When there was cold ground that was part of a tree or sidewalk, there were many tents there; that wizard mainly stayed on the street, at times near the open spaces; it was that small house as if it was a dream, a place to walk towards, he stayed on the street because that was what he wanted. His power led him to be anyplace he wished to be; he materialized in a tent of light, where he warmed himself for the night; he was safe at times, yet not all the time. During the night, he observed the star because he believed they conversed with him. The streets of a city, outside in the open grassland, or inside of a forest that was his home, his bedroom, and living room; on a cold night, he was able to feel warm; none attacked him as he had magical powers that came to his defense, on warm nights he was calm when he slept out in the open. He knew how to walk in the sky; temporarily, the clouds became his tent where he rapped himself during sleep. When he decided to come down from the sky, he slept on the top of buildings where he looked down on the streets and the activities of people below. With his powers, he played tricks on the people by creating illusionary people that real ones interacted with, it was a game he played, and street wizards were generally mischievous. He interacted with the other non-wizards and other wizards of the street.

Tacal was his real name, but he was known as Honore; he was generous with his powers giving people advice who were in trouble. When the weak needed protection, he created monstrous beings that threatened or scared antagonists; he also turned people into other things, and yes, they feared him for that. There were no books of incantations, Honore called words up from memory, or he wrote them with his fingers, with a stick or writing instrument in the air. A wizard’s dictionary existed everywhere; definitions and spells were called up from anywhere in the air, on rocks, on the surface of the water, on paper, on planes of light, and in the sky. Anything could be the pages of a book for a wizard because there were no books in the traditional sense.

Did Honore smell? He washed in the stream of Oal; it was a secret place; he went through a door to a tropical place, a waterfall where he turned the water cold or warm. In an alleyway where he created that low place, the people of the street washed with him. He was a leader, a kind of protector. He was more compassionate than other wizards were.

Honore could transform himself into various types of monsters with many times the strength of a gorilla. His real form was a man with a beard, medium-cropped hair, a dirty jacket, a ripped shirt, tattered pants, and comfortable shoes or sandals; he looked like any street person.

Many wizards like Honore slept in the trees, sewers, and inside vehicles. Besides the streets, Honore’s favorite place where was the trees. There were other street people with him, children that accompanied him there as companions.

One large tree in the center of the city was a partially open sphere; there was the main street of the town where wizards lived that was where they took care of the people.

Wizards like Honore were part of the people of the street; the streets were full of magic; eventually, the roads were so lit up that they looked like fireworks. Even in the daylight, the wizards had grown flowers along the streets, which became a place of beauty.

Robert J. Matsunaga