Wishes

I was walking by a thrift store when I noticed a beautiful vielle in the window.

“I shouldn't get it; I need to save money for rent. But it’s calling out to me—I need to have it.”

I couldn't resist the urge to purchase it. I walked inside the store, or rather, it was as if I was dragged in by an unseen force. Once I bought the vielle, I hurried home. As I sat on my couch and played it, I felt a strange feeling come over me. It was as if the vielle was enchanted. As I continued to play, however, the strings came undone. I decided to replace them, but first decided to clean the vielle; that's when I felt something plastered inside it. It was a strange coin with ancient engravings. Curious, and a little scared, I decided to talk to my former college history lecturer, Prof. Hughes, about it.

The next day, I visited Prof. Hughes at his house. He told me to make it quick because he had a function to attend, but that rush vanished the second I pulled out the vielle from my bag.

“Where did you get this from? I’ve never seen a vielle of this kind before,” he said, and sighed when he saw the broken strings. “You’ve ruined a fine instrument.”

“I’m sorry, Prof. Hughes; it broke off the second I started playing. But there’s a different reason as to why I’m here.”

I pulled out the coin from my bag and placed it on the table as well. Prof. Hughes frowned as he examined it;  when he saw the engravings, his eyes slowly widened.

“I was suspicious about this vielle being magical, although it feels absurd to assume that.”

“What do you mean by ‘magical’?”

“I was drawn to it while passing a thrift store. It was a sensation I can’t really explain.”

“So, that’s the main reason behind your visit, right? I’m not so sure about magic, but I’d like to examine these. Would you mind leaving them with me for a few days?”

“No problem, professor. Can I join you, though?”

“Sure, I could use the help.”

Professor Hughes and I went through countless history and medieval music books, but each time, it was a dead end. There was no record of such a type of vielle, and no information about the coin or its engravings either. Before we knew it, the entire day had gone by, and it was already 08:30 p.m. Professor Hughes prepared a meal for us and, afterwards, we resumed our work.

I was thinking about leaving around 11:30, but by 10:30, I was already dozing off with the coin still in my hand. The professor had already fallen asleep in his chair half an hour earlier. The last thing I remembered was wishing we would find out where the coin was from. When I woke up, however, I wondered where I was. The professor and I were by the side of a road in the middle of a town I had never seen before. There were men and women dressed in outdated attire, as if they were acting out some live-action medieval roleplay. I shook Professor Hughes and woke him up; he looked around confused and asked me where we were. Right then, two soldiers approached us. 

“You two, who are you? We’ve never seen you before,” one of them said.

The other noticed the vielle in the professor’s hand and pulled out his sword. “That’s the king’s vielle! They’re thieves!”

We denied stealing it, but were taken away anyway. They escorted us to the castle and brought us before the king. At that moment, Professor Hughes and I were certain we had time-travelled.

“My lord, we found these two with your royal vielle,” one of the guards said.

The king looked at the vielle and frowned. He summoned the queen immediately and, to everyone’s surprise, she had it with her.

“What is this sorcery? No one aside from the royal family and guards has seen this vielle since it’s a precious, family heirloom. Imprison them; they must be executed for this devilry!”

Professor Hughes and I struggled to break free as the guards pulled us away; I stomped one of their feet and pushed him aside before punching the other one in the face. The professor broke free from him and joined me, but the rest of them quickly surrounded us. I felt my heart race uncontrollably in my chest as my body began to shake. I wished that Professor Hughes and I were back in our own time.

A sudden pulse emanated from my trouser pocket. I put my hand inside it and found the coin. The second I touched it, another, even stronger pulse ejected from it, volleying all the guards around us to every corner of the hall. The space around us began to blur and shift, distorting and spiralling. My vision faded to black, and I woke up to Professor Hughes calling out to me. We were back at his house; it was still 10:35 p.m.

“What just happened, Joan? How did you do that?”

“It was the coin, professor,” I said, pulling it out of my pocket as my hand quivered.

His eyes widened. “We need to lock this away for now. Come with me.”

Professor Hughes led me to his safe. We decided to leave it inside there until we figured out more about its history.