Marigold

Marigold’s stomach was knotted. The other children had refused to let her play with them again, but now she had a way to earn their respect.  They had dared her to enter the old house on the outskirts of town, a place the townsfolk called the House of the Heretic.

A foreign man was said to have lived there many years ago. The man did not follow the customs of the land and was shunned by the town.  No one had seen the man leave the house for a long time, and strange noises came from inside its boarded up windows.

As Marigold approached the house, she heard those noises. She heard a groan, and a banging sound, like someone had knocked something over. She felt even more frightened than before. Marigold reached the door, and out of courtesy knocked three times.  No one came to the door. She started to push on the door, but it was locked from within.

She turned around to face the mob of children that was standing at the roadside. One pointed out some boards that were loose at the right side of the house. Marigold's heart sank; she had thought she might not have had to go in after all. The boards were easy to pull away, but the hole that appeared looked ominous: no light shone from within and Marigold smelled an awful stench.

The Man

She crawled through the hole and found herself in a small, dark room: a bedroom. There was straw on the floor (for sleeping?), and a pile of rags in the corner that vaguely resembled clothes. Marigold decided that she'd been in the house and that should be enough for the children to accept her. However, when she turned to go back through the gap in the wall, she heard the children laugh and jeer as the wood moved back over the hole.

Marigold started to sob; big, fat tears ran down her pale cheeks. She was terrified now and wanted to leave at any cost. She spotted a door at the end of the room, and thought that there may be an exit on the other side. Through this door was another room, and in the middle of it there was an old man. He was sitting in a rickety-looking rocking chair. Marigold assumed the old man couldn't see her--his eyes were a strange milky white color and he hadn't made any indication that he had noticed her entrance.

Marigold approached him, thinking he must still be able to talk and would hopefully tell her how to get out of this awful, dank house. Marigold watched him for a moment, her heart beating fast. She was wondering about what she would say to him.

Speaking

Marigold had never spoken to a stranger before; she had never needed to, coming from a town where everyone knew each other. She thought about something like, “Excuse me, sir, my name is Marigold and I’d like to leave your house now, please." As Marigold was pondering if that would be a good thing to say, the man suddenly reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders. Marigold screamed and abruptly fainted.

When she came to, Marigold found herself still lying on the floor but tucked up in one of the shabby blankets she had seen lying in the bedroom. Marigold laid very still, as she was not sure at all of what she should do next. After a while, Marigold decided to get up; she couldn't lie there forever. When Marigold stood up, she felt a tap on her shoulder and she jumped out of fear and surprise. She turned and discovered the old man standing right in front of her. Marigold was too scared to move.

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.

The Words!

Marigold sat down at an old, dusty harp in the corner of the room and began to play a song. She chose a happy song to play, as she wanted to lift the old man’s spirits. The old man watched as she played and smiled, and a few tears fell down his wrinkled cheeks.

When Marigold finished, Mr. Erastus thanked her and said he had something special for her. He shuffled into the bedroom and emerged, after much banging, with a scrap of paper. "On this piece on paper is something I think will help you immensely, little Marigold," said Mr. Erastus excitedly. He passed the scrap to her.
There were some strange words on the paper, ones that Marigold could not pronounce. She asked Mr. Erastus how to say them, and what they meant. As he explained, Marigold smiled and knew that this piece of paper would help her a lot.

"Goodbye, Mr. Erastus, and thank you for helping me! I promise I will come to visit you again. Just open the door when I knock next time, please!" Marigold said as she was leaving.

"Don't you worry, little Marigold, it was my pleasure to help you, and I will keep my ears open for the door in future!" laughed Mr. Erastus. He unbolted the door and let Marigold out to face the waiting children. She smiled at them and they started to heckle and jeer her, clearly unimpressed that she was not scared of the house anymore.

Marigold's heart began to beat quickly as she pulled the piece of paper out of her pocket and took a quick glance back at the house. She then faced the children once again and took a deep breath and, looking down at the paper, she slowly and carefully read the words then looked up at the children and smiled broadly. It had worked!

She let out a sigh of relief then skipped along home.