The 23 Enigma

Isabella awoke with a smile. Today is the 22nd of September. Tomorrow will be the 23rd, the big day! Today she is twenty-two years old. Tomorrow she will be twenty-three. All was falling right into place just as it should.

When she was a young girl at thirteen years old, she and her friend were exploring some caves down at the beach. With the flashlights in hand, they went deeper into the cave than they'd ever been. The granite walls crawled with critters of all kinds. In the deeper, darker parts of the cave, bats made their home on the ceiling. A small creek of water ran along the middle of the cave, tampering off after about a hundred or two feet.

"Isabella, look let's squeeze through this narrow opening. It opens wide up after just a few feet". Mabel said with excitement.

Isabella shined her light through the rugged parallel opening.

"Oh, I see what you mean. We'll have to be careful not to get cut!"

Slowly, they squeezed themselves through the opening. When they came out on the other side, they were flabbergasted. It opened up to a huge, sunlit room. The sun streamed in from several openings in the ceiling of the cave. It lit the place up with an eerie but beautiful light.

They have revisited the place many times. They found hidden scrolls in different nooks of the walls. That's how they learned about the magical 23 enigma and The Synchronistic 23. This was where they met and practiced white magic. They spoke about how seriously one must take it because it could affect the very fabric of the earth itself.

Isabella and Mabel have been practicing the ritual for a year now. The ingredients were found tucked into hidden holes in the cave. Isabella found out by her birthday and time of birth at 11:23 p.m. that she may be a natural true magician. Only a natural magician could open the hidden gate that lay in the middle of the cave room, hidden under a few feet of sand. The gate was about five feet in diameter.

After they cleared away the sand, they made sure that they had all the items they would need for tomorrow. A potion that they mixed 22 days ago, was at Isabella's. Tomorrow on the 23rd day, they will retrieve it and bring it to the cave. This magical potion is:

23 drops of dew off a crystal
23 drops of stardust
23 drops of enchanted oil
23 drops of liquid time

Mix the liquids with 23 gentle turns of an hourglass, pour into a pestle, and with care fold in the stardust 23 times. Seal it tightly in a jar and let it sit under a tree for 23 days.

They went home for the night. Neither could sleep more than a couple of hours, they were too excited. Morning finally arrived, and with the rays of first light, they were out the door.

Now that they were grown, they repelled into the cave from one of the wider openings from the top. Getting there was only a small climb, as the opening of the cave was downhill.

With an air of giddiness, Isabella and Mabel went around the cave gathering the other items they needed. Around the gate, they lit the 23 white candles, along with 23 small bundles of white sage. Blowing gently on the tip of the bundle of sage to ensure that it lit up brightly red, and burned down just a bit, so it would stay burning. They brought the scroll to read from on the right-hand side of the circle. Mabel stood across from Isabella, with a copy of the same enchantment. On the north and south ends of the circle, they placed a scroll each of sacred text, an amethyst cluster, and a crystal pyramid.

At 12:21, Isabella and Mabel started the magical enchantment:

On September 23rd, at 10:23 gossamer threads weave and connect the mystery gate,
where the Enigma 23 secrets lie in wait.

The synchronistic number 23 holds a magical force to be released upon one
true-born source.

We call upon the white-light powers of all that's good, to ignite our paths, and
protect us from wraths. Cleanse me now and find me deserving,
The synchronistic 23, I'll keep preserving. I call upon the elementals of ole'
come from the shoal, with this power help me control.

A bolt of lightning came from the sky, shot through a hole in the roof, and struck the middle of the gate. A symphony of rhythms and waves filled the air, so divine it had to be a sign. 12:23 clicked on the clock. The rhythm and waves wrapped around Isabella and dropped her to the ground. Mabel ran to check on her but couldn't touch her, as she crackled with static and light.

With a loud thud, the gate opened wide. A tornadic spin of light emerged and traveled straight into the chest of Isabella. The gate closed, all chaos quieted, the candles blew out, and Isabella lay still.

Mabel rushed over to Isabella. "Izzy, are you okay? Please say something!"

Isabella slowly opened her eyes. A huge smile spread across her face.

"I can feel it, Mabel! I can feel the magic."

Slowly, she sat up. She touched Mabel and said, "I share the one true magic with you, my friend, together the earth we will mend."

And with that, the power entered Mabel, she dropped to the floor and slowly rose after a few minutes.


That day was over fifty years ago. Isabella and Mabel do not age as normal adults. They age maybe a year every ten years. They travel around the world mending the earth the best they can without drawing attention. Without the power of The Synchronistic 23, the earth would have been a much sicker place. 23 is a magical number. It just may not be the kind of magic you thought it was.

(1,000 Words)