The  Feather  and  the  Witch

A Short Story by Tiffany


Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a witch with a feather. Not 
just any feather, this was a magical feather.  It had color-coded feelings, like 
when it's mad, it turns reddish black, and when it's sad, it turns white, and 
when it's happy, it turns all of the colors of the rainbow.

The witch used this feather to get whatever she wanted, and this is how she did 
it:  She would tickle the other witches and warlocks till they gave up, and gave 
in, to whatever she wanted from them.

Now one day, the witch had an idea. She told the feather that she was going to 
make a real, live human being, but she needed some things from the other witches 
before she could make him.   [The witch was really going to make something else, 
but I'm not going to tell you, because that would spoil everything]. Now, these 
are the items she already had:  name guts (for the name), weed seed (for the 
hair) and that's all.

The Witch realized that these two items just wouldn't do -- she needed more 
things.  So she told the feather that there was a job to be done, and that she 
needed him to come along with her, just in case the witches and warlocks 
wouldn't cooperate easily.

The feather agreed to go along with her plan, and the witch, satisfied that he 
would help her, tucked him under her hat.  (What the witch didn't notice about 
the feather is this:  his color had changed to a reddish-black.)   The little 
feather was usually very happy and excited to tickle-torture people, but he 
wasn't at all happy or excited this time -- he was mad.

At this point, I find it necessary to go back about a hundred years, to tell you 
how the feather and the witch came to be together in the first place.

A long time ago, the feather was banished and abandoned by an EVIL GENIE. The
genie was so mean, that when the feather couldn't do any of the things the EVIL 
GENIE asked him to do, the genie got really mad, mean, and treated the little 
feather very mean, hard and cruel. The genie would make the little feather do 
all kinds of hard labor, from sun up til sun down, and then, just when the 
little feather was too tired to work anymore, the EVIL GENIE made him work some 
more, even harder than before.  Finally, when the feather was too weak to do 
anything more, the EVIL GENIE got upset and banished him forever.  To the luck 
of the feather, the EVIL GENIE never looked for him and never bothered him 
again.

Now, one day, shortly after the little feather had realized that he was free 
forever, and while he was floating on a cool breeze that swirled and flipped him 
gently too and fro in the wind, the witch just happened to spot the beautiful 
little feather.  She immediately thought:  "This is one of the loveliest things 
I have ever seen -- it's all of the colors of the rainbow [that's what color the 
feather turns when he's happy].  He was such a beautiful feather that the Witch 
just had to have him for her very own.  She flew on her broomstick, chasing the 
beautiful feather, trying to catch him without harming his beauty.  Surely, she 
thought, this feather must be magical.  I've never seen any feather like it 
before.  By and by, the witch chased the little feather, to and fro as he rode 
the cool breeze.  At last she saw the opportunity to swoop down and capture it.  
Quickly, and taking a last deep breath, she flew down, gently swooped it up 
(overjoyed at having captured such a prize that would be envied by all of the 
other witches and warlocks), and she carried him home with her to show it off to 
the other witches and warlocks.

As a master, the witch was ever so much nicer than the EVIL GENIE, so the 
feather had grown to love her.  She cared for him gently and delicately, letting 
him ride the cool breeze on every beautiful day.  He loved her so much, and she 
loved him too (because of all of the possessions he could get for her), that he 
never forgot the day they met.  They had celebrated their anniversary together 
every year to the date that they had found one another.   Today was the 
anniversary of that day, December 7, 1893.  Instead of the witch remembering 
their anniversary and getting ready for their celebration, she was off on a 
quest to make herself a human.

That's why the feather was reddish-black -- he was mad because his feelings were 
hurt when the witch forgot their anniversary.

He sulked under the witches hat that day, all the way to the witches and 
warlocks castles.  But, because he loved his witch, he tortured all the witches 
and warlocks she wanted him to torture.  All the way home, the little feather 
sulked, reddish-black, under that hat.  Finally, they came home.  Still, neither 
of them mentioned the anniversary.  The little feather wanted to cry. It was a 
beautiful day outside, with a wonderfully cool breeze he could ride on for 
hours, but somehow, even that didn't cheer him up.

By now, the witch had noticed his reddish-black color, but she didn't say a word 
to the little feather about it.  She told him he should rest now, and that she 
had other work to do without him.  How sad the little feather was when she 
picked him up and put him on his silky bed.

Now, the witch had made a flying car that she used when she wanted to get 
someplace faster than her broom would carry her.  She went to her magical flying 
car and went for a long ride.  The feather was sad because, the witch didn't 
even ask him if he wanted to go for a ride, she had just dropped the poor little 
feather off at their house, and went for a ride in her magical, flying car.

While the witch was away, the feather sat for a long while, thinking and sulking 
until he fell fast asleep.

It was hours later when the witch came back.  She knew that the little feather 
would be sleeping because she had sprayed a deep, sleeping powder into the air 
before she left in her magical car.  This particular deep, sleeping powder just 
happens to only affect magic objects. And the witch knew that it would wear off 
the little feather in 4 to 5 hours, and that gave her plenty of time to get set 
up for what she was making.  Actually, since she had gone over the spells and 
ingredients in her mind over and over until she knew them all by heart, she was 
ready in a snap -- literally.

Now she used a spell to wake the little feather. It took him a minute to recover 
from the light-blindness from the glowing candles before him, but once he 
recovered -- boy was he ever surprised!  The witch had made a beautiful surprise 
party, just for the two of them, and a special guest. After they had finished 
dinner, the witch gave the feather a gift.  His color had already changed from 
that awful reddish-black, and now he was that beautiful rainbow color again.  
The feather already had his gift for the witch hidden.  When the witch gave him 
his, he went and got her gift from its hiding place and gave it to her. The 
witch opened hers first.  Why, it was a new magic broom.  Next, the feather 
opened his gift, and to his surprise, it was a little castle, made of pure, 
smooth marble.

The little feather looked inside the castle, and what do you suppose he found 
inside, just lying on the silky seat inside of one of the great rooms?  Why, it 
was a beautiful lady feather in a beautiful wedding gown. Now the feathers 
feelings were rainbow colored as rainbows can get.  The witch performed a 
wonderful wedding ceremony, and the two feathers (and their witch) lived happily 
ever after.             THE END