THe Magician

Saying for the Day-The trees, grass, and even the stones remember the Elves. Old Farland Saying
Once upon a time , a very long time ago as we count time in the land of King Arthur there lived Henry XIV. For those of you who don’t read Latin that was Henery the 14th. His father’s name was Henry, his grandfather’s name was Henry, his great grandfather’s name was Henry. All in all there were 14 Henry. The first 13 were all Potters who practiced magic. So to day Henry would be Henry Potter XIV but last names hadn’t been invented yet. Yes he might very well have been a very distant relative of that very popular Wizard of our day but of that we are not sure. We do know that people who practiced magic in those days were called magicians and not Wizards and there were no schools for them to go to. Magic was taught from one generation to the next as long as the gift was there.
Henry ,however, didn’t seem to have the gift. He did everything his father told him . He waved his hand in the proper manor, he said the right words, but nothing happened. He was good at making pots though and his pots sold better than any others the family made. You see you couldn’t make a living at magic so you had to have a trade and Henry’s family made pots. So though he was a very bad magician he did help to keep the family clothed and in magic supplies which weren’t cheap.
Henry’s father hid the fact that his son couldn’t do magic. When the magicians guild asked when Henry XIV was coming to the meetings his father would tell them that Henry was very busy using his magic to increase pot production but as soon as they got a pot or two ahead he would bring Henry XIV to the meeting. Oliver whose family made cross bows and was Henry’s age was already turning tree branches into snakes. Not very useful but certainly magic.
To be honest Henry’s father was not much of a magician or he might have been able to give Henry some power or at least the ability to fake having power. Now Henry’s grandfather, he was a super magician , could have solved the problem but one day he was distracted and turned himself into a mouse just as the cat came in.
Now while Henry had no power his sister Angeline had powers as great as her grandfather. But instead of this being a blessing it was a curse, Woman were not allowed under penalty of law to practice magic. Any woman who did so was considered a witch and had to be put to death. Further and even worse the family she came from was thrown out of the Guild .Her mother who also had magical powers placed a spell around her when she was very little so she wouldn’t acciudently reveal her abilities. When she was old enough her mother explained the need to keep the powers secret and lifted the spell.
Thus in private when nobody was looking Henry XIV ‘s sister practiced magic. She became very very good because she had a really great gift.
Henry, however, plodded along from day today trying his very best to do magic with no results, not even bad ones. His father kept stalling the Guild but they were turning up the pressure.
One day as Henry was gathering just the right clay for his pots he met an old lady
Who asked him if he would chop some wood for her as she was old and couldn’t do it anymore. Well Henry was tired of digging dirt so he stopped and chopped her a nice pile. You know the old saying,” Bad at magic good at chopping wood”.When he finished and was refusing to take any gold coins for the job there was a sudden bright light and there was an elf. The elf said I saw your kind deed for that little old lady and so I am granting you one wish.
Now Henry came from a magic family and he knew that elf wishes often worked out badly but he blurted out “ I wish to be a very great magician and live forever”,
The elf responded “ As you have asked, so shall it be”
Henry felt a tingling and then he knew he was the greatest magician ever. Suddenly his mind was filled with spells so complicated that no magician had dared try them for years. The first thing he did was to create one hundred perfect pots. Then he told his father they needed to go and visit the Guild. There he performed feats of magic so incredible they are talked about by Magicians (now called Wizards) to this very day. He used no wand, didn’t wiggle a finger but he could levitate the heaviest things, change anything into almost anything else, and just do astounding things.
Every day Henry practiced his magic. He read his grandfathers old books. He knew every spell in the book by heart.
But the spell he wanted most was not there. He wanted a spell to turn clay into gold. Then he never had to look at another pot and his family would be taken care of forever.
One day in an old old book he found an even older spell. It was written in a language so old that Henry could not read it. But there was a notation on the page that the spell could turn anything into gold. There was a warning that unless the spell was said perfectly and pronounced properly dire consequences could take place.
. But one day he decided to try it any way. He said the words just as he thought they should be said. But just before the end Henry sneezed.
There was a flash of light and Henry found himself as an Oak tree with no way to change back. Since he could not die that oak tree lives today. Some say it is Old Knobbley found in an area of woodland on Furze Hills, Mistley, Essex. It is a very old Oak.
At least that ‘s what the tradition says. There is a rumor that Henry staged the oak thing so he could leave family and travel the world. Some say he became bitter and ended up as “ He whose Name can not be spoken”. Others say he just enjoyed his many lives and was now an old man in Neenah writing elf tales.
Who knows where the truth lies.
We do know that Henry’s sister decided that if you can’t beat them join them and turned herself into a man. She took the name Merlin and went to work for King Arthur and you know how that turned out.

####News from Pigeon Falls-The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal. Petrovich is now saying that driblet 187 and driblet 97 may be two visions of the same event. The terror from the sky would have been the General. Charlie wasn’t a child but he was child like. Bush was involved since he wouldn’t let the generals drop an Atomic bomb on Pigeon Falls. He is asking people to read the driblets and decide for themselves.
It would be a real relief for Pigeon Falls if this is the case. They really need some time without any impending doom.
Charlie and Fred are out of jail. The prosecuting attorney arranged the strangest plea bargain. In exchange for having all the charges dropped the two men agreed to pay for all the damages at the Fly Inn and to settle their dispute by each of them getting five feet of the disputed land. Only in a small town do you get great settlements like that.
Petrovich continues to search through the driblets looking for one that has to do with an old woman having a baby. People are hoping he never finds it.
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Today's Link-SAHMbles- A little talk with a three year old.
Rough day. The oxygen was down. I felt punk. I visited the link. Did a little work on the next elf story.Played some games. Watched some television and napped. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA