Odarin the Good Wizard

After being in an oblivion of sleep Odarin awoke before the sun came up and lit a candle in his room to give the map he was to follow one more good going over. Then he produced his wand from under his pillow that he had slept on during the night and conjured up a table, a knife and a fork, salt and pepper shakers, one huge mug of coffee, three over sized pancakes with two eggs and some deep and delicious sides of bacon.

He ate and at the same time he studied his map to see which way would be best to follow the sun because it was getting far to cold where he was right now. He was glad he slept one more night in comfort.

Sleeping for Odarin had never been a problem. He would put in his favourite pyjamas and let his head hit the pillow. When his thoughts became utter nonsense he knew he was drifting off...then all he has to do then was let go. It didn’t take long and now that there wasn’t any exams to study for he awoke refreshed, full of good food and had set a course to follow the sun out of the town that had been his friend for many years.

With a quick wave of his wand he made all remnants of his breakfast vanish so as not cause an alarm with the owners of the Motel, then he showered, shaved and dressed himself checking his shoulder pack and pockets for all the things he would need for the trek and was happy that everything was in its proper place.

This being done he opened his bedroom door and walked off to pay the clerk behind the front desk his fee then it was out into the street to take in the sights and sounds one last time before gripping his staff and setting off again...only this time he didn’t stop.

As he meandered his way through town he took pictures with his mind of what it was like in case he ever felt a bit melancholy on his journey and was so far away from the town he grew up in. He could drag on these images and settle...well that's what he hoped would happen.

As the noise and houses became less and less something happened. Odarin knew he was walking away now and he was sure behind him were soft prints in the dust, slight movements of grit and stone that proved he was really here on this path out of town and into the next stage of his life with resolute certainty and a smile beaming off his face.

When he was at school he had a way of walking that made him seem perpetually in a hurry. His steps weren’t long but they were rapid. Like a speed-walker without that odd twisting motion they make. Things were different now his walking pace was leisurely and relaxed.

He was savouring each step and taking in the surrounding countryside as if it was to a fond farewell. As the town was being left behind him he walked past people who were going into the town he was just leaving. They always exchanged smiles and well wishes and this was a good thing to have happen. It was always better to share a smile than artificially create one and feel the worse off afterwards for it not being sincere.

There was kindness in Odarin’s smile, a gentleness. It was the smile of one who laughed with ease and saw a person under their behaviour, he was a kind of soul- connector.

He was the kind of person who lived how he believed people should, as if he were sunshine that only radiated from the best aspects of those he met, their flaws entirely invisible to his gaze. He was a calm sea, a dancing birdsong and the new buds of spring.

Yet, most of all, he was a kind Wizard.

People felt it, people saw it in him, his actions and deeds spoke volumes to the onlookers he waved at or made things appear out of nowhere to aid passing potential new town folk wave in appreciation. Odarin was never grandiose with his gifts. It was never gold or huge amounts of money, ( he could do that but he didn’t ), it was most usually food for a struggling family or a small bag of coins to a man or woman who was really down on their luck. It made him feel good doing it.

Odarin believed the kindness is that of what we are made of and yet have no part of it when it comes to whichever event presents itself before us. Sometimes its non-existent yet sometimes it’s almost physical. So why then don’t we embrace it? Do we let our cruel nature in on purpose? Wouldn’t you prefer to be comforted rather than scorned and laughed at? Yet why does cruelty always get the better of us. Is it nature? Or is kindness and cruelty a choice?

When science and the arts are made subordinate to another aim such as military or money, it fundamentally alters them and changes their results and nature, moving from healthy diversity of discovery to a funnelled narrow view.

Yet the sciences and the arts are born out of a feeling of goodness, “The good is that at which all things aim.”

These were the questions Odarin asked himself as the miles slowly started to build up between himself and his former township that with each step he was happier he was leaving for the open road and what might lay ahead of him.