The Star at the End of the Sky
The flowers grew at night pushing up
through the brown soil with strong green stalks.
At the edge of the moonlit forest the
flowers appeared suddenly in wide banks that trembled in the wind. By morning
the flowers were already beginning to bloom.
Red petals touched by streaks of amber
opened in the breeze. The flowers stood facing the old castle.
Soon people from the castle came to
marvel at the beautiful flowers that had so miraculously appeared.
Within a few days the flowers had
spread far and wide across the hillsides surrounding the castle. Children came
to play amongst the tall, colourful flowers running and hiding in the colourful
banks of red and green.
The King appeared one day having heard
of the flowers from his court advisers.
Some in the castle had begun to spend
more time marveling at the wonderful flowers then working at their jobs. Even
soldiers came to watch the flowers move gently in the afternoon breeze.
A blacksmith brought a lame horse out
into the flowers and the horse neighed with delight and soon began to walk
normally again. Animals from the forest also came to inspect the flowers, foxes,
stoats, badgers, rabbits and wild cats came to stiff the gorgeous smelling
buds.
The King watched with increasing displeasure
from the Royal tower. He frowned a very Royal frown and rubbed his chin. He
shook his head slowly with a grave look upon his face.
The flowers spread across all the
roads and paths leading from the castle.
Carts and wagons struggled to break
through the banks of flowers that seemed to grow taller everyday.
“The commerce of the castle and our
ability to make war are being undermined” the King scowled in a rage. He
stamped his foot and his crown nearly fell off his Royal head.
The King made up his mind. He barked
out a royal proclamation and the castle soldiers were instructed to launch an
attack on the flowers. Lines of soldiers carrying heavy axes and silver swords
left the castle's main gate. Trumpets sounded as they marched out. The soldiers
worked in a frenzy as the castle's population watched.
The soldiers cut and chopped, hacked and
sliced until by nightfall the flowers had been reduced to a pile of crumpled
petals and broken stalks.
The petals blew up into the air around
the castle towers in swirling clouds of red and orange. The petals drifted on
the morning breeze falling slowly in every direction.
The King was delighted! He skipped
back to his Royal Chamber to plan his next war. Many of the castle's population
watched the slaughter and sadly shook their heads. Some shed a tear and the
forest animals ran back in to the shadows of the forest.
A long dark night closed around the
castle and the forest.
By morning the flowers had returned!
The sweet smell of the buds was
everywhere. The flowers quickly spread back across the fields and surrounded
the castle again. A sea of red petals gleamed in every direction. The flowers
soon began to grow on the old castle walls.
They grew on the battlements and on
the turrets of the castle towers.
They soon began to grow around castle
window and door.
The flowers even spread into the
castle courtyard. Soon the stone corridors of the castle were blocked by the
tall stalks and beautiful blooms.
Many of the castle doors were jammed
shut by the mass of flowers.
The final straw came when the flowers
spread into the King's private chambers.
His maps of foreign lands waiting to
be conquered rustled and fell to the stone floor and walls. Flowers grew from
cracks in the ceilings and window frames of every room in the castle.
Thumping his jeweled hand down on the
Royal table the King called for his Royal Witch. Servants were sent to awake
the Royal Witch who spent a great deal of time dozing in her dusty, cobweb
covered room. The Royal Witch rushed along the castle corridors stepping around
the flowers that grew everywhere.
The King shouted and screamed so much
that his crown toppled off ! In fact his crown didn't fit very well anyway but
no one dared to tell him.
The witch was instructed to magic away
the flowers at once!
She gathered up her long black cloak
and bowed to the King.
She was soon on the castle battlements
as the moon shone high above.
As the moon's rays touched the tallest
tree in the forest the witch mumbled some magical words. She cast a sparkling
cloud of dust into the night air. The dust fell to the stone ground gleaming
and twinkling.
The witch closed her eyes. She was
silent and still as the pale moonlight poured over her. She breathed deeply and
let the darkness slide away.
She sensed the stars far above and the
movement of the chill wind in the trees.
She spoke in a low voice a strange
forgotten language known only to witches and wizards.
In her mind's eye she saw the white
glowing face of the moon.
The surface of the moon glistened with
white, clear light.
She smiled to herself and slowly
opened her dark.
However in the morning her smile had
soon gone!
The flowers had not disappeared.
All that had changed was their colour!
All the petals had turned to silver!
Silvery petals covered every part of
the castle and forest beyond.
“Noooooooo” shouted the King.
“I didn't ask you to change the
flowers colour. I wanted them gone!”
The King stamped his foot with rage
and his crown toppled to the stone ground once again.
Soldiers carried the witch back to the
battlements. The captain stood nearby with a sword in his hand. The witch stood
thinking for a while.
She looked around at the Captain and
the Captain looked at her.
The witch closed her eyes and began to
speak in a strange language.
Then the witch clapped her hands three
times. She lifted her hands up toward the sky.
Suddenly she made a sound just like a
crow.
A streak of brilliant blue light burst
from her fingertips.
The Captain jumped in surprise.
Shining pulses of light rolled out
over the fields surrounding the castle. Streams of silver and gold light merged
with the crystal blue glow that gleamed on the witch's fingers.
Shadows soared up into the sky and
then split and drifted back to Earth.
The castle trembled. Many of the mirrors
in the castle cracked.
From faraway a cloud began to approach
the castle battlements. As it got nearer it was clear that it was not a rain
cloud at all. It was a cloud of birds of every description. Doves, owls, hawks,
wrens, sparrows, pigeons, ravens and crows swooped around the castle
battlements tracing the beautiful light that the witch had created. The birds
flew around the castle many times lit by the moon.
As they flew their wings rustled like
a wave on the beach.
Their bright shadows moved across the
castle courtyard and gateway.
Then in a moment they were gone !
Moonlight itself faded too and the
castle was plunged into complete silence and darkness.
In the morning when the daybreak came
the flowers were still there!
The King scowled and stamped his foot
once more. He screamed out orders and servants and soldiers ran in every
direction. The Captain jumped up from a breakfast of sausages and left the guardroom.
He was still chewing a sausage as he ran to the Royal chambers. In an instant
he received his orders.
Soldiers dragged the witch to the
castle dungeon.
In the dark dungeon the witch sat on a
cold stone bench. She pulled her black hood over her head and thought to
herself about the injustice of the world. Suddenly from far above her she heard
a huge 'boom' coming from the castle battlements. The explosive sound shook the
walls of the castle. A spider dropped out of a web above her and scuttled
quickly across the dungeon floor to hide.
The 'boom' came twice more shaking the
walls of the dungeon.
The witch guessed what had happened.
The King was so furious that he had
ordered the castle's canons to be fired at the flowers. The Captain of the
Guard shouted 'Fire!' from the battlements.
'Boom' went the castle canons as they
spewed out flashes of fire. Canon balls flew out from the battlements at the
mass of flowers. Clouds of pale smoke drifted along the battlements.
As the canon balls smashed into the
flowers sparks spat across the air toward the forest. One glowing ember burnt
intensely on a patch of high grass and suddenly an orange flame licked the
branches of a nearby tree.
Soon flames danced over the trees in
surges of gleaming yellow, red and orange.
The forest birds flew up into the air
as the fire danced from branch to branch.
Still the King would not stop. Canon
balls rained down on the flowers sending smoke and fire in every direction.
The whole castle shook and in the
dungeon the witch realised that time was short.
She whispered to herself and in a puff
of smoke she transformed into a tiny sparrow.
She jumped up on to the narrow window
of the dungeon and flew out between the bars up into the sky.
The canons finally stopped.
“Victory” shouted the King and his
crown fell off again.
None of the soldiers cheered. They
stared out at the fires dancing across the forest and they could feel the heat
of the blaze.
The witch flew far away from the
castle. She flew by day and by night. Her wings flapped and flapped until she
was exhausted. Her wings trembled with weariness.
She swooped back up into the sky and
continued. She flew for so long that she lost all track of time. Day became
night and night turned to day.
Eventually she reached the star at the
end of the sky.
The star gleamed in a silvery,
ethereal glow.
The star shone so brightly that the
witch had to cover her eyes. Silver light poured over the black outline of the
witch. She looked up slowly and spoke to the star.
Words drifted in the cold, pale air.
The star glowed more and more brightly.
At the centre of the star there was a
silver voice.
The star reached out to the witch.
Streams of crystal light flowed over the witch.
Stars from the night sky shone all
around. The witch found herself bathed in starlight. In a second she knew what
to do.
When she travelled back to the castle
she transformed into a white horse. She crossed the fields running in a
powerful stride.
All the forest animals admired the
beauty of the white horse and followed in its stead.
Foxes and rabbits, badgers and
leopards, deer and otters ran alongside the horse back toward the burnt forest.
As the horse passed through the forest
the blackened, broken trees came back to life. Leaves appeared on the end of
twisted black branches and hedges and bushes grew suddenly from the ground.
Surges of green grass erupted on the ground as the white horse rode past. The
animals of the forest returned to their homes.
Birds sang across the forest as the
trees came back to life. Soon the forest fire was only a memory and the forest
returned to it's former glory.
When she arrived back at the castle it
was unrecognisable. A ruin of broken walls covered with huge flowers stood
where once the impressive castle had been. Everyone had fled.
The witch changed back from the
beautiful, white horse to her own form.
Half fallen outer walls surrounded an
inner courtyard full of flowers. At the centre of the court yard sitting on a
broken throne was the dejected figure of the King.
There were huge flowers surrounding
the throne. The King's crown sat crookedly on his head. His eyes were tired and
sad. All his former fury had gone.
The witch looked all around at the
ruined castle. She listened to the silence.
She came close to her former King.
He looked at her and sighed.
The witch spoke softly and with pity.
“You made war and this is the result.
These flowers are flowers of peace. They longed for you to embrace
reconciliation”.
The King nodded slowly.
He turned away for a moment.
Then he reached for something to give
the witch.
In his trembling hand the King held a
beautiful flower.
Chris Bird
