Prompt 183-Redo

If you had a “do-over” button, what one event in your life would you like to have a second chance at?

The tower had a new skylight.

Accidental explosions are not a castle-approved method of renovating, but they do make quick work of ceilings. I coughed the wood and dust from my lungs as I surveyed the damage in the lab. My work table was a mess of splinters directly beneath the new hole in the roof. The shelves along the curved wall were cluttered with broken flasks and burning herbs.

Crap.

Madrovin was not going to see the benefits to the situation (natural light! new circulation!) and would only look upon a destroyed laboratory and see the lost materials. In my defense, his handwriting is borderline illegible and his labeling schemes are dubious, so it’s not entirely my fault that I grabbed the wrong vial for my silencing potion. His a’s look like d’s, okay?

I looked for his prized clock to figure out how much time I would have to clean up the mess before he returned from his duties in the countryside. It was underneath a broken vial of some potent acid and melted to the shelf.

Oh that’s not good. That had been a gift from the king for services to the country. I winced as I thought of the lashing I was no doubt owed.

I dug through the drawers on the wall. There had to be something I could use to repair the damage myself. Something shiny caught my eye in the cleaning supply closet. A small disk with a button atop it.

FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY

Well that seems promising. This certainly qualifies as an emergency. It was in with the cleaning supplies so it must have some magical cleaning aspect, right? My backside begs me to see what it does. I press the button. There’s a blinding flash.

I stand at the table looking up at the ceiling. Odd, could have sworn there was something different about it just a moment ago. My potion is boiling in its flask. I need to add the last ingredient. I look at the cabinet of various liquids and my hand hovers over a dark red vial. I squint at the label. Is that an ‘a’ or a ‘d’?

Notes: I thought about doing a “loved one died because of me so let’s fix it” type tale, but I actually did a story like that last spring off a seemingly unrelated prompt. I debated going a sillier route, “oh no I left the oven on” or “wow I can’t believe I said that mildly embarrassing thing” and having the protag use the button for something completely mundane. It seemed like a fun enough idea so I put a fantasy twist on it (because of course I did).

For myself, I would do my wedding over. It was loads of fun and I’d just love to do it all again. There are a few more pictures I would have loved to take. We had pics of each of us with each of our bridesmaids/groomsmen, but none of both of us with either group or individually with the other half of the party. There could have been some great gag photos with my sisters and my husband or myself with his college buddies. There were more family arrangements I could have gotten but forgot to add to the list. As it was, we had just enough time to get through the list I had. I was also mad at myself for forgetting to put on the new perfume I had bought specifically for the wedding, so naturally I wanted a do-over so I could wear it. And I would be sure to sneak out to the patio to make a s’more this go around, since the first time I never got one!

So what about you? Is there an event in your life you wish you could try again? Get to writing!