Queen Of Wands

I have loved reading since I was three. Of course, when I was a child my favorites were usually fairy tales with their attendant attraction - magic. I was fascinated with flying carpets, rejuvenating apples, informative mirrors and, of course, state of the art Magic Wands.

 Magic Wands were neat. Having anything that you may want appearing out of thin air was a mind-blowing concept (I think not only to a three year old girl).  Unfortunately, there was quite a deficit of Magic Wands in the former Soviet Union (along with mayo and canned peas). Apparently, they were in the closely held by well hidden magical beings and not just some little girl.

 So, I came up with a backup plan. When I was offered my three wishes (doesn’t everyone get three wishes) I would ask to be the Queen. Of course the position of princess was quite dangerous as they were usually victims of some malicious Queen with a weird mirror and a sinister apple. Next on my list was to be forever young. However, it seemed that the rejuvenating remedies I had read about always had some rather unpleasant side effect (one would not like to sleep your days away or be boiled alive in hot milk). But I guess that having a Magic Wand was the best wish. Then I could have anything I wanted. I decided that that was the most clever idea of all.

 “So”, I thought, “it will probably take some time (maybe even a week or so) to meet the right magic being and ask for my wishes, but certainly I would have it by Friday.”

 The Fridays came and went, but still I waited. When my patience was nearly exhausted I finally received a clue from a very reliable source – my afternoon nap. In my dream an old and very knowledgeable lady appeared suddenly and with what seemed an interesting suggestion. She told me to travel across the sea to the Kingdom of Thirties. There I would wear out thirty pairs of shoes and sweat in thirty suits of clothes. According to this (obviously) very wise woman, that was the only way that I could ever receive the plunder of my dreams. But then I would have every chance to be in complete control of countless Magic Wands and could spin my own magic forever and ever.

 “Is that something like being a Queen?” I asked politely and carefully of the kind and grisly old woman. Of course I wanted no part of some frog bound princess deal. In answer, she just smiled. I was also a little confused as to the sheer quantity of Magic Wands that would be available in this strange land. Why would anyone ever need more than one? But I decided that there would always be someone in desperate need of a Magic Wand and this situation could turn out to be very handy for anyone I might care to bless with a spare.

The idea of a zillion Wands could be quite intriguing after all. However, I was a little worried that the location was awfully far away. What should I tell to my Mommy? And, of course, there was also that nasty sounding business about sweating … “It must be hot there”, I thought to myself. The fact that sweat can be the result of not just warm weather but also hard labor completely escaped me at the time.

 Well, time flew by and thirty years later here I am, in Southern California, across the sea from my former home with bunches of Wands (er, uh, pencils) filling every day of my life. Yes, it does involve plenty of sweat. One must work fervently to sharpen ones skills and be in control of her own set of magic tools. However, I am still a little puzzled by the wrinkles I have received. Shouldn’t “forever young” be a part of my wish?

© Alyona Nickelsen