Oaken Mead

Temptor, the storyteller, strolled into town. The children pointed and yelled, every child in the village loved him and awaited his return. Stories! He was full of them! Amazing stories about hill giants and swords that came to life, about giant serpents and mischievous goblins. The children gathered in a semicircle around him as he took his usual seat on an old overturned log. Their filthy, adorable faces lit up the slipshod village.

Even nature realized the evening was soon to be filled with magic. The largest moon the children had ever seen peeked through the clouds, an owl landed on a nearby tree, and the crickets quieted in respect. The storyteller gazed into the fire.

"What will it be this time?" an anxious child yelled.

"Faeries," Temptor's eyes widened as a little girl clapped. "The very faeries that occupy the woods around the village." He gestured to the nighttime forest in an arc.

"Oh, what is this about then? More o' that nonsense you call storytellin'?" Gerald staggered through the circle of children, drunk as usual, only to plop right down next to the storyteller. His bottom so huge it caused Temptor to fly up a few inches. Gerald was bald, fat, and had the furriest feet in the village. The children rolled their eyes, this was the same man that had heckled poor Temptor during his last three stories.

"Ahh, Gerald. I thought you might show up." Temptor pinched his nose in disgust. "Do us a favor and shut your mouth. Unlike some of my other stories, this one is one hundred percent true!"

The children looked at each other and gasped while Gerald laughed into his mug of ale.

"Now, let me see..." Temptor began.

"This should be good." Gerald mocked.

Temptor pointed at him and said, "Remember, shut your mouth."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Now where was I? Yes, the faeries! Just beyond these trees live a court of fairies. So lovely, tiny, and naughty. These are the types of creatures you should never turn your back on and I had the pleasure of meeting them. I even met their queen!"

"Poppycock and rubbish!" Gerald spit a brown gob of goo near Temptor's feet.

"No, my dear spitty friend, it is absolutely true. They didn't view me as a friend, however. In fact, they bewitched me. I stood in the woods and saw the most beautiful maiden floating a foot or two in the air. Her sparkling hair met the sunshine in such a way that would drive any mortal man insane. She was singing and I couldn't help but to go to her. When I reached her she gave me a chalice filled with golden mead."

"Speakin' o drink, I'm out! Barkeep!!" Gerald yelled down the hill to the pub.

"No worries, mate." Temptor grabbed a flask and filled Gerald's mug. Gerald jerked the full mug out of Temptor's grasp and gulped it down like a slob.

The children yelled in unison - "Back to the Story!"

"Yes, anyhow, as I began to drink the golden mead I heard laughter. The beautiful maiden burst apart and turned into a hundred or more laughing faeries! I tried to run, but my legs stiffened. The skin on the back of my hands thickened and split, changing into bark. I was turning into a tree!"

"Oh no!" cried a little boy.

"Oh yes. The faeries had played a trick on me and wanted to keep me forever in the forest as an oak."

"But how did you make it out?" another child asked.

"This is such stupid story," Gerald said, dribbling amber liquid down his chin.

Temptor ignored this and continued, "Well, if you have heard me tell stories before, I may have mentioned that I was a personal friend of the Troll King. I once saved his life and he gave me a silver medallion as a reward. When I began turning into a tree I dropped the medallion. The Faerie Queen noticed and reversed the spell in a heartbeat. She was afraid that hurting me may start a war with the trolls and she certainly didn't want that. She begged my forgiveness and granted me one request."

"A request? What did you ask for?" said the oldest child in the group.

Temptor patted Gerald's stiff shoulder and plucked a twig from what was once his ear. Gerald was very quiet - silent as a tree.

"Simple. I asked for her recipe."