The Wizard

The Wizard
By Scott Wilson

Word Count: 411

On a misty morning with heavy grey clouds in the sky, the small hamlet of Oberon was silent. The famers had no yet risen and most of the animals were still asleep in the large, open fields of rolling green grass. Without warning, the wizard walks by in his funny purple robes with tinkling bells dangling from his belt. He cast his shadow upon the flowers and plants as he walked on by. Everything touched by his long, grey shadow withered and died in a shrivelled pile of rotting and putrid dust.

The animals rose from their peaceful sleep with howls and screeches, unsettled by the unwanted presence of this killer of demons. While his sole purpose was to rid the world of demons and unearthly monsters, the mere presence of the Wizard was an abomination of nature. He never spoke to anyone and nobody knew where he came from of what his name was. The Wizard, that was all he was known as.

Tobin Jarkan, the town baker was the first to rise. He saw the Wizard walking down the main street. The Wizard turned slowly, and Tobin saw the luminous green eyes glaring out of the deep hood covering the Wizard’s head. The Wizard turned his head back and just kept walking. Slowly, the other members of the tight little community awoke, some seeing the purple robes of the Wizard in the distance as he continued on his path over the knoll on the outskirts of the hamlet.

The sun rose over the knoll as if it too, was fleeing from the presence of the Wizard, trying hard to leap high into the sky. The clouds began to dissipate and the azure sky painted itself across the horizon. It appeared to be a bright and fine day for the farmers to harvest their crops of barley and wheat.

Only those who saw the Wizard felt uneasy and slightly troubled in a way that they could not put their finger on. The rest of the hamlet felt a bright, spritely, and cheerful disposition, wanting to hug their loved ones and neighbours. For unknown reasons, these villagers felt fit, healthy, and finer than they had in years.

For years to come, Tobin and the four other villagers told the tale of the Wizard over an ale or twenty at the Smokey Dragon Inn. While they seemed to age prematurely, the rest of the villagers did not seem to age a day.