The Cursed Prince and the Boy's Cure

Gone too long! Young Sidion nervously wove a leather cord between his fingers; his eyes straining for the first glimpse of their return. No one came. He held up the cord and shined the medallion - a spearheaded fish encircled in silver - between finger and thumb. His father, Theron, and grandfather, Hurley, had chased after this elusive fish, merely a local legend retold among the fishing families in the river town of Rapidshire.

Many before had tried to carry home this prize, which would bring enough income to make the person as rich as a prince! Its rainbow scales alone were said to be made of the choicest gems. Sidion had never met his Uncle Tamian because he too had pursued it, never to return.

His grandfather greedily wanted to be the one to bring home that fish! His father shared the same views.

Eventually, even the pleadings of Theron’s wife wouldn’t keep them. She implored them to remember her brother, who'd been gone too many years!

But they’d become intoxicated by the thought and his father, leaving Sidion “To be the man of the house.”, had slipped the lucky medallion, a family heirloom, around his son’s wrist and left with Hurley towards the river.

Twelve full moon cycles had passed. His mother remained stoic but he watched the strain dull her eyes. He wanted to go after them but she wouldn’t hear it. Every day he watched the empty roads.

One night he had a vivid dream. He saw a large pool of water, perfectly still, and upon this water were many small boats containing strangers from seemingly all different time periods based on their clothing. One held two people he recognized! His grandfather was hunched over a rod, repeatedly casting and reeling, and though his father strained at the oars, the boat never budged. A middle-aged man in another boat, who looked somewhat familiar, seemed to stare straight into his soul, pleading, “Haste, haste!"

Sidion awoke sharply. He knew they were in trouble, so despite his mother’s wishes, he quietly slipped out into the dawning sky. He reached the river bank and took one look back at his home, tightened the lucky medallion to his wrist, then resolutely faced upstream.

All day he walked; replaying the legend in his head.

According to the legend, a Prince and his entourage had come across this beautiful pool on a hunting party. They marveled at the plentiful fish frothing the water as they jumped about and feasted heavily on them.

Later, a large, sleepy bear rambled into their camp and asked for some of their fish to eat in a clear, baritone voice. The haughty Prince, though shocked at its speech, refused to share a single minnow! Instead, he took a spear and drove it deep into the heart of the bear. As the bear fell, its hide peeled away; revealing an old man, wrinkly and bearded. His dying words to the Prince mixed thickly with blood, “I could have prospered you in every way had you only shared a little of what you had from this pool. But now, YOU will be cursed to share all that you are for generations to come, never to leave this spot until someone treats you the way you should have treated me.”

The man died and his blood dripped into the pond. Instantly, the choppy water stilled; frozen like ice. The Prince's hand, still grasping the spear, received a terrible jolt of pain and he couldn’t loosen his grip. It got immensely heavier and fell into the pool, dragging the Prince with it; leading him to the bottom where he thought he was sure to drown.

However, he realized he could breathe underwater and looking down at his hand, he now saw a fin. The spear became an extension of his nose. Pushing toward the surface he could see his fellows on the bank, but as if he were looking through a wall of glass. Even though he swam about, the water remained a frozen calm. He swam to the very edge, angrily ramming his spear-like head repeatedly into the bank. All it did was make a channel where the water freely flowed down the mountain track. Over the years it became the river near which Rapidshire was built.

The cursed Prince could feel the water leaving the pond and watched sadly as even a lot of the other fish left too, but he never could. He watched as people would try to catch him for their own selfish gains but the hooks couldn’t penetrate the glassy surface. They never seemed to give up and boat after boat of people stayed on the water, never growing older or tiring in their greedy search for fame. The longing families back home never saw them again.

All this the lad thought about as he climbed higher into the mountains. Around a bend in the road he beheld an old man dragging a large wooden crate along the trail. As he drew nearer, the elder asked, “Please, can you help me carry my crate for a spell?"

Though he knew it would slow him down, he agreed and hoisted the heavy crate to his shoulder and they continued together.

A little further on, they came across a garden. A man was trying to move some stones but his hoe had broken off, leaving a useless staff. It would slow him down further, but he stopped and helped the farmer move the stones and fix a new handle to his blade. The old man took the broken staff and used it as a walking stick as they hiked upriver.

Finally reaching the edge of the pool, the boy's strength was almost spent! He put down the crate and scanned the glassy surface. There, his dream was reenacted. He called out to Theron and Hurley but they didn’t respond; just feverishly continued to cast, reel and row.

He saw a single boat wedged up to the bank and made for it, saying, “I have to go after them!”

“Don’t take shortcuts.” said his companion.

He turned, crestfallen. The man continued, “But, since you helped me, I shall help you. Use this crate and its contents to build your own boat; this staff can work as a punt.”

Sidion was exhausted but he heeded the elder and painstakingly built a small wooden raft. He felt faint as he dragged his craft to the water's edge. Stepping onto the raft he pushed away from the bank and onto the calm water.

No ripples formed as he guided the raft but no matter how many strokes he made with the staff, he never seemed to get closer to them. With a stone in his stomach, he realized he was stuck just like they were.

His energy spent, he lay back on the raft and his hand dropped into the water. A small ripple grew larger as it moved away from the medallion.

The spearheaded fish, lying morosely in the depths, was drawn to the charm’s reflection. It swam up to steal it then saw the boy. Strangely, the Prince could see him clearly but whenever he looked elsewhere all was shielded behind glass as before. This young thing had somehow broken through the surface. The fish nudged the medallion with his spear and accidentally cut the boy’s flesh deeply.

Sidion pulled his arm up with a yelp and held his bleeding wrist. "So much for being a lucky charm!" He thought. However, the pain renewed his energy! He grasped the pole and pushed towards the boats. He vowed aloud to give his all if it would save them.

The Prince listened and felt pity for the boy, and anger at himself for hurting him. He also vowed to give his all to help this boy, if it would save him.

With a mighty jump the large fish plunged his spearhead into the little raft and propelled it forward. The boy’s body severed the glass wall in front of them. It pushed the raft right between the numerous boats and without stopping, launched the raft clear onto the bank! He was pulled out of the water as well with his snout still embedded in the wooden boat.

Sidion rolled off the raft onto the grass; looking back at the pond. Before, the water had been frozen still, now it was choppy with waves. He called, “Father! Grandfather!”.

They finally noticed their boy on the bank, then looked at each other in surprise as the waves towed their boat to shore.

“What are you doing here?” Theron asked his son.

“I came to find you both.”

“Why? We were only gone one day!” Laughed Hurley.

“No,” he gulped, “Over a year!”

“How could that happen? I'd wager only a few minutes.” wondered Theron.

“The legend.” the boy panted, “You came for selfish reasons. So it wouldn't let you go.”

More boats came to shore. Everyone gathered around the little raft and stared at the giant rainbow fish skewered into the planks.

Sidion crawled over to it and placed a hand on its spear. “I have to free it.”

One stranger spoke up, “You caught it, keep it, become rich, you’d be famous!”

“No, We don’t need the money or the fame. We have enough and some to share. All I care is that my family is safe and this poor fish doesn’t suffer.”

But his snout was firmly wedged in the craft.

"Use this, Nephew!" A middle-aged man stepped forward with the sharp staff.

"Uncle Tamian? You're alive!" He now recognized the man who'd told him to make haste in his dream.

"I'm sorry I left, I too thought it was mere minutes. But it's clearly been years since I rowed out upon this enchanted pond. I'd like to come home now."

Sidion nodded then looked the fish in the eye. “The only chance you have is if I cut it off. I’m sorry, it may hurt but you deserve to be free.” He grasped the broken staff and swung it down onto the snout of the fish. With a loud SNAP the spear was broken from the fish and it flopped about freely.

It was so large and heavy, everyone had to lift together to drop the creature back into the pond. Most were sad to see it go but still helped. As soon as the fish slipped into the water all went dark before the Prince’s eyes and his lungs burned. Pushing himself clumsily to the surface he burst through and took a lungful of air. Those on the bank jumped into the water to help the Prince who was flailing about, unused to his limbs.

Once on shore, he shared his story as they clothed and fed him. He thanked them all; vowing to be selfless and help those in need...be it man or beast!

Because everyone had been selfless in releasing the fish, the curse was broken for all and they were now able to live out their days as if no time had passed. Of course, for some of the eldest, the world was much different but Sidion made sure they were treated well until they made it back to their own towns or helped them search for lost family members.

The Prince bestowed a knighthood upon the boy. His rainbow scales had indeed become precious gems and he gave them all to the lad and his family.

The now humble Prince was welcomed into the town of Rapidshire and stayed true to his word, helping those in need to the end of his days.

The pond never froze again and continued to supply the river with plentiful fish.

Sidion had broken the curse at last by his selfless acts. And to this day, HIS story is the legend that lives on!