“A Little Tale”…
He was born to two very powerful wizards. Both his parents were highly respected for their strong abilities and gifts. Other wizards were in awe of what each could do alone and together. They were a force no one dared to reckon with.
Unfortunately, as life does, it extracts a price for every gift received. Maybe that is Universal Laws’ “Law of Balance”. In the case of the young wizard, he was the price his parents had to pay for their great wizardly and other abilities. You see, their son, their only child, had very little, okay, truth be told, almost no wizardly abilities. And, the ones he did possess were uncontrollable and weak.
Rather ironic, don’t you think? The two most powerful wizards produced an offspring who was barely a wizard; and, they were ashamed of him. He shamed them because they felt they failed to continue the long line of superior wizards, and thus, to them, that meant that they had flaws and were not as perfect as they considered themselves to be. They felt that the other wizards took delight in their son’s lack of powers and abilities and that they were ridiculed behind their backs. So, they regarded their son, their own child, as something less and an abomination. They also believed he was dumb and simple minded.
And, he, their son, knew how they felt and rather than being in their loving sunlight, as their son, he was cast into their shadows. No matter what he did, it never succeeded in pleasing his parents. He always fell short of their mark in some way.
The way his parents felt about and regarded him alienated them from him…He saw each time they glanced at him, they saw failure…his and theirs. But, in truth, it was no one’s failure or fault, but, rather, nature’s doing. But, they did not see him that way. He was an enormous embarrassment and burden to them.
Thus, they avoided him as much as possible and when in his presence, treated him as if were simple minded. And, that could not be farther from the truth. He was, in fact, quite brilliant, in spite of his lack of wizard super powers and abilities. He would have been considered a genius among humans. But, sadly, he was not human and so, his parents were blind to the gifts he was given…all of them.
He had the ability to invent and create gadgets, machines, gizmos, and the like at a time in history when there were no electronics, computer was not nonexistent and neither were many of today’s taken for granted conveniences. Some of his creations, which I am certain you have heard of, include…the Time Reversenum, the Magnifyometer, and the Energy Directiumus.
More than once, he tried to share his inventions with his parents, but they always waved him off like a mere fly. They had no need for gadgets or machinery. They had their powers. Plus, they had, in reality, disowned him, unofficially, as their son. They simply didn’t care about him or want him.
Hurt badly to his very core by his parents’ feelings toward him and their treatment of and disregard for him, he made a vow to himself that he would not let them make him feel as if he was a failure, a nothing or a loser. They, in fact, were the ones, in spite of their super powers, who fell short of the mark as sentient beings. They were conceited, small minded, self involved and self absorbed, vain, and looked down on others. He was grateful he was nothing like them. He was his own person.
So, he packed his things, left them a brief note of goodbye, which he knew would bring them great joy, and set out to follow his own life plan and destiny. He settled in the Enchanted Woods where he was immediately accepted. He found a very old, huge, and dead Oak tree, which had been abandoned. Inside it had so many floors going up to the top of the tree; each connected by spiral branch staircases. But best of all, it had, below the ground, where its dead roots were, a cellar. It was enormous. This was the ideal place to set up his lab and create his inventions.
His neighbors in the Enchanted Woods-elementals, fairies, witches, hobbits, gnomes, squirrels, wizards, and others, delighted in each of his “odd”, scary, and “magical” inventions. They loved to see them work and try them out. They were fascinated by them and by him. The wizards and witches especially loved his Energy Directiumus because it helped them direct the energy needed for difficult or complicated spells.
They would “pop” in unexpected from time to time just to see what he was working on. This was fine with him. He enjoyed hearing the fairies giggle, the gnomes snort in glee, and the wizards and witches saying, “OOOO! or “Hmmmm”. Their reactions gave him great pleasure and a sense of worth. He was accepted for himself and respected for his gifts. The hurt and the pain of his early years with his parents fell away and his life was one of accomplishment, friendship, and happiness.
~ Marsha J. West, Author~ edited for Flickr
(This is my original story or “A Little Tale”. It is my personal property and cannot be copied or used in any medium either online or written without prior approval.)