And that was that. What else is one to say about a sudden transformation into a common barnyard animal? Mimi supposed she was less amazed than others would have been, what with being the daughter of a sorcerer and all, but it is still unsettling to no longer be in one's own accustomed body. With near curiosity she flapped her wings . The strength of the wings surprised her. She snapped the bill that had replaced half of her face. It was a horrible, toothless thing. With a sudden explosion of rage she dived at Lavender.
But in a display of omniscience Lavender stepped out of harm's way, laughing at her own little joke.
And tragically that is when Mimi discovered she had very little control of this new goosey body. The flat feet slid under her.
"I hate you!" Mimi screamed. "Where is my father?" Yes, her father. He was powerful. Everyone knew that. He would certainly fix this mess.
"Your father, my rotten husband," Lavender replied smoothly, " Is momentarily indisposed. He is in no position to help his nasty little daughter."
Mimi's heart froze. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"I don't think that is your concern right now, darling. You are not very attractive as a goose, I'm sorry to say. Then again, you never were in your human form. Perhaps this is better."
Mimi twisted her long neck around to stare in horror at the white-splotched mass of grey feathers that was now her. And no, it was not an attractive shade of grey. She wanted to cry. It was awful to be so ashamed of a how she looked when the crucial problem was that she was no longer human. "I don't understand."
Lavender tossed her black hair back and stared thoughtfully at the sky. She wore deep blue today—it did not match well with the outdoors. "Well, Mimi, I had never truly considered punishing you. I don't think you realize just how wise and powerful your father is. You were just something that got in the way. But I dealt with you well enough."
Mimi attempted another attack. In vain.
"Good thing I did not transform you into something with teeth. You certainly have the spirit." At least Lavender's smile disappeared into a scowl of disgust. "I am so glad you will not be wandering around her long." And with that she gave Mimi a kick with her foot.
Mimi fell to her side, completely at a loss for how to get up, and before she could do anything else Lavender scooped her up in her arms. "By the way, your father won't be meeting you."
"What did you do to him?" Mimi doubted she would answer the question this time, but when one has been magically transformed into a goose one tends to become rather persistent.
No, she did not answer. She did not even speak or laugh. Finally, exhaustion over took Mimi and she went limp in Lavender's arms like a partially full bag of flour.
"Good girl," she finally said. Her voice was soft, as if Mimi were a baby she actually cared about. "It will be much easier to transport you this way."
Where was she taking her? Mimi cursed herself for not having the gumption to fly away when she had the chance. And then do what? What good would flying away do?
Without another word, Mimi's evil stepmother took off down the path from the castle, black hair flowing behind her. It must have been a lovely scene, a pretty woman carrying a goose in the woods. How domestic.
It was ironic. Mimi had always wanted to leave the castle and venture out into the world and fate had decreed she would have to leave as a goose. The trees twisted around us, tall and green and smelling like nothing she had ever smelled before. Or maybe her senses were sharper as a bird. Before long the trees gave way to a truly pastoral scene of open sky, a dusty road winding through the countryside. There was the occasional small house, a few passing citizens who bowed to Lavender.
The oddity of the situation! Mimi was, in some small way, excited. She had never seen anything like it. People. Open sky.
Of course she then considered the terror of her situation and began to panic. She had been put under yet another spell and had been abducted and who knew where she was being taken. At least it was during this time that she had the brilliant revelation that perhaps she should scream for assistance from one of these nice, folksy farmers. Yes, that might result in a lot of screaming as no one was as accustomed to magic as Mimi, but maybe someone smart enough would get over the oddity and do something. Like what? Lavender was a fairy, a powerful fairy that would probably turn her would-be rescuer into a toad.
But that didn't work. She tried it on the first intelligent people she saw: a woman and her two children. Mimi opened her mouth and screamed "Help!"
She expected screaming or shock or pointing fingers or something, but all the woman did was nod politely at Lavender. "You're traveling an awfully long way with that goose, aren't you, ma'am?"
True statement. Fairies must have energy unknown to humans. They had been traveling for hours. Lavender smiled "I grew up with this. No mind. I'm bringing the goose to a woman who lives outside of Ralwood."
The woman laughed, pulled a finger from her son's nose, and said "Well, then, have good day."
"A wonderful day to you as well, ma'am." Why was Lavender now so ridiculously polite?
And they kept on walking. As soon as the woman and children were out of sight Lavender gave a little laugh. "They can't understand you."
"What? You can understand me." Mimi seemed to be speaking intelligibly enough.
Another laugh. "Yes, I can. But to everyone else you are just the gabbing of a goose. I'm not that stupid."
So much for that idea. "Who is this woman outside…?"
"Ralwood? A peasant woman. She raises geese. You will have a lovely time with her."
"What does she raise the geese for?"
Lavender gave a nasty little smile she did not particularly like.
"You're going to make money off me?"
"I don't care about money, Mimi. She won't notice one goose more or less. Now hush like a good girl until you arrive at your new home."
It was like a story. But never one she had wanted. If a princess were turned into an animal, it was something lovely. Not a goose.
She did not even have the nerve-wracking, never-ending time toward her fate. She was supposed to suffer, dread. But no. Soon civilization appeared in the form of a sparse grouping of little farms. Dusk was approaching, bringing with it the usual amount of night-time bugs. Mimi felt a small urge to eat one but her human mind fortunately succeeded. There, nestled in the evening shadows, was a little wooden hut next to a fenced yard of… geese. Stupid, noisy geese.
"Your new home," Lavender sang. She waltzed up to the fence and tossed Mimi over it. Don't even think of escaping. Actually, it won't matter. You'll be under this spell either way."
Mimi thought fast. What had all the traveler's stories said? "The spell. How do I break the spell?"
Lavender raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
Mimi stared at her as menacingly as a goose could possibly stare. "All spells can be broken."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Children these days. You think everything is so easy. No, not all spells can be broken by a kiss or something stupid like that. Where did you hear such moronic ideas?"
"Travelers," Mimi answered with much less confidence.
"Figures." Then, after hours and hours of carrying a goose, she disappeared into the air.
Mimi was thrilled to see her vanish. Time to begin her escape. Geese could fly. This would be no trouble at all. There was only one small problem. She had no idea how to fly. She flapped her wings. But nothing happened. At least, nothing important. She against felt the strength of her wings. She felt what they were supposed to do. But that supposed to was not quite happening. Several times she managed to get a foot or so into the air only to fall back in surprise.
It was late by the time she finally gave up. Stars dotted the sky, but she did not bother to look for any new constellations. The other geese had curled up and she finally plopped down next to them. She wanted to cry. She was a goose. She could not fly. She had no idea what was going to happen to her.
Things became more complex several hours later. Much more complex.
As she sat there, pitying herself, she changed. The goose feathers melted into skin and there she was, a human Mimi sitting stark naked in the middle of a goose pen.
It was a miracle. Some spell Lavender had cast. The timing was terrible. She climbed to her feet, a little humiliated at the lack of clothes, but no one was around.
"Mimi!"
Great. Back to normal and someone had already spotted her. She covered herself as best she could and sank back to the ground, blushing.
The squirrel from that morning sat on the fence, staring at her with huge eyes. She was not sure if she should feel ashamed in front of a talking squirrel.
"You!" she hissed. "You talk! What are you doing here?"
"I followed you," he replied, stretching out his arms in a rather human fashion. "I want to help you!"
"Help me by finding me something to wear. Why didn't you talk earlier?"
"You couldn't understand me then. Now you're under a spell." He nodded his head toward some clothing forgotten on a clothesline. "There's those."
"I'm not under a spell," she said. She again wondered what the squirrel thought of her being naked and hopped over the fence for the first old dress she touched. "I'm me again."
The squirrel shook his head. "At the moment."
"What do you mean? Lavender messed up on the spell. It's over already."
"She had a small interference, that's all. You couldn't understand me if the spell was over. Trust me. I've seen this spell a dozen times." He held something up in his paws. A seed. The seed he had grabbed from Lavender. "If I'm right, and I think I am, you have one hour to be a human. At least you have that much over Lavender."
"One hour? No!" She slipped the dress over her head. It fit as well as she could have hoped. "How do you know this?"
"That's my guess," said the squirrel. "I'm sorry, Mimi but that is how it is. It's an herbal spell. 24 seeds to turn you into a goose. One for each hour of the day. I got one."
It was all too logical. "But I don't want to be a goose!"
"I'm sorry. But I'll find a way to help you. I promise."
She sighed. "My hero is a squirrel."
"Is that a problem?"
"After this day… no." She shook her head. "Thank-you. I truly am grateful. I just…" The tears that had been kept back all day spilled out. "I don't even know how to get back home."
But to the squirrel's credit, he waited patiently for her to stop. She dried her eyes on the dress sleeve. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's been a terrible day. I'm sorry I couldn't get you out of that castle earlier."
"Why do you want to help me?"
If squirrels could show cockiness, this one did. "Please. Do you think you are the only that has suffered under Lavender? She's cruel and has more enemies than she probably realizes. Kind of sad, in a way."
"What did she do to you? You're under a spell if I can talk to you."
The squirrel's tail twitched. "I… I would discuss your situation."
She sat down again. "What should I call you?"
"By my given name, if you could. It is Blake."
"Blake the Squirrel. I like it."
"Thank-you. Now, I can't stay long. In an hour, if I'm right, you'll turn back into a goose until two o'clock in the morning tomorrow. Such a random time. Then again, everyone will be asleep and thus miss your…" If squirrels could blush, Blake did.
"You have a point," Mimi said miserably.
"I'll find you again. I have to leave. Just don't let yourself get killed or anything."
"What?" She felt sick. "I was hoping Lavender was just teasing and—"
"Mimi," Blake said. "You're a very clever girl. You will be fine. You have taken care of yourself for years and you can do it now."
That nearly sent her crying again. "Thank-you, Blake."
"Now I have to leave. Stay here. I'll come back tomorrow. Don't leave. Good luck and I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he scampered off.
"I don't want to stay here!" she called after Blake. But he did not respond.
She sat down and shivered. The night was cold. She wanted to trust Blake. He had warned her this morning. But she did not want to stay in that horrible pen with the geese.
She hoped Blake was wrong, but in less than hour she was a goose again. She was not surprised. That was the saddest part. But what Blake had was encouraging and intriguing. He had to leave, did he? She fell asleep that night theorizing that Blake was a handsome prince transformed into a squirrel, bound by the same rigorous time frame.