he doesn’t feel the same about you? You have only to listen to your heart and let your words do the rest. It you don’t let the light out, let it flow, it’ll remain trapped, having to find other ways out of you.”

“What will happen if I tell him?”

“You’ll have to find out. You write your own story. Why do you want to stop it before it’s begun? Be honest about how you feel. It’s the only way.”

Jaxon was about to respond when there was a knock at his door. He turned toward it and then turned back to Gabriel only to find him fading away into a cloud of sparkles that joined the rest of them. Jaxon went to the door and opened it.

There stood Mikhail, surrounded by a shining gold cloud of sparks and sparkles and Jaxon wondered if he had ever wanted anyone more. “Mikhail, I have something to tell you.”

“Me first. I have something to tell you.” He stepped into the bedsit and took Jaxon into his arms. He kissed Jaxon softly and when he pulled away, he was smiling. “I love you.” He said quietly. “I know it’s too soon, it’s too early, but I can’t help that. I feel that I loved you from the moment I first saw you. You are the other half of my heart that I didn’t know existed. Please tell me you feel the same way?”

The candle inside of Jaxon reached a fever pitch and he wasn’t shocked to see that his skin was glowing. He wasn’t surprised to see the same light coming from Mikhail’s eyes, the light of his heart shining through for all to see.

“I love you too,” Jaxon said. “Beyond all comprehension, beyond words. You complete me.”

When they kissed, the light inside of both of them flowed out of them and reached far into the sky. Everyone who saw the light was changed that day.

Ladies who had long pined for other men and woman in the village found them and professed their love. Older people remembered the love they had long ago and instead of being filled with sadness were filled joy. Sailors returned to shore to find their wives and husbands and tell them how much they loved them. Men who had long gone without love realized they already loved someone and went to find them so that they did not lose their chance at love and happiness.

When Jaxon broke the kiss, his bedsit was filled with thousands of little sparks and sparkles that pulsed with light in time to the beating of their hearts. “See?” Mikhail said. “You’re magical.”

They kissed again and Jaxon could hear the flutter of the pages upon his desk as if Gabriel was giving his approval.

Or so the story goes…