The Swan Thief -Chapter 1 Greedy Tod

Chapter 2 Will

13 YEARS LATER

The swan sighed sadly to himself. He was depressed. He thought again about Greedy Tod. He was sooo cruel.

Every day, usually at midnight Greedy Tod would come in forcing and threatening the swan to grant him a wish or more. He would often pluck a feather out and shake him unless he granted the wish immediately. That and everything else was draining him, and had made the swan weak. He looked it too, in the water bowl. A battered, semi-plucked swan who looked practically like he was molting was a miserable sight.

The only highlight of his miserable day was when Martha came in to feed him, or change his water and cage lining. Martha was a deaf servant but hummed allot and sometimes put flowers in his cage, and occasionally talked to him. She felt sorry for him and would always tried to cheer him up. Sometimes sneaking bread with butter & honey (which was impeccable compared to food pellets), and stroke his feathers, and put a soothing ointment on his raw bare skin. One time she had tied a beautiful colorful ribbon on his cage's bars that was cheering and mesmerizing to look at with the detailed thread work. But Greedy Tod ripped it away as soon as he saw it later and punished Martha.

He was deeply hurt at that and Martha's misfortune. He wondered if Martha had made it herself.

She was his only glint of happiness threw the cold dark years. And was growing old.

All other servants and people were forbidden to enter into the bird room. Greedy Tod address himself King. Over the years, from what Martha mumbled and he gathered from Greedy Tod, everyone in the palace knew the king had a magical swan that granted wishes, but the door was fiercely guarded. Greedy false king Tod had made it so that Martha could never speak about the swan, or ask it wishes and the swan felt sincerely regretful and bad that he had to grant it. If she ever tried (which she stopped a long time ago) her mouth would stick shut or the words would come out in mumbles that were too indecipherable to understand.

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The swan turned the way he was lethargically outstretched laying, and lowered his eyes to the door. His blue turned to gray as his depression raised to boredness.

The door swung open and a young guy walked in carrying the food pellets & bucket of fresh water. The swan couldn't believe his goggling eyes. He rose up to his feet and gaped. Is this a hallucination? He had imagined many things before, including imaginary friends he once thought were real. The guy looked 17 and appeared to be a servant, and from the way he rushed and nervously fiddled & spilled the pellets, a new one at that. The teen servant swore and went down to his knees to scrape up the pellets.

"Hey you!"

"One moment I'm almost done!" the boy hurriedly scooped the rest up, and glanced behind his shoulder at the closed door. Clearly to busy to think about it he dismissed the holler and stud up and went to the cage.

"Teen servant, I am in need of your assistance". The boy jolted back nearly spilling the water in the bucket.

"Oh my god. You just talked!" His eyes were white golf balls under his short blond wavy bangs.

"Yes I just did. And I need your help. Listen you must free me."

"I can't as strange as you are-"

"You Must!"

"How is it that you can talk?"

"That doesn't matter!" The swan snapped quickly. "I am imprisoned here against my will, and have been for years." The teen servant opened the cage door and changed the water and took the empty food bowl and replaced it. The swans hart leaped with hope, before the teen servant closed the cage again. "Wha?-"