Math is Magic

James walked along the street clutching his books protectively to his chest. He would not cry, not in public. Crying was ok at home in private but his father had always told him to hide it from people that would view it as weakness. He had learned the truth of that the hard way. Bullies were like sharks and crying was like blood in the water. The bullies were like pack animals clinging together for strength because none of them were strong enough to hunt on their own, but that didn't help him. He wasn't allowed to fight. His mother had forbidden that to him. At times like this he wished he lived with his father, his father may not approve of lashing out but atleast he'd be allowed to defend himself.

His parents had divorced when he was little and he had a hard time understanding how they had ever gotten together. His mother the pacifist and his father the war monger; his mother that hunted for food and his father that didn't want to harm a defenseless animal. They were both smart and he had felt that he too was as smart as them, but it was hard.

Jim just wasn't happy. He was most of the time and he enjoyed his video games but there was so much stuff that happened in the real world that most of the time he was angry. Not an explosively violent anger, but a colder anger that was left to simmer because it had no release. He had one release, but it was wierd and he didn't feel like he could share it.

He had always liked Math but there was more to it than that. Math had a real connection to the real world. More so than most people thought. By accident he had started messing with some advanced Math and discovered that if you could come up with the exact mathematical equation for something a person could change it... and alter reality. The only problem was living things were constantly changing so the equation was always changing. Simple things he could already change but on a personal level what good was being able to change the color of a shirt? Or the size of a piece of paper.

Arriving home, he climbed the stairs to the crappy apartment he lived in with his mother. "I'm home," he called out as he closed the door and locked it behind him. "Did you remember to take your meds?"

A rail thin woman came into the room with her walker. She had once been attractive but had aged horribly as various illnesses took affect upon her. "Yes, I took them. I am down to just one of the (cancer medication) pill left."

"You've got a second one. I will make sure you can find it later."