The Little Grey Mouse-Girl
The Wizard Howl hadn't always been heartless. Back when he was just plain Howell Jenkins, he had a heart overflowing with love for his home, his rugby team, and especially his family, even though his sister Megan was the biggest nag in the world. But then he had found himself chasing a falling star across the moors, and entering into a bargain with a fire demon called Calcifer.
The fire demon was the one who suggested that Howl take over the abandoned castle in the Waste, saying truthfully that one couldn't be a Heartless Wizard without the intimidating black and gloomy castle to live in. It was Howl, however, that altered the moving spell so that Calcifer could see different parts of Ingary as they wandered around the moors and hills.
At first, Howl didn't notice his heartlessness. He pursued his studies in magic, both with Calcifer and Mrs Penstemmon (who could see Howl's lack of a heart and feared terribly that he would travel down the same path into darkness as the Witch of the Waste had), and also pursued the charming young ladies in Market Chipping or Kingsbury or even Porthaven, depending on his mood and the needs of his clients. He enjoyed the chase and the excitement of making the girl fall in love with him, but was soon bored with them once they proclaimed their affection for him, and spent their time crying noisily on the doorstep.
As he grew older, he grew more adept at "slithering out" of anything that he didn't want to do. Things that didn't interest him, or were too much effort, or took too much time away from the wooing of his latest lady-love. Which made it all the more surprising to him when he woke up one morning to find that he had been training an apprentice for the last six months without realising it. Michael gladly took over the day-to-day running of the wizarding business, much to Howl's not-very-secret relief. This gave him more time to spend in the bathroom every morning, perfecting his beauty routine.
On May Day, Howl made Calcifer set off fireworks from the castle's chimneys as a surprise for Michael's birthday. The mechanics of the spell kept Calcifer from grumbling about always being stuck inside the castle, and never having anyone to talk to apart from Howl and Michael. While Michael enjoyed the fireworks immensely, Howl took the opportunity to spend even more time in the bathroom. He had bought a new suit, a brightly patterned blue and silver colour, and wanted to look his best for the May Day festival in Market Chipping. He had heard that there was a particularly beautiful young lady who had just started working in the bakery there, and thought that he would pass by the shop and see if the gossip was true.
The market square was incredibly crowded with people the next morning. The biggest crush of people was around the bakery, and was mainly made up of young men, which confirmed in Howl's mind about the new girl working there. There were far too many people in the square itself for him to cross without crumpling his new suit, so he wriggled his way around the edges towards the bakery entrance.
Part-way around, he darted up a narrow street to avoid the group of drunken youths who were accosting people in the square. Blinking rapidly to make his eyes adjust to the sudden change from light to dark, he nearly tripped over a young lady in a plain grey dress and grey shawl who was pressed into a shop doorway. He smiled blindingly at her; she was a pretty little thing if you looked past the grey drabness of her outfit. Maybe he would steal her heart instead of the bakery shop girl's; it didn't seem that he would be able to get close enough to the bakery to talk to that girl today. He would buy this girl a drink, work his charm upon her, and her heart could be his by the end of the day.
At his smile, the girl shrank further back into the doorway, if that was at all possible. Howl ran through a mental checklist to see if there was anything he was wearing or looking like that would have caused that reaction. New blue-and-silver suit with sparkles and long sleeves, nothing to scare someone there. Freshly-washed hair, face scrubbed and teeth cleaned so well he could blind someone with his smile. He couldn't think of a single thing that would have caused that reaction in her.
"It's alright, you little grey mouse," he said, with a short laugh. "I only want to buy you a drink. Don't look so scared."
The girl blushed and stammered. "Oh, no thank you, if you please, sir. I – I'm one the way to see my sister."
Howl moved back from her, and a small twinge from where his heart should have been caused him to say with another laugh, "Then by all means, do so. Who am I to keep a pretty lady from her sister? Would you like me to go with you, since you seem so scared?"
If anything, this seemed to terrify her even more. She shook her head quickly, and dashed past him, saying as she did so, "No, no thank you, sir!" And she had disappeared into the crowd in the market square before he could blink. Ah well, she would probably have been the type of girl who Michael was the most fed up with, the ones who turned up crying on the doorstep on a daily or weekly basis and refused to believe that Howl wasn't interested in marrying them.
With a flip of his sleeves, he insinuated himself back into the crowd of people and moved purposefully towards the bakery. It was time to find the pretty girl, and make her fall in love with him.
When he thought of the little grey mouse girl who was scared of her own shadow, there was a small flicker of warmth in the cold lump of coal that was his heart. He unconsciously scanned over the crowds of people, looking for her. Maybe he could help her, have Michael research a spell for bravery to give to her if he ever saw her again.