Marigold

A Wish

“I was wondering when you were going to wake up; you have been out for quite a while now,” the old man said. Marigold was frozen in place. She had absolutely no idea of what to say to the man. So Marigold blurted out the last thing she had planned on saying to him.

“Excuse me, sir, my name is Marigold and I’d like to leave your house now, please!” she shouted, which was actually a good thing as the man was quite deaf.

“Is that so? I had hoped you might stay a short while longer. I’m brewing some tea and I have too much for just myself,” replied the old man. “Oh, and it’s nice to meet you Marigold, my name is Mr. Erastus.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you, too, Mr. Erastus, but the reason I’m here is because of the other children. They are mean to me and made me come here, and I really just want to go home,” Marigold blurted out.  She was no longer scared of the man, but was still a bit wary and wanted to go home to where she knew she would be safe.

“Ah, so the other children aren’t kind to you. I know how that must feel. My daughter had troubles just like yours,” Mr. Erastus remarked. “I think I may have a way to help you. But I would like you to do me a favor first.” Marigold wanted the children to stop teasing her more than anything, so she was quite willing to help Mr. Erastus if he could help her.  “Can you play the harp?” asked Mr. Erastus.

“Yes, I can,” replied Marigold, “But I’m not very good, I haven’t played for long.”

“That’s all right. I’d like it if you could play me a tune. My daughter used to play it for me, but I haven’t seen her for a long time, and I miss hearing music,” Mr. Erastus said sadly. Marigold felt sorry for the old man. She thought he must feel very lonely having been here alone for so long, and his wish was easy to grant.