Long ago, far away, a wizard named Atticus was troubling his neighbors in the village of Calpurnia. For Atticus liked to build contraptions. His wizardry job consumed most of his daylight hours, leaving him only the quiet night in which to work. Clank! Crash! Shooble-shooble-shooble-shooble… Really, Atticus made quite a lot of noise every night! His neighbors could not sleep.

            The Mayor wrote a great proclamation in elegant gold lettering on a long scroll tied in a bright red ribbon, forbidding Atticus to make such a racket, and tacked it to Atticus’ front door. Still, Atticus clanged and whirred all night! The next morning, when the sheriff went to arrest Atticus, the wizard greeted him at the door wearing the red ribbon on his cap. The sheriff couldn’t bring himself to arrest Atticus when he learned that Atticus couldn’t read. Atticus had thought the proclamation was a love letter from a lady of his acquaintance.

Next, the professor visited Atticus in his workshop. “Really, Atticus, you must cease and desist your nocturnal cacophonies! Terminate, discontinue, and abstain from such behavior in future endeavors!” Atticus smiled and nodded. “Absolutely!” Again, the galonking and virble-virbles continued throughout the night. Atticus hadn’t understood a word of it.

The villagers were in an uproar. They liked Atticus, and they depended on him for medicines and potions. They didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but the noise had to stop.

            The next morning, the little girl who lived next door went to see Atticus. The first things she noticed were the cotton balls in his ears. When she pointed them out, Atticus plucked them out and whooped with joy. “I thought my hearing was failing! Why, I’d forgotten all about them! Thank you, little lady! Now, is there anything I can do for you?”

“You can stop making so much noise at night,” she suggested.

“Your wish is my command!” And from then on, Atticus was quieter when working on his contraptions, with only an occasional fwoosh or thlonk. The villagers slept better at night. And when Atticus’ lady friend, whom he’d thought sent the red ribbon, came to stay, the village wizard found he preferred to do other things at night altogether.

Copyright 2006 Amy Frushour Kelly. All rights reserved.

Reproduction by any means prohibited without prior written consent.