comfortable room, with cushions. He set me down onto a chair, Harmonia on another chair, and he took a third. “Well, I’m curious to find out both of your stories.” He pointed at me. “You, first.”
I lifted my head, startled. “You can understand me?”
“Of course I can, you goose.” He grinned. “I’m a wizard; didn’t you notice?”
“Heh,” Harmonia said.
I told him my point of view. Howard looked serious. “I knew you had a charm in you; I could sense it. My first instinct is to recover it, but since it’s been in you so long, I’m not sure that’s feasible.”
I felt disappointment, and, oddly enough, hope.
“Let’s hear your story, Harmonia.”
She told her story. She didn’t hold anything back.
“Your predicament is a bit simpler, although the spell has been on you for a long time; I think I can transform you back to human.”
“Really?” Harmonia looked the same as I felt.
He sat back into his chair. It was an odd looking thing, with cushions and a foot rest that manually came up off of the floor. I looked at it. “Another future invention.” He looked at us both. “So what’s the problem?”
“Don’t get me wrong…” Harmonia started.
“You’re very nice, I’m sure… “ I said.
“Mmmm. You’re not sure about this.”
“When I woke up this morning, I was held in the room of a giant.”
He set the chair up. “Fair enough explanation. Well, you can both stay here until you change your minds.” He picked Harmonia up. “I’m going to have to put a protection spell on the house, though.”
Harmonia screwed up her lips. “Other wizards?”
“You know.” He looked out of the window. “In fact, you don’t know that I have honorable intentions.”
“Oh, no,” Harmonia said. “I’ve been enchanted long enough so that I can tell these things. You’re one of the good ones.”
So we stayed in Howard’s house. I kept having children, but, as Howard explained, I found out that they never would have hatched, no matter if I had kept them or not. I could tell whether they were boys or girls, but apparently that was just their original potential; they were still gold. Harmonia played her tunes to Howard as he relaxed; when he was working, she liked to stand over his shoulder, watching. He accused her of stealing his secrets, but he was joking; a wizard was born, not one by study, although it helped.
One day, he came up to me. “I’ve figured out how to get the charm out of you without harming you.” He looked regretful. “But you’ll forget everything you’ve ever known and be just an ordinary goose. And I’ll regret that. I like you as you are.” He shook his head. “And not because of the eggs.”
“But,” I said, “I’ll be able to mate and have children.”
He sighed. “Yes.”
Harmonia looked in from the other room. “Please don’t do it, honey. I’ll miss you.”
I felt anxious. “And I’d miss you.” I looked at Howard. “But I can stay the way I am without any harm?”
He smiled. “Of course.”
“But I couldn’t have a mate or children.”
“You could have a mate. I suspect you wouldn’t like him, because geese aren’t generally terribly smart.”
Harmonia yelled from the other room. “That’s a disadvantage?”
I laughed.
“Do I have to make a decision today?”
“No, of course not.”
So I thought and I thought about children and mates and friends and interesting discussions. I finally made a decision.
Well, which would you choose?
End
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