The Wizard

Back years ago, when I was just a kid, I was not allowed to go into the 'grey-forest' as the adults called it.
And because of this, of course, like any other kid, I was very drawn towards the forbidden place.
But my parents kept telling me that it was a dangerous place, and they told me of its only resident, an old man.
They always referred to the old man as 'The Wizard'.

My dad said that the wizard first came to the forest back in the time of my great grandfather.
My great grandfather supposedly told his son, my grandfather, that the wizard just suddenly came to the forest, and started building his house.
The Wizard was never seen inside town, not even to get supplies and food.
But the townsfolk were curious and intrigued by the Wizard, so they watched him, though never approaching him.
In the course of a few weeks, he had built himself a large house, all by himself.
The townsfolk all agreed that the most work was done at night, when they didn't watch.
My father told me that it all happened about a hundred years ago, and that the Wizard was still alive.

Just like he rose the curiosity in the townsfolk from a hundred years ago, the Wizard had me intrigued.
I thought about him every time I passed the forest.
It appeared so strange to me, that no-one ever went into the forest anymore, not even to check if anyone is there.
At several occasions, my parents had to stop me from entering the forest.
It was not until I turned fifteen, that my parents came to trust me.
It had been several years then since I tried to enter the forest, and they must have though I had forgotten.
One day, I decided to tell them that I had found the perfect place to build a wooden-hut.
With the hut as a cover, I went outside, towards the forest, to check it all out.
I wanted to see the Wizards house, and if he really existed, I wanted to see the Wizard himself.

So I ventured into the forest, it was during the last hours of the day on a clear summer night.
The nightly air was hot and welcoming, and the light was slowly dimming towards darkness.
After half an hour of walking in the forest, I found what I had calculated to be the center.
From the center, the trees seemed to stretch equally towards each direction, according to my own eyes.
An right there, at that spot, was a house.

The house seemed slightly aged, with darkened wooden walls and dirty old windows.
But it seemed very solid, and rather large.
It was nothing that one man could be capable of doing alone over a few weeks.

From the outside, there seemed to be no sign of life coming from the house.
But I needed to know if there was anybody there, or if there wasn't; who had been there before.
I walked up to one of the windows, the window that was closest to the front-door.
The window was dirty, so I cleaned it slightly with my sleeve.
I pressed my face towards the cold glass, and looked in through it.
For several minutes, I was looking through the blurry glass, trying to detect any movement.
But the place seemed empty... Very empty.

Suddenly, as out of nowhere, a hand was laid on my shoulder.
My natural reaction was to look directly at the hand, before turning around.
The hand was that of an old person, with obvious veins and scars.
The nails were dirty, and so was the rest of the hand.
Yet, still, it was unexplainable 'smooth', as if it was seldom used to do any work.
A single ring was on the hand, a golden ring with a green stone on top.

Shivering and thinking that I was soon going to die by the hands of the evil Wizard, I turned around.
There, behind me, stood an old bearded man, wearing a long brown cloak.
He was smiling at me with a kind face, and he talked to me in a mild manner.

"My child, what are you doing here?" He asked, as his hand left my shoulder.

At first, I could not even move, I was so scared.
But the look in his eyes was so warm, so kind... And so real.

"I... I was looking for you" I said, telling him the truth.

"It has been a long time since anyone had done that" He said, laughing.
His long grey beard moved with his face as he laughed.
"Please, come join me inside" He said, opening the door for me.

He signaled for me to take place in one of two chairs that were comfortably placed in front of a fireplace.
I found the chairs presence very weird, as I could swear they hadn't been there a few minutes earlier, when I peeked in through the window.
After I sat down, the Wizard closed the door, and joined me in the chair next to me.

"I.. I was told that you were evil..." I said boldly.

"Yes, yes I know" The Wizard said, smiling a sad smile.
"People tend to fear what they do not understand"

"But, what is there not to understand about you?" I asked, seing this ordinary old man.

"The magic" He answered, now with the cheerful smile back on his old lips.

Before I could say anything else, he grabbed my hands.
Not uttering a single word, he gently shaped my hands into fists, before taking his hands away.
I firmly held my hands together, as if I was forced to.

"Now open them" He said, watching my hands closely.

As I opened my fists, two beautiful butterflies flew out of my palms, continuing to fly out of the nearest window.
A window that I, by the way, thought was closed.

"But... How did you do that?" I asked, with an amazed look upon my face.
"And, why didn't I feel them move around, and..." He interrupted me with his warming laughter.

"Better than telling you, Joshua, why don't I teach you?" He asked, standing up from the chair.
I just nodded to him, terribly exited.
I didn't even notice that he knew my name, without me ever telling him.

"What's your name?" I asked him, before I left his house.
I had promised him to return to his house the next day.

"People around here call me.. Wizard" He said, still smiling.

"I'll return tomorrow then, Wizard" I said, as I ran out of the house.
I couldn't wait to get some sleep, so that the next day would arrive faster.

When I came home, I told my parents that the hut I was building was coming along nicely.
Upon my mothers request to come see it, I told her that I needed to finish it first.
I told them that I would have it finished by the end of the summer, and that they could come see it then.
My father seemed very pleased that I was so interested in the hut.
After explaining to him how I was planning to build it, I hurried to my bed.
I knew that I'd eventually get in alot of trouble for lying, but I did not care the least.

The next morning, I was out of the house before my parents got up.
I went straight through the forest, into its center, to the house.

As I knocked on the door, the Wizard opened it instantly.
His face brightened as he saw me, and enthusiasm glowed from his face.
I am sure that the same glow could easily be seen in myself.

He led me outside of the house, to the back.
There, by a log that he had obviously used to chop-wood on, he stopped, and pointed out beyond the trees.
He seemed to be pointing at a snowy mountain-peak that could be seen far away in the horizon.

"That mountain used to be my home once" The Wizard said, seemingly thinking back.
"It's a magical place" He said, without further explanation.

"Now, let me show you how to summon those butterflies" He said, turning away from the mountain.
"Make your hands into fists, like mine, thumbs down" He explained, showing me carefully.

"What now?" I asked, as he opened both his fists and revealed two beautiful red butterflies.

"Now, I want you to think hard about your home," He said "Because when I do magic, I always think about that mountain" He said, pointing again.

I tried my best, thinking about home, thinking about how my parents were probably still asleep.

"Butterflies, think about butterflies now" The Wizard said, fast and in a rush.
Then, naturally, butterflies was the first that came to my mind.
At the same time, he took my hands, and opened them.
And there they were, two tiny green butterflies.

"They appear differently to each person" The Wizard explained, summoning a single one.
It was a rather large butterfly, with bright red wings.
My two butterflies were tiny, with a dark green color.

"But they are all, as you can see, beautiful" He said, stroking the wing of his butterfly, before it flew away into the forest.
"And ofcourse, you can do other animals as well" He explained, closing his fists again.
When he opened them, a small spider crawled in one of his palms, and a tiny lizard in the other.

"Also, you don't have to use your palms" He said smiling.
He then hurried inside, then came right back out.
He was then holding a paper-bag, which he held closed.
When he opened it, a squirrel jumped out of it, and continued jumping up into a nearby tree.

I must have stood there looking like a complete fool.
My mouth was opened, and I was staring at him in total amazement.

"Now you try... A squirrel!" He said, handing me the paper-bag.
I did the exactly same thing as the last time, I thought about home... And then suddenly, I thought about butterflies.
When I opened the bag, a single tiny butterfly emerged.

"Practice makes master" The Wizard said laughing, as he signaled for me to try again.
This time, I suddenly changed all my thoughts to be about squirrels.
And just like it was supposed to, a squirrel jumped straight out as I opened the bag.

"Why is the cow and the dog together?" The Wizard suddenly asked.
The question made absolutely no sense, until he signaled for me to turn around.
Straight behind me stood a cow and a dog.
I went over to pet them, as I looked confused over at the Wizard.

"After alot of practice, you can summon them without using your hands.. or a bag, or anything at all" The Wizard explained, as the cow and the dog suddenlydisappeared.
"And you can make them disappear again too"

"But, is all magic based around... animals?" I asked, a bit surprised.

"Well, no, but it's the easiest... and the first one to learn" The Wizard answered.
"So now, spend the day practicing your new skills, and we'll meet again tomorrow!"

I didn't really want to leave yet, but I listened to the Wizard.
After a couple of hours of practice, I finally managed to summon a dog from nowhere.
The larger animals were harder though, but I felt confident that I'd make it sometime.

The next morning, I returned to the Wizards house.
Just like the morning before, he opened the door as fast as my fist touched it.

"Hello Joshua" He said, smiling the usual warm smile.
"Have you ever wanted to just.. be silenced?"

I didn't quite understand him, and he saw it.

"Let me demonstrate" He said, "You just stand there, don't move"
He went behind me, and after a few seconds, he told me to turn around.
He was standing right behind me, jumping up and down and dancing like a lunatic.
The sight had me laughing.

"Why?" I asked, trying to stop my laughter.
I had never before seen an old man act like that.

"Listen" He said, as he kept jumping and dancing.
And then I got it.
His feet didn't make a single noise as they hit the ground.
He could have walked up to anyone, and they wouldn't know it before he was touching them.

"How do you do it?" I asked him, wanting to do the same thing.
He stopped his dancing, and sat down in the nearest chair.

"Think about home again Joshua" He said, "Then think about silence, absolute silence"
"Now concentrate, and think about your body"

I did what he said, but I didn't feel a thing.
I tried to explain it, but not a single sound escaped my mouth.
Then I tried, as an experiment, to scream.
Again, not a single noise.

"In time, you'll learn to think more specific about only chosen parts of your body" the Wizard explained, smiling as I tried to talk.

"Just try to say your own name" He explained.
I did as he said.

"uah" I said, now having regained my voice.

"Good, now try to think only about your feet, okey?" The Wizard said.
"Home, silence, feet" He said, as I thought about it.

"Now jump" He said, pointing at my feet.

I jumped up and down, but it didn't make any noise.
The Wizard got up from his chair, and joined me.
We both jumped up and down, and must have appeared ridiculous if anyone had seen us.

While jumping, the Wizard took my hand.
We kept jumping, but he closed his eyes for a second, before he dropped my hand again.

"Increased stamina" The Wizard explained, "I'll teach you once"
And I felt it as I jumped, I felt as if I could have jumped all day.

"The best part about this silence spell," the Wizard said "is that we can silence other people with it"
I laughed at the thought of silencing my parents during an argument.

"As long as you don't reveal that you are the one doing it, then it's fine silencing you parents" He said, stopping the jumping.

"Now, let me teach you how to move things without even touching them" He said, smiling at me.
As he said it, a small wooden bucket started moving in the corner of the room, and suddenly it flew right against me.
I shielded myself with my arms, but the bucket stopped inches away from me, and then fell to the floor.

"See, it's fun" The Wizard said.

"Now, I want you to think hard about that bucket" The Wizard said, pointing at the one he had just moved.
"And then you must think about home. And remember that the order in which you do this is important"
"Now, imagine the bucket moving around, over to the fireplace" He continued.

The bucket seemed to shiver a little, but it didn't move at all.

"Yes, it's hard to concentrate" The Wizard said, smiling friendly at me.

"I.. I'm sorry" I said.

"No, no, don't be!" The Wizard said, signaling for me to sit down, as he sat down next to me.
He took the golden ring with the green stone from his finger.
Then he took my hand, and placed the ring in my palm.

"This ring will make you able to concentrate more about the power of magic" He explained, smiling at me.

"But, don't you need it?" I asked, as he must have had the ring for ages.

"I am fully able to do magic without it" He answered, standing up.
Before I left my seat, I placed the ring on my finger.
The ring seemed far too large at first, but as I put it on, it was a perfect fit.

"Now, think about the bucket, then about home, and then about moving it!" The Wizard said, watching the bucket closely.
I did what he said.

At first, the bucket merely began shaking, before it suddenly flew from the floor, and over to the fireplace.
The Wizard started laughing, and lay his arm around my shoulder.

"You're a natural" He said, and repeated himself.
"You're a natural"

Throughout the summer, I came to his house every single day.
He taught me how to do the increased stamina spell, how to make oneself almost invisible, how to levitate, and how to make things appear.
He showed me everything he knew, and he seemed to have fun while doing it.
I know that I had fun, lots of fun.
I have never ever ,before or after, had a better summer.

One of the last days of the summer, the forest seemed alot darker as I walked to his house.
There was not a single noise in the whole forest, and I didn't see a single living creature.
The forest closest to his house was so dark that I had to light my own path, in order not to fall.
I just thought about home, then about the path in front of me, and then about the sun.
And suddenly, the path was fully lit.

When I saw his house, I started running.
His door was wide open, as I had never seen it be before.

As I entered the house, I saw him lying down in a bed.
The bed had never been there before, and I had never seen him sleep.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, kneeling by his side.
He took my hand, and straightened himself up a bit, almost sitting.

"I am an old man, Joshua" The Wizard said, smiling his usual friendly smile.
"And I, I don't have much time left" He said, coughing.
I had never before heard him as exhausted as this, and I had never heard him cough.

"This house, I want you to have it" He said, firmly holding my hand.
A tear sprung from my eyes, and followed my face down to my lips.
"Oh, and I.. I made you a wooden hut so you can show your parents" He said, even though I had never told him about my excuse.

"I want you to have it all," The Wizard said "you deserve it"
"Never before has anyone treated me like you... Cared for me, like you" He said.

"Thank you" was the Wizards last words.
His eyes suddenly seemed so distant, and his hand let go of me.

I stayed by his side all day, crying.
In his backyard, right by the log he seemingly used to chop wood on, I buried him.
Wrapped in his brown robe, there he would rest forever.
A wooden cross was the only sign of the grave.

As I went home that night, I saw the hut he had made me.
I could feel that he hadn't summoned it.
He had built it by himself, and he had probably spent many nights on doing so.
It was located in the very border to the forest, so my dad wouldn't be mad at me for going into the forest.
The Wizard had known it all.

After I showed my parents the hut, I told myself that I was never going to enter the forest again.
And as the years passed, I forgot about the forest.
The Wizard turned into a distant memory, and I wasn't even sure if it was real or not.
I didn't use my magic either, as I thought it all was part of my imagination.

Thirty years after the summer with the Wizard, I returned to my home town.
I had long since moved, and so had my parents.
The only reason I was in town, was because I had a strange longing to come there.
I didn't know why, but I needed to go there.

And as fast as I saw the forest, memories started to come back.
I suddenly remembered about the hut, and about a strange house, in the middle of the forest.

Unsure about why, I entered the forest.
I slowly walked along it, remembering the day when I first met the Wizard.
I remembered more and more as I got closer.
Before I reached the house, I managed to summon two tiny butterflies.
I was amazed at my own powers, and I wondered what more it was I didn't remember.

As I finally saw the house, I remembered it all.
It was as a lightning-flash in my brain, as all the memories came back.
I remembered the animals, the bucket, the light and the snowy mountain.
Also, I remembered where I got the ring, the ring that had never left my finger.

As I opened the door to the house, I could clearly hear the Wizards voice, hanging in the air.
The voice was as if it was being whispered by the wind.

"Joshua, what are you doing here again?" It said, "Are you coming home?"

As tears salted my dry lips again, I went out to the back.
I could see the cross, the cross that stood where he was buried.

As I stood there, I thought about the house behind me.
Then I thought about a cow, like the one the Wizard once summoned.
And before I knew it, a cow approached me.

"I knew I could do the larger animals" I said, smiling to myself.
I know that the Wizard would have smiled back.
"I knew it too" He would have said.