The Wishing Star

by

Jonathan Shipton

Once, a long, long, time ago in the hills of Wales there was a village.

And in that village there was a church.

And by that church there was a small tumbledown house.

And in that small tumbledown house lived a small tumbledown boy and his name was Gareth and he was the unluckiest boy in the whole of Wales.   

And it all started like this…

Gareth was running like the wind. He was late for school. Very late. The bell had stopped ringing. He knew he was going to be in trouble and he was trying to think of a good excuse when suddenly he went roaring round a corner and crashed headfirst into an old woman. 

Now unfortunately this old woman was a part-time witch and she was very very cross indeed. She was so angry that steam started spurting from her nostrils and sparks flew out of her eyes!  Of course Gareth tried to apologise and help her up, but she shook her broomstick at him and called him such horrible names that he had to block his ears and run away.

From that moment onwards bad luck seemed to follow Gareth around like a hungry dog.

It began as soon as Gareth got home.  He went into the kitchen to tell his Mum what had happened and suddenly all the plates and saucers jumped off the shelves and smashed into a thousand pieces on the ground!

The next day the cat was sick on his homework.

And then he fell off the swing and cut his head.

And when everyone went skating on the village pond guess who fell in!

Poor Gareth was always last and late for everything.

No matter how hard he tried, or how careful he was, he got more cuts and colds and bruises than all the other children put together and multiplied by sixteen.

It was a miracle he survived!

But somehow or other the years passed and Gareth grew up into a handsome but clumsy young man. ‘Gareth my love’ said his mother ‘you’re a big lump, your socks smell, your room is a mess and you’re eating me out of house and home. It’s time you went out into the world to seek your fortune.’

‘Right you are Mam!’ said Gareth and away he went.

Now Gareth’s first job was helping the blacksmith. It was the most exciting thing he had ever done.  He loved the smell of burning coal and hot iron. And he specially loved working the fire. He had to pump up and down on the huge leather bellows so that the flames roared and danced in the grate. Unfortunately one day Gareth was daydreaming and the flames got higher and higher and higher until they started licking at the roof and then the whole building caught fire and burnt down to the ground.

His next job was in the bakery. Gareth enjoyed being a baker’s boy almost as much as being a blacksmith. He liked the sweet smell of cooking. He liked looking after the ovens and rolling out the pastry and watching the yeast bubble. Gareth was very happy. 

Before long he was learning how to mix in the flour and knead the dough. Then one day he got his big chance!

‘Gareth’ said the baker ‘I’ve got to go and see a man about a dog. Do you think you can weigh out the flour for a hundred hot cross buns?’

Gareth nodded eagerly. As soon as the baker had gone he looked in the recipe book, found the right page, picked up the bowl and carried it over to the table.

Very carefully Gareth weighed out the flour and the currants. 

Very carefully he spooned out the spices.

Very carefully he poured in just the right amount of warm water. 

And he was just very carefully shaking out the sugar when he sneezed and the whole bag splashed into the bowl!

Gareth was horrified!

Suddenly the mixture began to froth and fizzle and pop.

Then it bubbled up like a volcano and erupted down the sides of the bowl.

Gareth began to panic. He tried to hold it back with his arms but it was useless.

He poured in some more flour to dry it up but that made it even worse. The more he did the worse it became. Before long the whole of the bakery floor was a sea of sticky bubbling foam.

And then the door opened and in walked the baker!

That was the end of Gareth’s cooking career.

In fact he couldn’t get any sort of job after that. When shopkeepers saw Gareth coming down the street they would lock their doors and hide. No wonder he looked down in the dumps.

‘Never mind Gareth!’ said his Mum. ‘You must find a job out of town. Why don’t you try something simple like working with animals’?

Gareth was willing to try anything. So he polished his boots and packed his bag and away he went.

He tried several farms but as soon as he told the farmers his name they suddenly remembered they didn’t have any work at the moment.

Poor Gareth, he walked for miles and miles until at last he found a farmer who was willing to try him out.

Gareth took to farming like a duck takes to water.

He loved it even more than being a baker or a blacksmith. 

He loved the sweet smelling hay, the creamy milk, and the beautiful brown eggs.

He even liked dirty jobs like mucking out the cowshed. 

But what he loved best of all was being with the animals.

Unfortunately they weren’t quite so keen on Gareth!

Sheep butted him.

Cows kicked him.

Geese hissed at him.

Goats ate his trousers

But it was the horses that put an end to Gareth’s career as a farmer’s boy.

There was something about Gareth that turned even the most sleepy well-behaved horses into wild-eyed, kicking, spitting, bucking broncos!

It just wasn’t fair!

In the end poor Gareth had so many kicks and bites and bruises he had to say goodbye to the farm and hobble back home.

He was very fed up.  In fact he went straight to his room, locked the door and wouldn’t speak to anyone for a week.

Not even his Mum.

But one day, something happened which was to change Gareth’s life forever.

It was a beautiful, peaceful, autumn day. Gareth was out in the woods looking for mushrooms, when suddenly he heard the drumming of hooves. A horse and rider came galloping towards him through the trees. It was Megan, the miller’s daughter. He recognised her at once by her lovely long red hair.  Unfortunately at that moment Megan’s horse recognised Gareth.  It gave a wild snort, skidded to a halt and kicked up its back legs. Gareth watched in horror as Megan flew off her saddle and landed facedown, in a muddy puddle.

Fortunately she wasn’t hurt but she was very annoyed!  Her soft velvet cloak looked like a dirty dishrag and her beautiful red hair looked like one of last years bird’s nests!  Gareth ran up to help her but she pushed him angrily away. 

‘You idiot Gareth!’ she screamed. ‘Leave me alone!’  ‘You’re nothing but trouble!’

Megan stood up and looked round for her horse. It was nowhere to be seen. She stamped her feet with rage and frustration. Just as she was about to storm off down the track she caught sight of Gareth.   He was slumped against a hazelnut tree. He looked a picture of total and utter misery. He was sagging as if someone had taken out all his stuffing and thrown it away. Megan hurried over to where he stood and laid her hand on his drooping shoulders.

‘I’m sorry Gareth,’ she said. ‘ I shouldn’t have shouted. It wasn’t really your fault.’

Gareth turned round and looked down into Megan’s mud-splattered face and for a few seconds he understood that the world wasn’t such an awful frightening place.

And when the miller’s daughter saw that faint flicker of hope in Gareth’s eyes, she felt herself glowing inside and at that moment they fell in love with each other.

Then they decided to get married.

Well the villagers were so pleased with Gareth’s good fortune that they built the happy couple a little house right out in the country.  And when the last nail had been hammered in, and the last curtain hung, everyone cheered and clapped and Gareth picked up his bride and carried her over the threshold of their new home.

Then he skidded on a rug and broke his leg. By the end of the year things were looking about as bad as bad could possibly be!

There were slugs in the potatoes.

Weevils in the flour.

Mice in the larder.

Holes in the roof.

There was no wood for the fire.

And Megan was about to have a baby, but there was no money and no nappies let alone a cradle for the little mite to sleep in!

And did I mention that it was the coldest winter for ninety-nine years?

Poor Gareth didn’t know what to do, so one day he trekked down to the village to see if his old mother could help.

‘Of course I will!’ said his Mum. ‘ Don’t worry about a thing!’  So Gareth’s Mum came to stay and for a few days she was as busy as a hive full of busy bees.

She sewed and knitted. She made acorn bread. She boiled up soup. She washed the curtains. She scrubbed the floors. She mended all the blankets.  It was wonderful! Gareth started feeling much better!

Megan even smiled once or twice.

But I’m afraid it didn’t last for very long! 

One morning Gareth was woken up by a heavy thud followed by a loud scream.

It was his Mum. She had fallen out of bed and was lying on the hard stone floor.

‘O Gareth Bach!’ she wailed. It’s awful!’

‘I can’t see you!’

‘I can’t see anything!’

‘I’m blind.’

Poor Gareth was at his wit's end!

The baby was due.

The roof was dripping.

His mother had lost her sight.

There was a raging blizzard outside.

What else could go wrong? he thought to himself.

And he picked up the kettle and burnt his hand!

The poor man sank slowly to the floor and tears of despair filled his eyes.

But still he didn’t give up! He bandaged his hand, put on his coat, picked up his axe, and went off into the snow to try and find something for them to eat.

There wasn't much.

A few wrinkled berries that the birds had left on the bushes.

A few mouldy hazelnuts that the squirrels had forgotten to hide.

But nuts and berries were better than nothing!

Poor Gareth put them in his bag and trudged on through the falling snow looking for dry sticks for his fire.

It was getting more and more difficult because the snow was falling so thickly he could hardly see in front of his nose. He was just about to give up when he stumbled over a large fallen branch. It was perfect! Just what they needed. He lifted the end onto his shoulders and started to drag it through the snow.

It was hard, slow, work.  Only the thought of Megan and his Mum waiting at home kept him going.  He walked and walked till he found himself on the edge of a clearing in the woods. Poor Gareth was exhausted. His feet felt like lumps of lead, his fingers were as cold as icicles. He couldn’t drag the branch another step. Gareth stopped in the middle of the clearing and was just about to sink down into the snow when he saw something move!

He let go of the branch and trudged over to see what it was, hoping to find a rabbit trapped in the brambles.

But when he got closer he could hardly believe his eyes.

There in front of him stood the most beautiful white unicorn.

As soon as it saw Gareth, the unicorn stopped struggling and stood completely still. Gareth put down his bag and walked slowly towards the unfortunate animal, intending to release it from the brambles.

But halfway there a sudden dark thought struck him.

Gareth remembered that unicorns were very rare indeed.

And very very valuable!

He knew that the horn of a unicorn was worth its weight in gold

And the skin of a unicorn was more precious than the finest silk.

And with the eyes of a unicorn you could foretell the future

And with the tail of a unicorn you could never grow old.

Thanks to this unicorn all his problems could be solved.

He could fix the roof.

He could buy blankets and cradles.

He could buy medicine for his mother's eyes

His family would never be hungry again.

And all it would take was one arrow...

Gareth looked at the unicorn and sighed.

And then he ran back home to fetch his bow.

Half an hour later he returned, expecting to find that the unicorn had broken free and was a hundred miles away.

But it was still there!

Its magnificent head bowed sadly towards the snowy ground.

It was so white and silent

It looked like a sculpture in the snow.

Gareth unhooked his bow, carefully slotted an arrow onto the string

He pulled the string a little tighter.

And a little tighter again.

Then he took a deep breath, took aim at the unicorn's heart and was just on the point of letting go, when the unicorn lifted its head and looked at Gareth with its soft brown eyes.

For a few agonising moments the bow trembled in his hands.

He imagined all the riches that killing the unicorn would bring him.

He thought how happy it would make his wife.

But then he looked in his heart and just couldn’t let go.

Slowly he lowered the bow.

He walked towards the trapped unicorn and carefully untangled the thorns and brambles from around its legs.

At last, with a cry of joy, the unicorn danced into the air and was free. But instead of running away, she trotted over to Gareth and nuzzled him gently with her warm velvety nose.

'Thank you', said the unicorn.

You have given me back my life now I want to give you something.’

And so saying, she lowered her head till the spiral tip of her horn touched Gareth’s hand. Suddenly his fingertips started tingling and every hair in his body stood on end.

‘I will give you a wish,’ said the Unicorn

One wish.

You can choose anything!

But you must hurry.

Unless you use your wish tonight.

It will be lost forever.’

Gareth couldn’t believe his ears!  He wanted to say something but nothing sensible came out.  It was like being in a dream. All he could do was open and shut his mouth and stare as the unicorn trotted away. As she reached the edge of the clearing she turned her head and looked back at him

‘Remember Gareth,’ she called, ‘One Wish. One Night!’ 

And with a swish of her silver tail the lovely creature galloped away into the darkness.

Gareth stood there for a while, pinching himself with disbelief. ‘Talking animals! Magic wishes!’ He couldn't wait to tell his family the good news.

At first Gareth's wife and mother thought he had gone completely round the bend.

‘A Wish? ’They snorted!

‘Unicorns?’

‘Loonycorns!’

They didn’t believe in magic or unicorns.

All they knew was that Gareth had come back without his bag.

And there was nothing to put in the pot.

And no wood to keep them warm!

Then gradually they realised that Gareth was telling the truth. So they called him a sentimental idiot for letting the unicorn go. Because although they didn't really believe in unicorns:

They had heard that the horn of a unicorn was worth its weight in gold

And the skin of a unicorn was more precious than the finest silk.

And with the eyes of a unicorn you could foretell the future

And with the tail of a unicorn you could never grow old.

 ‘You’re soft in the head!’ they said. ‘We could have been richer than the queen!’

  But Gareth asked them to look inside their hearts and see what they would have done in his place.  And the two women looked and realised that they would probably have done the same. ‘Well anyway he’s still got the wish’ said Megan. Then they were angry no more. Though they were still very cold and very hungry.

So Poor Gareth trudged back out into the snow and after searching for a while he found the branch and the berries and he dragged them back and lit a small fire to keep out the bitter cold. And then they huddled round the flames and they all tried to think of one really good wish.  

‘I can think of hundreds of things’ began Megan.

'I wish our luck could change.'

'I wish we had warm clothes and a lovely cradle for the baby to sleep in. '

'I wish we would never be hungry and cold.'

Poor Gareth's mother nodded and said:

'I would wish for all those too'

'And I wish I could see again.

'And I wish I had money and jewels to make your lives better than mine.'

And Gareth took both their hands in his and said:

'I wish you could have all those things.

I wish I could have a job.

'I wish we had blankets for the baby.'

'I wish we had a larder with enough food for twenty years'

'I wish we had a barn with enough wood for a thousand fires. '

'I wish we had a horse and cart.

I wish we lived in a house where the snow didn't blow through the walls '

Then the poor man buried his head in his hands and moaned.

How could he possibly choose just one wish from such a long list?

All through the night the two women tried to help him make up his mind. It wasn’t easy but after many hours they had boiled their wishes down to three.

Gareth chose a nice place to live.

Gareth’s mother chose her sight.

And Poor Gareth's wife that her baby should never be hungry.

But they still couldn’t decide which one was the best! 

Suddenly Gareth looked up and was horrified to see a soft pink glow outside.

 It was nearly morning!

He had run out of time!

He leaped up from the table

'What shall I say? What shall I say? ' he shouted.

And he rushed out just as the last star faded from the sky.

When Gareth returned he was looking very pleased with himself.

'Well, you didn't choose a change of luck', sighed Gareth’s wife looking at the broken door handle.

'You didn't chose the gift of sight', said the old woman wiping a tear of disappointment from her cheeks.

'And I didn't chose a nice place to live! ' Laughed Gareth, looking around the room.

'This was my wish!'

And as he spoke a single sunbeam burst through a hole in the roof and lit up the middle of the room. For a moment Gareth’s wife was speechless with astonishment.

There on the kitchen table stood the most beautiful cradle anyone had ever seen!

It was made of solid gold and studded with diamonds and rubies and precious stones.

It was so bright and sparkling it almost hurt your eyes to look at it.

It was a cradle fit for a princess!               

‘Was That really what you wished for?’  Demanded Gareth’s wife.

He nodded proudly.

'O, Gareth’ she groaned,  ‘I love you. I love you very very much'

'But you are a complete and utter TURNIP HEAD!' 

And when the old woman learned how her son had wasted his wish, she was so furious she chased him round the room, beating him with her stick.

But Poor Gareth kept on smiling. Deep down in his bones he was certain that he had done the right thing.

And he put on his hat and coat, picked up the golden cradle and walked out of the door...

Much later on, when Gareth came back, there was no sign of the beautiful cradle

And he wasn’t ‘Poor’ anymore!

He was riding a beautiful horse and cart.

He was wearing a shiny new hat and a lovely warm coat.

There were bags of carrots, sacks of potatoes,            

Shiny new pots and pans.

Rugs and blankets.

Buttons and bonnets and bows.

He even had medicine to cure his mother’s blindness.

Gareth’s family couldn’t believe their eyes. 

Quickly they set to and unloaded the cart and before very long the house was transformed. There was a nice big stew bubbling on the stove and everywhere was clean and tidy and warm.

The very next day the baby was born!

Gareth thought he was going to explode! He jumped in the air. He kissed the horses!  He danced for joy!

In fact Gareth was so excited he invited the whole village to the baby’s Naming Party!

There was music and dancing.

There was feasting and fireworks.

Everyone came from miles around. And they all bought presents for the little baby. And when they saw her for the first time, they all agreed she was the most beautiful baby they had ever seen.

Then at midnight, the time came for Gareth and Megan to choose her name.

So they called her Seren because she was a star.

And she was lovely,

And perfect,

And when she sparkled, it almost hurt your eyes.

Well the party carried on until the early hours of the next morning.

Nearly everyone seemed to be having a good time

But sadly...

All good things have to come to an end.                      

Gareth picked up baby Seren and started walking to the front door to wave goodbye to his guests.

Everybody in the room watched and held their breath waiting to see what disaster was going to happen next.

But Gareth didn’t trip over the sleeping cat...

Or bump his head on the low beam...

And the baby didn’t slip out of his hands...

And when he opened the door the handle stayed fixed.

And when he walked down the garden path

He didn’t even step in the puddle

Or tread on the hedgehog

Or scratch his nose on the rose!

And even when Megan and Gareth and Seren stood right out in the middle of the road gazing up at the stars, he didn’t turn step back, fall into a pothole and twist his ankle.

There weren’t even any runaway horses,

or low-flying owls.

In fact,

(knock on wood and keep all your fingers crossed…)

for the whole

Of the rest of Megan and Gareth and little Seren's lives 

Every Single Thing

Went Gloriously Right!

*    *     *