What is magic?

Staring at the thatched roof of his bedchamber, Norin pondered his master's words.

What.

Is.

Magic?

Then it hit him with the force of an earthquake. And Norin smiled.

I can't wait to tell Master that.

Osao almost dropped his tea when Norin barrelled into the garden, panting and out of breath. The sun was barely up, and he chuckled at the excitement written on his apprentice's face.

"Master! I know it!"

"Know that I gave you the day off?" Osao teased. Norin, always serious, straightened up and nodded.

"Apologies for interrupting, Master, but I know the answer to your riddle."

The mage chuckled again and raised the cup to his lips. "It wasn't quite a riddle, my young apprentice, but continue. You know what magic is?"

"I believe so, Master."

For a moment, all was silent, except the chirping of the earliest birds. Osao raised an eyebrow with a cheeky smile. "Is that your answer? Well, I'm afraid you aren't-"

"Magic is belief!" he blurted out. Osao's smile grew wider. "Is it? Is magic belief?"

"What makes you think that?"

Norin visibly drooped. "So. . . it isn't?"

"Now, I didn't say that." The mage set his cup back down on the tray. "But why do you think that? What makes magic belief?"

"Well. . ." Norin scratched the back of his neck nervously; Osao noted that he was still in his pajamas. Eager today, aren't we? "Well, Master. . . I stopped. . . I stopped believing I could do it," he admitted, hanging his head in shame. "I stopped believing I could make the fire listen. I stopped believing the water would change direction. I stopped believing the earth would open up for me. And it didn't."

Osao smiled warmly. "So you've learned the lesson."

Norin looked up, confusion written across his tired-looking face. When was the last time you got a full night's sleep.

"It took me many years to realize that I could only do magic if I believed I could," he continued. "Many long, painful years. I could make the air to move around me, and I got so good at it that I could fly like a bird! But then. . . then I fell. Fell right out of the sky!

"I broke my leg, but most of all, I broke my pride and my trust in myself. I kept thinking 'Why then? What did I do wrong right then?' My master gave me a riddle, when I asked him why. What gives power and takes it, makes right and makes wrong?"

Norin's expression only grew more confused. Osao gestured to the other chair, and his apprentice sat without complaint.

"At first, I answer that magic did. Magic gives power and takes it, and it makes right the wrongs and wrong the rights. See?"

He nodded.

"But my master told me "Keep trying, apprentice. That's not it."

"So I did. I guess all kinds of things! truth, hope, love. . . then, finally, I guessed belief. And you know what my master did?"

Norin shook his head.

"He looked me dead in the eye and said: 'That's what you're missing, my young apprentice. You're missing your belief.'"

"Is that what I'm missing, master?"

Osao nodded. "Magic is belief, Norin. If you believe you can, then you can. If you don't, you won't. It's as simple as that. But you have to really, truly believe it. You can't just say "I believe this flood will go the other way!" and it will. You have to truly believe you can make it. That's where most people falter. They don't believe in themselves. That's just as important as anything else you've learned.

"Now!" Osao stood up. "I believe we have some confidence building to do!"

Norin smiled, and nodded.

(Apologies for any errors or incoherency! It's eleven at night where I am and I'm tired.)