Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Sir Wodell

Once upon a time there was a man named William Wodell...

"Sir Wodell! Over here!" He turned to see a bright faced young man in his mid to late twenties, struggling to get through the ever growing crowd of people coming to hear what was now being called, "The speech that will go down in history". He thought this a somewhat funny name for a speech; didn't all speeches go down in history?

But he didn't need to worry about such things now. What he needed was to find out who this man was and what he wanted from him. So he asked him precisely that. "Who are you, sir, and what do you want from me? I have no time for reckless youths such as you. Now go away."

Although he was actually very curious to know what this man had to say, this was only the way William talked to everyone. But this other man, whom we shall call Person, for even to this day his name is not known, clearly had not heard of William's odd ways, and the disappointment showed on his exhausted face.

"I don't mean to be rude, sir, but I have come with an urgent a message from the far away kingdom of Quirve!" said Person, knowing this would surely get Wodell's attention. Many people turned to stare at him, most not believing the words they had just heard. The kingdom of Quirve was a two month journey on horseback, much longer on foot, and the other side of the world to most of the residents of Manch, who never went more than ten miles from their homes.

But among the many people who turned to stare at this man who claimed he had a message from Quirve, William was not included. Being a man who liked to be above other men, he was not going to give this man the notion that he was the least bit intrigued by his coming from Quirve.

But he was. He was not the least bit intrigued, but the most bit intrigued. So while he kept on walking with the rest of the crowd, he argued with himself that just this one time he should stop and talk to the man, instead of "not caring". Maybe, he said to himself, Maybe the message is from... No, it couldn't be. That was too long ago. He forced himself to keep walking, trying to think only about the speech.

"The message," Person shouted with the last of his strength at the retreating form of Wodell, "is from someone who calls himself Green Feather!"



To be continued...

Finally Here

"Green Feather?" William asked, his attention now completely turned on Person. "Green Feather, you say? Well, where is this message from Green Feather?"

William was amazed. After all these years of waiting, waiting, waiting, were all his plans that he had so carefully put together, not missing so much as a single detail, not leaving out any possibility, making everything fit together so nicely that hardly anything could go wrong, finally being seen as a real plan that could actually work? Well, he was about to find out, and he couldn't wait any longer.

"Please, Sir, if you don't mind, I would like my message now." He tried to keep himself calm, but his shaking legs and somewhat contorted face betrayed his anxiety.

"Well you see, Sir, I have orders not to give you the message unless you will do something for me."

"What?!" That was too much for impatient William, and he shouted that last word loudly, drawing the attention of several men. Struggling to regain his composure, he said in a much quieter, placid tone, "We should go to a more peaceful location to finish this conversation. Do you not agree?"

"Yes, Sir, that is a fine idea." And so they shifted their way through the crowd, until they finally burst out near a group of birch trees, huddled close together as though they were trying to protect each other from the seething crowd.

"Here is as fine a place as any, Sir. Let us stop here."

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, William asked, "Now, what is this thing you would like me to do?" He sat down on a nearby tree stump, and the relief was immense.

"Are you sure you don't mind missing the speech, Sir? It's supposed to go down in history, you know?"

William laughed. "Oh, you mean Leary's speech? Why, letting me miss his speech is the only good thing you've done so far!" Leary, the High King of Manch, who had been reigning for twenty-five years now, was giving his annual speech. They were the most boring speeches ever to have been said. They were to William at least, and all the other people who lived in and around Manch, along with anyone else who had ever had the displeasure of hearing one.

But to foreigners, it was a whole different story. They thought of Leary as one of the most honorable, just, noble kings ever to have lived. And the people of Manch did everything they could to keep it that way. Having an honored and respected king was great protection, especially at this time when kings all over the country were sending out great armies to conquer small and unimportant kingdoms to make them part of their own.

And that is why Person was so shocked at William's answer. "But, but Leary is the best king ever to have lived! Even more grand and mighty than our own great king, Lucran, High King of all Quirve! And his speeches are so great; greater even than the speeches of the Great King Labran of the Western Sky!"

Have you ever heard one yourself? he wanted to say, but instead he said, "I was only kidding. I would never miss one of his great speeches; which is why I would like to get on with this. Once again, what is this thing which you want me to do?"

"Yes, Sir, sorry." Here he paused, and took from his cloak a scroll, which he read aloud. "It reads, 'I, Lucran, High King of Quirve, ask you to take this scroll from which my good messenger is reading to you now, and deliver it into the hands of your king, the Mighty Leary. Only after you complete this task will you be allowed to receive your own message. I wish you good luck as you do what I have asked. Lucran.' "

A Single Smile

William sat there, staring at this man he had only met a half hour ago, wondering why in all the world a king would ask someone like himself, a lowly citizen, of which there were so many, to deliver a message to another king. There was no reason whatsoever for King Lucran to even have heard of him, much less to use him as a messenger.

Then something else struck him. Why did he want this scroll, which had nothing on it but a very strange letter, written most certainly not to the King, delivered to Leary, and not by his own messenger, but by a man like himself who had never done anything to get such an honor?

While thinking these things over in his mind, he did not even realize his getting up from his seat on the stump and walking in circles around it, until his toe collided suddenly and with much force into an overgrown root, poking itself out of the ground in the most strategic manner so as to get the most pain out of it's unsuspecting victims. This produced a howl of pain from the indeed unsuspecting William, and he sat down again abruptly, holding his toe and clenching his teeth.

Person, instead of being worried about him as he should have been, fell immediately to laughing. This surprised and somewhat angered William, who still did not know what to make of this Messenger Man from Quirve, who at first seemed like the shy and respectful type, but now with this unexpected outburst, shattered both of his initial thoughts of the man to pieces.

For a moment, looking at this grandly dressed man with his pointed chin, noble looking nose, and mirth filled eyes peeping through a tangled mess of blond, reedy hair upon which sat a cheerful red hat with the plume of a grosbeak sticking straight up into the air, a smile appeared on his own face, making him stretch some muscles which he rarely used these days.

But only for a moment, for the remembrance of his message from Green Feather and the thing which he must do in order to have this letter given him, brought him back to reality. When Person finally quieted down a bit, William said hotly, "Excuse me, sir, but I really must be on my way."

Person, suddenly realizing his rudeness, said, "Oh, yes, Sir. I'm very sorry, it's just that, well, you see--" And here he broke off into more laughter. He reached into his cloak and again took out the scroll, which he gave to William. William took it and left, still wondering how that man could be so rude. What was he laughing at, anyway? Maybe he would find out next time he met this man, to get his own letter.

Well, now it was over, and William left Person as abruptly as Person had come upon William. And he already missed him.

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