He Was A Good Master
He's gone now. I don't know if I am happy or sad. I did love Prospero. He may have kept me prisoner, but I was better off than before.
When she held me, when that evil witch held me her prisoner she held me captive in a tree. A tree! There is no wind in a tree! There is no where for a restless spirit such as myself to move in a tree! But I could not do those things se commanded of me. I am a gentle spirit, even as I am a wild spirit. I was meant to roam this wide earth with my kind and a tree was a sorely poor keep for such a wanderer. I almost broke to her will in my agony, until I heard him.
He set me free from that grave of pine, allowed me some freedom, but again I was controlled. He was still more powerful than I. Prospero, my savior, became my captor. But it was a kind captor he became.
Prospero did not like to have things go against him. Especially when that something might endanger his daughter. I doubt that anyone shall ever again see him as angry as he was when Caliban betrayed him and attacked his daughter, the fertile Miranda.
He disliked being pestered as well, though his wounds from his exile reminded him to be a little more remembering of those around him. He knew I wished for my freedom and I am certain he always meant to one day return it to me. He simply wished to see his daughter taken care of before he freed me. I remember he once bade me to care for her if ever he died before delivering her to a husband. Everything he did was to help provide for her, now that I allow myself to remember it. And he was as good a master as a father.
Caliban, that wretched deceitful creature, had once been like his son, though a hairy son he would've been. Prospero taught him to read and write and to even speak, something not even his own mother had cared to do. Caliban had never known love before and so could not grant Prospero any thing more than fear created by power, as an unruly subject might grant its god, though Prospero was certainly no god.
Prospero may not have been a god, but he was powerful enough to hold me, and since I did not have to do anything I resented, I did not fight him. I pestered him for my freedom, though. He hated that, but showed he knew why I did it by how he calmed me afterward with his promises of upcoming release.
After he first released me, he had me do little stuff. Simply to see what I could do, I guessed. I did not let him see all the power I held. I did not yet trust him. But then the years past and we became better friends, even if he was still my master. I came to know him, a quiet studious man who wished to set right what had been done to him. When he told me to sink a ship I had seen on the waters I was surprised, until he told me the significance of the ship.
This ship carried the men who had exiled him here. The very same men who could make it all right again, even if only in Prospero's mind. Plus, they had a prince, a young man who might suit his dear Miranda as a husband.
Prospero gave me instructions for the crew, men and rest of the ship before sending me on my way. I was happy to be soaring high and free again, happy to have my way with the elements once more. But I was concerned for my master too. I did love him, as one would in my situation. So I went a little further in my plans and kept the boat intact, just letting the people aboard think that they had been wrecked. I brought to shore those that I needed and kept to my master's plans there after. He was pleased with my efforts in the end, finding it to be a pleasant surprise.
He was pleased with all my efforts, especially after I had reported my successful sinking, since it was then that he gave me what I most desired, a definite date of release. That made me the most willing servant he could ever have, and very protective of his person. Once I no longer had the knowledge of servitude weighing me down, we even had fun. Caliban is a delightful person to torture. And those dogs were fun to conjure. I especially liked the drunkards faces as the ran past us, terrified. I think the jester was actually calling for his mother...
Now it's all over. He freed me as he promised, as I freed him when I led the ship to the island for their rescue. We are even now, I believe, but he was a good master. Maybe I'll follow him before I go to join my fellow spirits in dancing high in the air. I would not have the untamed sea swallowing my favorite human after all.