Witch

The Frog Prince

Once, sometime ago, there was a privileged young girl, who often went out into the forest to play. Her name was Adeline. Despite her many admirable qualities, Adeline was often a victim of her own carelessness. One evening, while playing, she set down her gold ball on the edge of a local well. Not only was this ball actually made of gold, but it had been given to her by her father, who was often absent due to his numerous responsibilities in the adult world. This being said, the ball also held a significant sentimental value and Adeline was loath to part with it. However, she did part with it, as the moment she set it down it fell into the well. Several hours later, upon discovering this blunder, she fell into a fit of hysterical weeping.  Little did Adeline know that recently a frog had taken up residence in that very same well. The frog, disturbed by her excessive crying, arose in the hopes of restoring the peace.  At first she was surprised, and turned away as she was not overly fond of amphibians.  But her father had always encouraged her to be courteous to others regardless of their exterior, so she momentarily ceased crying and turned attention to the frog. The frog, charmed by Adeline’s attentive gaze and surpassing beauty, quickly inquired about the sources of her distress,
“Why are you crying?”

  “Well, you see, I’m afraid I’ve lost my cherished gold ball to the bottom of your well” she sobbed
Retrieving the ball would require no great effort from the frog, as nature had equipped it with an ideal physique for water related activities. But the frog was a shrewd businessman and instead of diving for the ball directly he put forth this bargain:
“I can easily retrieve you’re ball for you, and I won’t ask much in exchange. You may not know this, but the life of a frog is lonely and fraught with the danger of predators and the misfortune of inadequate resources. I see that you are well provided for and so I ask that, in exchange for your ball, you take me in and provide me with necessities and the pleasure of your company.”
Being an adolescent, Adeline rarely gave appropriate consideration to the consequences of her actions. This poor judgment, coupled with the desire to have the ball and her inexperience in the ways of the world, resulted in a quick acceptance of the frogs offer.
Unfortunately, the ball preceded the frog out of the well, giving her enough time to both contemplate the potential reaction of her father, and to snatch the golden ball away before the frog could stop her.
The next day, she was surprised to find the frog knocking at her door. Her father was even more surprised and not altogether pleased by the visit. After hearing his daughter re-account the events of the previous day, he declared;
“I am unhappy with the importance you have placed on the material vs. the importance you have placed on your own safety. However, since the frog appears to be relatively harmless, I encourage you to make good your word and invited it in. That which you have promised, you must preform.” Having been thusly directed, Adeline took the frog into the house. That night it ate off of her plate, slept on her pillow, and flattered her shamelessly. The frog left at dawn but returned by the next evening. This it did for three days and three nights. On the fourth evening, the frog made it’s final request; a kiss.
So overwhelmed was she with sympathy for the frog that she begrudgingly agreed, and placed her mouth against the point of the frogs face.  Instead of falling to the pillow afterwards, the frog transformed.  “I, who was cruelly tricked by wicked forces and transformed into a frog, have been freed. You have broken this evil spell and now I am restored to my original form. I am eternally grateful to you for this service, and want to demonstrate my new-found love by making you my bride-to-be.” The religion of the girls family, which gave them their our solid morals and respect for right and wrong, also encouraged an unreasonable faith in the miraculous. Therefore she accepted this explanation without question.

The Queen of Rats

Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies, husha, husha, they all fall down.

A lot of people hold rats responsible for spreading the black plague of the thirteen hundreds, but really it was fleas. The bacteria that caused the plague has mysteriously disappeared so no one can say precisely, but some scientist think it originated in flea stomachs and was spread to whatever they bit. The black plague originated in china, and eventually spread throughout Eurasia, killing one third of the population.  Ill-advised medical practices and a lack of personal hygiene/sanitation did not help, but still, no other event in the history of mankind can lay claim to destruction that extensive. The only thing they really got right was that fire could kind of shield people from the plague. They burned fires on the street corners in the hopes that it would dissipate the 'fog of death' brought down by some astronomical event. The Pope of Avignon (there were two Popes, back in the day) was surrounded by a ring of fire at all times and he got out scott free.  The black plague was also kind of the origin of biological warfare. Invading armies would sometimes catapult infected corpses over the walls of their enemies in order to weaken them. I've never heard of a rat doing anything like that.

Out of Love

When an old woman looks down on her garden, which she has carefully cultivated, she only wants to see the blooming flora. The Gothel Witch was an old woman at her core, which was why she was distraught by trespassing. Her closest neighbour, a young Lord, was not so. When his pregnant wife relished a rapunzel lettuce in the Gothels garden he was caught between two classic fairytale plunders; denying the craving of a pregnant woman, or thieving from a known witch. Perhaps out of foolishness or perhaps out of love he opted for the latter. After three nights of ravishing the garden, the Gothel caught him and prepared to take his life. Perhaps out of cowardice or perhaps out of love he made one final desperate plea; In exchange for the mercy of the witch and his own throat he promised to forfeit his unborn child. Now, the Gothel witch had a deep sense of equivalent exchange and so she paused to consider before extracting her vengeance. The rapunzel in her garden she had nourished like her own child, and so the bargain seemed to be a fair one. “So be it,” she said, and so it was. Nine months after, despite the mothers tear, the Lords first child vanished into the arms of the Gothel witch forever.  It was only many years later that the infant child’s fate could be known for sure. Perhaps out of revenge or perhaps out of love, the witch confined the child to a tower. This particular tower had several unique properties; firstly, it was so well concealed by forest that not even the keenest woodsman ran across it. Secondly, there was no door way to the tower, no stairs, and no entrance to speak of apart from a high window. To circumvent this inconvenience, the Gothel employed her magical prowess. She took the hair of her new daughter, who she named Rapunzel, and grew it to an unprecedented length. Then Rapunzel could lower it from the window an let the witch climb up to her. It was a clever ploy as it enabled the witch to come and go as she pleased, but kept Rapunzel trapped.  After fifteen years the witch grew so confident with her scheme that she sometimes left the tower for long stretches of time. What she had not calculated for was the lost and confused prince that found it. From his makeshift camp in the woods he was enchanted by Rapunzels singing. He whiled away his hours carefully observing the comings and goings of the witch. After a week or so he grew bold. When he was reasonably sure the witch was away for a time he approached the tower and called “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair.”  Now, Rapunzel was raised in isolation, but still she knew the voice was not that of the witch. Perhaps out of curiosity or perhaps out of love she let down the rope of her hair for the stranger beneath. When the prince reached the top he surveyed the inner workings of the tower and was even more smitten then before. He stayed for the next three nights, and took advantage of all he saw there. When Rapunzel had lowered him down on the final morning, he swore he would return and free her. While she was awaiting him the Gothel witch returned and was suspicious of her daughter.  Because of this, she stayed for many months. She stayed for so long, in fact, that she witnessed her daughters gowns grow tight and her stomach grow round. In a fit of rage she procured Rapunzels confession of her liaison with the intruding prince. The witch then cut the braid from Rapunzels hair and banished her into the forest forever. Perhaps out of shame or perhaps out of love Rapunzel quietly went. The prince soon returned as he had promised, and called up to the tower. The witch herself lowered the remains of her daughters long hair for him. When he had ascended he came face to face with her. Furious as she was at the man who had violated her daughter, she pushed him backwards out of the window and he fell headlong to the ground. To his great fortune the witches own flora, planted at the base of the tower, broke his fall and spared him from death. But the bushels were of roses and their thorns gauged out his eyes. Though he was blinded he stood up. Perhaps out of rage or perhaps out of love he felt at the wall for the still lowered hair. When his hands found it he pulled with his whole strength until it came loose and coiled at his feet. The Gothel Witch shrieked and grasped at air in it’s wake, knowing that she was trapped in the tower forever.  

Calliope and The Ear Coverer

The first part of a larger project I'm working on;

This is what my weekend looks like.

On the right is the Repunzel mosaic I made. My most noteworthy teenage rebellion is that I sometimes steal paint samples from department stores to use in art projects. I guess it doesn't really count as stealing since they actually give them away for free but I always feel a little immoral because I take so many samples and I'm never shopping for paint. 

I also sometimes cut things out of my mothers National Geographic magazines. In the issue I was reading yesterday some farmers were protesting the government that had stopped them from murdering wolves. The sign the little mummy is holding up is cut from one of the protestors, who was wearing a leather jacket. I laughed when I saw that. I hope the contradiction is obvious. Anyways, the slogan of their lobby group is 'Smoke a Pack a Day,' which I think is very sad. 

Mermaid

Recent Projects

I bought a new sketch book, and so I was fooling around with text and ball point pen on the first page. This is the fish that resulted. 

My farewell piece to being the LocalBiz Durham Teen columnist. I'm heading out of teen-dom so I'm passing the torch along. This is my first experiment with comics so if you read it don't judge me too harshly.