ZEENAT'S BOWL OF IMAGINATION |
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SCALA THE LITTLE WITCH-MAID [Written in February 2000. Published in "Deccan Herald" newspaper, Year 2000, Bangalore, India.] |
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Scala sighed deeply as she gave the magic broom a final touch of golden polish and put it into the closet. "Ah now! Finally, that's done!" she said with relief. She turned around to face the long, cedar-framed mirror that adorned the living room and adjusted her pink, polka-dotted scarf and apron. "All the tasks the witch had set me are done," said Scala looking around the room. "The firewood is collected, the magic pots are clean and in place, and I've washed and ironed the curtains. Any time now the witch should be back from her Aunt's."
Scala walked up to the big armchair at the end of the room and
flopped into it tiredly. But no sooner did she sit down did she hear a
long, frightened yowl and saw Fo the cat spring out from behind her.
"Oh Fo! It's you! I'm so sorry Fo, really. I didn't know you
were right here on the chair!" said Scala. Fo, the big, dark gray
witch-cat sat beside the chair, and glared at the little witch-maid.
"Now, now, don't you make that face at me. You were the one in the
wrong place, not I!" Scala picked up the angry cat and cuddled him on
her lap. Fo purred softly and jumped out to hunt for mice.
It was a cold, wintry morning. But in the warmth of the fire in the
fire-place, the room was as cozy as could be. Scala had almost begun to
doze off when suddenly the cuckoo in the clock cooed out twelve times, and
there was a loud knock on the door. Fo meeowed loudly and scampered
towards the door and scratched it with his paws. "Scala, Scala, you
lazy dope, are you sleeping again?" called out an angry voice.
"Open the door quickly and don't you take all day! I'm freezing out
here! Blast this wretched snow!" Scala woke up with a start. She
could recognize that angry, cruel voice anywhere. It was the witch, her
mistress back home from her visit.
"I'm coming dear mistress, I'm coming!" said Scala, as she ran
towards the door and opened it. "You've been sleeping again!"
cried out the witch angrily, "I can see it in your eyes, I can!"
"No, no, dear mistress. I haven't taken even a wink,"
said Scala trembling all over. "And see, I've done all that you'd
asked me to. I've ironed the curtains, polished the broom, and collected
enough firewood to last us for a month."
The witch stormed into the room and looked around with her nose in the
air. Indeed Scala had done everything that she had asked her to do.
"Well. So you have. So you have," said the witch, her voice
softening. "Now I can get on with my magic spell. I've been waiting
all these months for the right time to start.
And now finally the time has come!"
"Did your Aunt give you what you wanted for the spell, dear
mistress?" asked Scala quietly. |
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Once
inside, the witch began to spread out all that she had collected. "Ah
now, let's see. I've got the piece of rainbow, the golden grain of sand
and a piece of the invisible ribbon, a snail's slimy trail, and a rabbit's
whisker. But something seems to be missing." The witch looked around.
"Yes, yes, something is surely missing. But what?" The witch
thought hard, and as she thought, her face shimmered black and green with
anger. "Yes, I know what it is. And I know who is to blame as
well," she said loudly. Fuming with anger, the witch threw open the
door and screamed loudly, "Scala! Scala! Where are you? Come here
this minute before I turn you into a lizard!"
Scala
was happily playing with Fo beside the fire-place when she heard the witch
crying out for her. She shook to the bone when she heard the anger in her
voice. "Oh, Oh! This means trouble. I wonder where I've gone wrong
this time?" Scala ran trembling with fear towards the room of spells,
where the witch stood menacingly at the door. "You called me, dear
mistress."
"So
tell me Scala, have you done everything I had asked you to do?" asked
the witch, looking sharply into Scala's eyes. "Yes, yes, dear
mistress, I have," said Scala extremely frightened of the way the
witch was glaring at her. She could feel a wave of chill run down her
spine.
"Everything,
Scala? Everything?" asked the witch eyeing her more closely.
"Then, where is the smile of a little human child, Scala? Where is
it?"
Scala
went numb with fear. How could she have forgotten to bring home the smile
of a human child? How could she? Now - now what? She could feel the heat
of the witch's anger on her face. She was sure to be punished. Probably,
this time, she would really
be turned into a lizard.
"Now
Scala, before the clock rings half past one, this is what I want,"
threatened the old witch. "I want that smile nicely wrapped up in a
box sitting on my table. And if I don't have that smile Scala, mark me,
you are doomed . . . doomed for ever. Now go. And remember - it's half
past one, not a minute more, not a minute less."
Scala backed out of the room trembling. Her eyes were wide with fear and her
feet were numb. She looked up at the cuckoo clock and gasped loudly. She
had exactly one hour in which to find a human child and get its smile.
Just one hour. There was absolutely no time to be lost. She rushed out of
the room and almost trampled Fo in her hurry.
Fo yowled and sped along after her into the cold, snow-laden woods.
Scala
had no idea how far she had run, or for how long. All of a sudden she
stopped and looked around her. From where she stood, the woods seemed dead
and scary. She shivered, both out of the cold and fright. The trees loomed
menacingly in the dullness. Not
a ray of sunlight came through. Fo huddled closer and closer to Scala and
purred in fright as she bent down to pick up the cat. "At least I'm
not alone," thought she. "But now, where am I going to find a
human child in this wilderness? And what's more - there's probably no
living soul in the entire forest."
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Scala
began to walk away in another direction when suddenly Fo leapt out from
her arms and ran into a cluster of bushes.
"Fo! Fo! Where are you going?" cried out Scala in alarm, "You
naughty, naughty cat!" but he was not to be found. With tears in her
eyes, Scala ran after him behind the bushes.
And what should she see, but a little piece of clearing with a well
in it. And Fo was licking the palm of a little girl. A fluttering wave of
excitement and joy ran through Scala as she ran towards Fo. "Fo! Oh,
Fo! Here you are!" she cried picking up her furry pet. "I
thought I had lost you for ever. Now don't ever do such a naughty thing
again." Fo only purred in reply. "Hi,
I'm Nina." It was the little girl sitting on the well. She had
quietly walked up to Scala as she stood there fussing over the cat. Scala
smiled, "Thanks for finding her. She is all that I have, you
know." Nina smiled back, "I know."
Scala looked on at her. Nina was the prettiest little girl she had ever
seen. She had smiling, bright eyes, filled with warmth and love. Her face
itself seemed to glow, even in the darkness "What was a pretty girl
like her doing in these dark woods?" she wondered.
"Are you lost Nina?" she asked.
"Oh no, not me. As a matter of fact, I have been here for quite
sometime now, Scala."
Scala looked up in surprise. "How did you know my name? How did you
know I am Scala?"
"Never mind that. But tell me what are you doing in these
woods on such a cold afternoon?" asked Nina.
That was all that was needed to bring Scala back into the reality.
"Oh dear, Oh dear! The smile - the smile of a little child! I had
almost forgotten about it!" she thought in alarm. But then, right
here was a girl. She could easily take the smile from her. All she had to
do was to touch Nina's face when she smiled, whisper a magic word, and put
her smile into a little box that she was carrying in her pocket.
But she couldn't. There was something about Nina's face, her eyes,
the way she looked at her with so much warmth. She just COULD NOT do it. "What are you thinking about Scala?" asked Nina, breaking her from her thoughts. "I know what you have come here for. Don't think twice. Just do it Scala. Take away my smile." Scala backed away. "How did she know I had come here for her smile? How?" she thought. "This is no ordinary girl! She can't be!" she whispered to herself. "No Nina, no! I don't want your smile," she said with tears in her eyes. |
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"I can't take it. I'd rather give away my own smile to the old witch, but I can't touch yours!" And so saying, Scala ran as fast as she could from the clearing.
"What should I do now Fo?" she said stopping for some time to
take her breath. She thought and thought and suddenly said aloud, "I
know what! Yes, I'll do just what I told her. I'll give away my smile to
the witch! I may not be a human, but I guess it really doesn't matter.
Anyway, I have no need for it because with the old hag there is only
sadness for me and nothing else." So saying, Scala put up a smile on
her face, touched it, said the magic word, and slid it into the little
magic box. "Ah now, that's locked in safely, and no one is
hurt," and Scala started to walk back to her mistress's home.
It was exactly half past one when Scala opened the door to the witch's
room of spells. "Ah, so you're back! Did you get the smile?"
asked the witch greedily.
"Yes, dear mistress, I have." Scala took out the box and placed
it on the table. The witch rubbed her hands in glee. Scala quietly moved
out of the room, closing the door behind her. Her eyes were heavy with
tears, when suddenly she heard a voice calling out her name. "Scala,
Scala, are you in there?"
Scala rushed to the door, and whom should she see there but Nina herself!
"Nina, you?" she called out in surprise. "What are you
doing here? Run away before the old hag catches you!" Scala whispered
in terror.
"I've come to take you with me Scala," said Nina calmly, her
face glowing.
"But where?"
"To a land far away, where I come from."
"But I can't," cried Scala softly. "I can never get away
from here Nina, never. And even if I did, the old witch would find me out
in no time at all and that would be the end of me. Go home Nina. Go away
to wherever you've come from. I've got to stay here - it's my fate."
"No Scala. You're coming with me. Where I'm taking you, the witch
will never be able to reach you."
"But where will you take me to Nina?"
"To a land of Happiness Scala, where there is joy and happiness and
laughter on everybody's face and nothing else." Nina took Scala's
hand and began to lead her away. END OF STORY..... |
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SCALA THE LITTLE WITCH-MAID [Written in February 2000. Published in "Deccan Herald" newspaper, Year 2000, Bangalore, India.] |
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Fluff and the Wild Lily ... and more yet to come ....!!
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