Here is a bit of light reading that proves I am not completely fixated on politics. It is a short fairy tale that I wrote for an assignment in my LIST course at UALR. It is loosely based on an experience I had as a child. On the day of my fateful experience I had been playing with some of my friends along the edge of the woods, and we had spent quite a bit of time chasing each other and trying to pop small puffball mushrooms in each others' faces. We had had a blast trying to make each others' faces turn green from the powder , but we all become very ill later that evening. I will never forget my mother holding me that night as I felt what seemed like icy cold fingers gripping the inside of my chest. I obviously recovered from that rather scary experience, but it provided the inspiration for this little tale. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Jonathan
Reed
Dr.
Franks
Liberal
Arts Colloquium
February
18, 2013
Prince
Andy’s Black Feather
A
very long time ago, in a place so very far away, there lived a young prince
named Andy. Andy lived in an enchanted
land where children could run and play just about anywhere they wanted to, and
no one would do them any harm. This was because King Eric and his knights were
so very fierce in protecting the kingdom that witches and ogres, giants and goblins
all ran away whenever they even heard the sound of horse’s hooves. But in spite
of his fierce reputation, King Eric loved Andy so much that he did everything
he could to help the young boy grow up to be a good and kind prince. King Eric
was stern, but he was also kind at heart, and since he wanted Andy to grow up
to be strong and wise he made sure that the little prince had plenty of places
to run and play with his friends after he had finished all of his lessons.
So
it happened that one bright summer day Andy went out to play in the meadows beside
the woods where all of the fairies live. Several of his friends met him
underneath the spreading branches of an old oak tree. They all decided to run
and play along the edge of the woods where the mushrooms and toadstools grow.
That day when they met at their usual spot, an old black crow was making an
awful racket as he scolded them from the branches of their favorite oak tree.
They all looked at each other and laughed.
Then they went off to play without a care in the world, and none of them
paid any further attention to the heckling calls of that old black crow.
Now
there was an old warlock who hated King Eric because the good king had made it
so very hard for the warlock and all of his evil friends to snatch the children
they liked to use to make their potions and puddings, sausages and spells. He
had sent a letter to King Eric and told him to leave the witches and ogres,
giants and goblins alone. Here is what that old warlock wrote:
King
Eric,
You
should be happy to suffer the loss of a few poor, insignificant children from the
edges of your realm now and then in order to ensure that prince Andy grows up
in safety. If you are a clever king, you will understand that you should just
tell your knights to leave all of the witches and ogres, giants and goblins
alone. If you do not learn to see things my way, then who knows what will
become of that precocious young heir to your crown.
Vahndahl
the Varlock
Now
Eric was a very good king so he quickly responded by sending out even more
knights to guard and protect every child in his kingdom from the warlock and
all of his evil friends. This made the old warlock very angry so he disguised
himself as a crow in order to get close enough to hurt Prince Andy. The crafty old warlock knew that a crow was
much too small to carry away a child, but he wanted to make King Eric wish he
had never crossed Vahndahl the Varlock, so he cooked up his most powerful
spell. He created a poison powder he could carry under his wings. He had sprinkled
this vile green poison in those puffy little mushrooms the children liked to
squish when they played in the grass at the edge of the woods where all of the
fairies live. So while Andy and his friends were playing that morning and stomped
on those puffy mushrooms and tossed them around in the air, the old warlock
chuckled to himself because he knew that Andy and his friends would soon be
dead.
But
Andy’s mother had a secret she had never told anyone. She was the Queen of the
Fairies that lived out there in the woods. She knew all about the evil magic
that the old warlock used. When Prince Andy became very sick, he knew that
something was terribly wrong. This was no ordinary case of the sniffles; Andy
had never been so sick before. He knew he had made some grave mistake but he
could not figure out what it was. There was just one thing to do; he had to
find the smartest person he knew. He went to his mother and told her everything
that had happened that day. The Queen of the fairies knew exactly what the old
warlock had done. She called for her huntsman, gave him some arrows, and sent
him right out in the woods. She then called a meeting of all of the fairies and
told seven of them to make the huntsman’s feet completely silent. She told
twelve fairies to sprinkle him with invisible powder so the warlock could not
see him come. Then she sent seventy fairies to take special cures to all of the
children who had been poisoned by the evil warlock that day.
When
everyone had gone, Andy called out to his mother as he felt the cold fingers of
death encircle his beating heart. She took him in her arms and softly whispered
some very old but powerful words as she gently kissed the forehead of her dying
son. Instantly his fever broke and he fell safely asleep in her arms. The
magical cure she had used would make Andy sleep quietly for a whole day before
he could get up and play. She quickly called to her maidens who helped her place
Andy on a beautiful funeral bier. She had them all prepare the procession for
the next morning and then she waited for the breaking of dawn.
As
the first rays of sunshine peeled back the layer of fog that had spread itself
across the meadow where the royal funeral pyres were always laid, the silent
procession proceeded from the castle with the queen and her ladies all shrouded
in black. Overhead the wings of an old black crow flapped silently as the old
warlock settled down among branches of the old oak tree. He sat and chuckled to
himself as he watched the servants pile up the wood for a royal funeral pyre.
But as he watched he could not help but notice that the pile of wood seemed far
too small to lift Andy’s soul to the sky. It was then that he noticed that the pyre was
not in the usual place. In fact it was next to the dunghill. For a moment he
knew that his plan had gone wrong. It was only a small moment, but it was
enough; as the huntsman’s arrow pierced his breast, the warlock knew that his
disguise could never have been enough to fool the Queen of the Fairies. As the
fire of the poison she had placed on tip of her huntsman’s arrow burned deep in
his chest, the smile on the queen’s face told the warlock that the pyre they
laid was for him. As his black feathers flew all around him, the queen and her
ladies threw their black shawls to the ground. This would be a day of dance and
celebration, not the funeral the warlock had planned. As the celebration began,
his last breath escaped him and he plummeted to the ground. The last thing he
saw was the peaceful smile on Andy’s young face and the steady rise and fall of
his chest. That day was a great celebration that went on until the fading of
the light, until every last ember from that funeral pyre had vanished into the
blackness of the night. Through all this noise and commotion Andy just slept,
and continued his peaceful dreams until dawn.
Andy
never knew what happened that day, but when he grew up he would often lie down
in the shade of that old oak tree where he would twirl the big black feather he
had found on the ground below where the old crow had perched. He would look at
it and wonder whatever had happened to that heckling old crow in the tree. A
lot of things had changed, but King Eric and his knights still patrolled the
whole of his kingdom, and children still played without a care in the world.
King Eric never knew that his wife was actually the Queen of the Fairies, but that didn't matter because they were both happy and they were very proud of the son
they had raised. Their kingdom remained a wonderful place that was filled with
love, life, and laughter for many generations to come.
As we finish our tale of things that
have passed
We should always remember the things
that come last.
So with no further fanfare we should all
take note
How the Queen of the Fairies taught Andy
two things
That every young prince should know.
There is no warlock who can cast a spell
as strong as a mother’s love
And there is no evil poison that cannot
be overcome
By the magic and comfort of her warm
gentle kiss
