The writing for this piece was picture-driven. Here are the pictures I chose for it:
A Familiar Story
The name’s Clyde. I’m what you call a familiar. I was once connected with a rather fun-loving witch named Zelda; however, hard times befell her, and she was forced to give me up.
I was kept in an animal shelter until I was adopted by Martha, the wife of a bogus magician called Siegfried. She’s a nice woman. She has no idea about the powers I have. She just enjoys me as a fun-loving little kitten. I am much older than I look. Magic allows me to control that.
Martha feeds me well, strokes me when she needs some comfort, and lets me play with multicolored yarn when she needs a good laugh. I would always oblige her whims because she loves me, and I grew to love her in return.
The thing about being an ex-witch’s cat is that I live a long life and have learned a lot of things about magic. I rarely use my powers around Martha, because there is no need to.
Siegfried, on the other hand, is totally different. As I said, he is a bogus magician. He has no concept of what real magic is. All his tricks are so lame. If anyone would examine his coat and sleeves, even after he purports to have nothing in them, they would find a ridiculous amount of paraphernalia – fake flowers, handkerchiefs all tied together with knots, and any number of assorted playing cards. And then, there is his hat. His penultimate trick. Again, there is nothing in it – no magic. I can attest to that, especially when it is on his head. He holds the hat up for his audience so that they can see inside. Being a dark hat, they can’t see that the length of the inside doesn’t match the length of the outside. He never lets anyone hold the hat in question. The weight discrepancy would be a dead giveaway.
I’ve been talking to the two rabbits he uses lately about how they were being treated. They were very clear that they were horribly abused. Siegfried wouldn’t reward them if they cooperated in his act. On the other hand, he would punish them if they didn’t cooperate. When he holds them up to the audience, the people don’t see how hard he is squeezing them to instill compliance.
Because of his wife’s love for animals, Siegfried never let the rabbits come in contact with her.
I shared what I could of my food with the rabbits, but it came to a point where I’d had enough of Siegfried when he started to abuse Martha. It was time to act. Siegfried wasn’t the only one who could do magic tricks.
We were all in the car, travelling to one of his gigs. Siegfried made Martha drive, so he could focus on his magic (HA!). What he focused on was berating his wife constantly during the ride. The rabbits, terrified, were in a box that was tied down on the roof of the car.
Siegfried was one of a kind, so why not use my familiar powers to make him truly one of a kind? All it took was the correct kind of purr and twitch of my ears, and all of a sudden, he was gone. In his place sat my two adorable rabbit friends. The look on Martha’s face made it all worth it. She pulled over to examine her newfound friends. When Martha got out of the car, she was even more surprised at what she saw on the roof. Tied upon the roof was a very large stuffed winged pink unicorn. Definitely one of a kind.
Martha never questioned what happened to Siegfried. She was glad to get rid of him. She did make a bit of money selling that unicorn to some circus clowns. She didn’t miss Sigfried at all.
The rabbits and I continue to get along well, ensuring that Martha continues to prosper as she ages. Something I’m very familiar with.
