Day 110: The Seven Chairs

Here is an old story that I found that I wanted to post here.  I wrote it for a class assignment last semester in October.  It's based on one of the famous pictures by Harris Burdick.  See the picture here  The artist designed them to be creative starters to convince children and adults alike to have something inspirational to write about.  I loved the picture so much that I wanted to write a story behind it, which was also fun too.  Enjoy!  And if you liked this story, you can click on the link at the bottom of the page to look at more "Harris Burdick Mysteries."

     Once there was a woodcarver named Henry.  He was renowned for making beautiful furniture and was quite successful.  He did all the work himself, from cutting down the trees to delivering the finished furniture to his customers.  That day, Henry was walking through the forest, trying to look for some more wood to complete his next order, but he was having a difficult time.  Henry had cut down most of the suitable trees near his house, and he needed to venture farther and farther away to find wood.  Henry decided that he would walk for another half hour and turn around if he found nothing.  He did have some more wood at his workshop, but he was saving it for his wife.  He had promised to make her a new dining room table set, and so far, all he had made was the table and one chair.  

     Henry was so distracted with his thoughts that he did not realize he had wandered past a dilapidated cottage.  As he continued walking, Henry noticed that the trees were growing in a precise pattern around him.  He stopped short when he realized he was in the Forbidden Grove.  It belonged to an elderly enchantress who desired her privacy and caused trouble for trespassers.  Just as he was about to turn around, Henry saw the perfect tree.  It was large and majestic, taller than any tree he had ever seen.  Imagine working with that wood!  His eyes filled with greed.  He had to have that tree.  Henry heaved his axe high into the air and chopped into it without hesitation.  As he saw the quality of the wood, he began chopping more vigorously.  

     “This wood is too brilliant to waste on my customer,” he thought.  “I will use the wood I had been saving for my wife to make Mr. Shepler’s dresser and use this wood for my wife.”  

     Henry happily returned with the wood and resumed his work.  He had no idea that the enchantress had seen him cut down her tree, and she was not going to let him get away with it.

     After Henry was done with Mr. Shepler’s order, he started working with the large tree he had cut down.  It proved to be more splendid than he had anticipated.  It was a gorgeous hazelnut brown, durable, and the perfect consistency to carve into.  Henry had never worked with anything finer.  There was so much wood that Henry was actually able to make seven more chairs out of the tree instead of the five that he had planned.  His wife was thrilled to see her new, enlarged dining room set and continually praised her husband’s fine handiwork.  Henry’s wife was so excited with her furniture that she invited their church’s bishop and one of the nuns over for dinner Sunday night so they could see it too.

     Henry’s household consisted of six people.  Along with his wife, Henry had two children.   His daughter, thirteen, behaved fairly well, but she was prideful and complained about doing some of her chores.  His son was almost six and had gained the reputation of being the most ill-behaved boy anyone had ever encountered.  Henry’s cottage was also home to his grandparents.  Old Grandma was hard of hearing, and Old Grandpa was getting more tired and crotchety every day.  Old Grandma always yelled loudly for someone to repeat himself while Old Grandpa fell asleep at the most unusual times and places. 

     The bishop and Sister Margaret arrived promptly at seven.  Henry’s wife had a grand feast pre

pared for them and boasted about the great work her husband had done on their dining set.  Old Grandma pretended to listen to the conversation, nodding at improper places.  Henry vainly tried to stop his son from misbehaving at the table while his daughter mentally complained about how boring the bishop’s voice sounded.  Old Grandpa focused all his attention on his meal, eating with atrocious manners.  

     Meanwhile, the enchantress, who had been spying on Henry for the past two weeks, was looking in through the window from outside.  It was infuriating to see these miserable people sitting at furniture that was made from her tree.  She decided this would be the perfect moment to enact her plan.  The enchantress’s grove of trees had been made with magic, which made each tree susceptible to her witchcraft.  She recited a spell to use on her dissected tree and gleefully watched its results.  Everything happened in the blink of an eye.  Henry had been wishing that he could excuse himself from the hectic dinner when he looked up from his plate and saw that seven of his chairs, along with the people in them, had utterly disappeared!  Each person barely felt what was happening to them, just a slight rush of wind as each chair propelled itself to its destination.

     The first chair landed the bishop on top of a tree.  He was confused to see that his surroundings changed, so he looked around and noticed a caribou about twenty feet below him grazing the forest floor.  The bishop clung to his teetering chair and prayed for God to send an angel down immediately.  The wife’s chair landed in the Amazon River.  Water rushed into her mouth as she struggled to swim in the river, using her chair as a flotation device.  Old Grandpa was confused to see that his food was gone and that he was sitting in the middle of the African Savannah.  He was about to open his mouth when he saw a lion in the distance, stalking closer to him.  Henry’s daughter rapidly turned her head about and saw that she was in a strange house.  A gruff man suddenly stalked inside and towered over her.  A large hunting knife dripping with blood was at his side, and a large burlap sack was slung over his back.  He asked what she was doing in his house with a thick Australian accent, and the daughter began screaming.  

     The fifth one ended up in France.  Sister Margaret could not figure out why she was suspended in midair or how she had gotten there, but she was too petrified to find out.  Two men below started calling up to her, asking if she was alright and what they could do to help.  Sister Margaret did not seem to hear them.  She was clutching her rosary and praying fervently aloud.  Henry’s son wondered why the blood was rushing to his head.  He realized that he was upside down in his chair and struggled to sit upright.  He was at the entrance of an icy cave with the ocean about three feet from him.  A baby seal jumped onto the ice and approached him.  Henry’s son smirked and started poking the baby seal, making him cry out.  The son’s cackling hushed when a humongous mother seal jumped onto the ice and barked loudly.  Henry’s son stopped harassing the baby and backed into the cave, with the seal following him.  The seventh and final enchanted chair sent Old Grandma on top of an elephant during a Hindi procession.  If anyone noticed her appear, nothing was done.  Old Grandma clutched onto her wobbling chair and screamed for someone to help her.

     All of this happened within a minute.  Back at the cottage, Henry started frantically calling his family’s names throughout the house.  At this point, the enchantress came in and spitefully proclaimed that he would never be able to find them.  Henry knew who the enchantress was as soon as he saw her and remembered what he had done in the Forbidden Grove.  The disappearance of the seven chairs made sense now, and he was scared.  

     “What’s wrong, Henry?  Are you worried about what I might do to you?” A smiled played on her lips.

     “I am so sorry,” he pleaded.  “I never should have chopped down your tree.  Please.  Please bring my family back.”

     “Ha!  Why should I?  You got what you deserved for stealing from me.  It seems to me, it couldn’t hurt your family to have some disciplining either.”

     “I’m begging you!  I’ll do anything you ask.”

     The enchantress thought for a moment.  “I will return the seven people to you on two conditions.  First, you must promise to tell them all exactly why they were whisked away from this cottage.  They must know that it is your fault for chopping down the tree.  Second, I want you to make her a rocking chair.  I might as well get something out of you.”

     Henry nodded profusely.  “Yes, yes!  I’ll do it!”

     “Very well.”  The enchantress snapped her fingers and swept her cloak over face.  She was gone.  Henry turned around and saw that everyone was sitting back at the table.  He was overjoyed to see them.  Before he could embrace them, he was bombarded with crying and shouts for explanations.  Reluctantly, Henry explained in full detail what had happened.  There was a dead silence when he was done.  The bishop shakily rose from the chair, suspicious it might disappear again, and announced that he thought it would be best for Nun Margaret and himself to take their leave.  Sister Margaret was sitting as still as a wall with a wide-eyed expression, clutching her rosary.  After saying her name again, Sister Margaret snapped out of the daze she was in and mechanically followed the bishop out the door.  After they left, Henry’s daughter stormed upstairs, lamenting all the trauma her father had impressed upon her.  Seeing his sister leave, Henry’s son also rose from the table to warm himself by the fire.  He huddled close to it and muttered that he would be a good boy and not lie or disobey ever again.  Henry’s wife had been glaring at him the entire time through the story.  Now that her guests and children were gone, she started yelling at her husband for being so foolish and causing them to go through such an ordeal.  The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and Henry’s wife started hitting him and chasing him around the house.  Old Grandma, who had not heard Henry’s explanation very well, started shouting amidst the commotion for someone to explain why she had been riding an elephant.  Old Grandpa did not mind any of this; he was asleep at the table.  I can assure you that Henry was never tempted to steal from the Forbidden Grove again.      

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