*Use Once

Intro: The office where I work uses a variety of stamps. My stamps have some influence and some power, but nothing compared to what the stamps in this story can do.

The thudding noise of the stamp against the paper made Vivian wince. She’d woken up with a headache and the mountain of paperwork that covered her desk had done nothing to alleviate the pressure. She slammed the rubber seal on the next page and held it for a count of three. When she lifted the stamp, the blue ink was perfect. She moved the paper aside and fished for the next one. The “One Time Use Only” stamp she left in the blue inkwell to saturate.

The next set of papers had a note from Grand Master Milton “To be used once on the next full moon.”

Vivan groaned as she flipped through the papers. There were fifteen pages. The stamp had to sit in the ink at least 10 minutes and she would have to keep the pressure for a full 60 seconds for the parchment to absorb enough of the ink. And it she should smudge one of the lines — she always kept her resume up to date.

She pulled the orange ink out and got to work. When she was between full moon stamps she work on the other documents. With the coming of spring a lot of the magicians were receiving more spell requests. The pile dwindled as she worked through her lunch break and into the late afternoon. Her inkwells were crammed full of stamps. Each magician preferred something different. Milton like fancy symbols. Greggory liked everything spelled out clearly. Marissa preferred a Latin word. Most of the time Vivian could recall which stamp with which ink color meant what.

Vivian lifted the last stamp and breathed a sigh. She dropped Milton’s stamp back in the orange ink out of habit. She would clean all of the stamps once the papers were organized and delivered. This was because of a previous experience with a few unwanted ink drops from cleaning.

First she made piles of each magician’s spell sheets. As she turned to grab a handful of envelopes the door opened. The three magicians’ apprenticed walked in.

“Are the deliveries ready?” Milton’s apprentice asked.

“You’re early. Deliveries don’t go out until 4. It’s only 3.”

The young man who was Marissa’s apprentice leaned against the desk. “We have plans tonight.”

“Please don’t lean,” Vivian said. She picked up one of the spells and wrote the delivery information on the envelope then slid it in.

“Yeah, don’t lean.”

The apprentices started roughhousing. Vivian reached out to steady her desk. One of the boys slammed into the desk. The inkwells toppled onto the neat stacks of papers.

“Sorry. We didn’t mean to.”

Vivian picked up the three stamps from the blue ink. She walked over to the apprentices. They backed away but she was between them and the door. Three quick jabs. From experience she knew skin absorbed at a faster rate.

She dropped the stamps back on her desk and left. The apprentices were still scrubbing at their foreheads.