Here is a short story I wrote for a scholarship for redheads:
Charlie Flynn has never been the kind of person to say no to an adventure. Especially not when the adventure is presented by the Good Wizard of Hobsbury, Charlie's home village.
The truth is that Charlie Flynn is not your average kind of guy to begin with. It goes without saying that average people do not go on fantastical adventures, but, more than that, Charlie Flynn is a Gingeley, a fact about him that he himself despises.
It is commonly known that the Normskies (the all-powerful clan of black-haired, dark-skinned, rather temperamental and average persons) will look upon the Gingeleys with disdain. Sometimes, younger Norsmskies taunt the Gingeleys, calling them names or pointing and laughing when they walk past. Charlie himself has experienced this on numerous occasions, and often wishes he could be a Normsky, and not a Gingeley.
One sunny day Charlie was walking along the path that runs from one end of Hobsbury to the other end (and it goes around some, too), when he found the Good Wizard sitting on a bench beside the path.
"May I join you?" Asked Charlie.
"Ah, Charlie! Just the guy I was looking for! Yes, by all means, take a seat! What a fine day, isn't it?"
"Yes indeed. You said you were looking for me?"
The Good Wizard turned and smiled (at least, Charlie thought it was a smile; the wizard's mouth was hidden beneath a thick, white beard). "Of course," he said."Would you be interested in an adventure?"
"An adventure? Oh, it has been quite a while since my last one."
"Has it? I trust your adventuring skills are not lacking?"
“No, sir. Sharp as the day I last used them!"
"Good. Expect a visitor within the next week." And with that, the Good Wizard of Hobsbury got up, shook Charlie's hand, and left the other sitting on the bench.
As the Good Wizard had promised, three days later (on the Thursday of that week) Charlie heard a knock at the door. What he found when he opened the door of his home was a girl standing there, dressed in a simple blue dress, with a bow slung on her back, a quiver at her side, and in her hands a small knapsack. But it was her hair that struck him the most. His own red hair paled in comparison to her vibrant red curls that draped over her shoulders. She didn't even appear to be hiding it, as he so often did.
“Hello Charlie,” she said with a confident smile. “May I come in?”
“Uh, yes, of course,” he said and gestured for her to come in. “I haven’t seen you before. I guess you’re not from Hobsbury?”
“No, no. I’m from a ways away. The Good Wizard sent for me to take you along on a little adventure.”
Charlie was taken aback by her radiating confidence, but went to the kitchen to get her a glass of his favorite lemon-mint water, chilled. She gulped it down and sighed contently. “Now,” she said, “are you ready to go?”
“Yes, I’ll just grab my adventuring bag.”
“No need, where we are going we don’t need anything.”
“Oh, okay.” As they left, he made sure everything was in order. He noticed that the girl had left her own gear on a chair in the hall. That was when he realized he hadn’t even bothered to ask for her name. When he asked, she said, “the name my parents gave me is Merida, but just call me Mer.”
The two left his home and started walking along the path of Hobsbury. They walked in silence, each keeping to themselves. A ways down the path, some Normskies were playing a game. They stopped when they saw the two Gingeleys walking by. One of the Normskies started yelling out names, and the others followed suit. Charlie, embarrassed, turned away and tried to walk faster. But Mer only smiled and if anything, slowed down so that the Normskies could understand that she did not mind their taunting in the slightest.
When they were far enough away from the Normskies, Charlie couldn’t help asking her why the Normskies’ taunting did not bother her. “Why should it?” she replied.
Charlie knew better than to answer the question. They walked on for quite a while longer, and only stopped when they got to the edge of Hobsbury. “We’re not going past this, are we?” Charlie asked, never having been outside of his town.
“Of course we are,” said Mer. And so they did.
Although Charlie had been on fantastical adventures before, they had never really taken him very far from Hobsbury, and frankly, he didn’t know much of what lay beyond it. After about half an hour of walking, Charlie began to regret not having at least taken a waterskin with him, but he did not say this to Mer, afraid of seeming completely uncourageous. Instead, he asked, “so what kind of adventure exactly are we going on?”
“Well,” said Merida, “perhaps calling it an adventure is a little much, but the Good Wizard has something planned for you You’ll find out in just a couple of minutes, don’t worry.”
She was right. Within another ten minutes, the two arrived at another path, almost identical, if not identical, to the path found in Hobsbury. A little while later they saw some Normskies playing in a field. At least, that’s what they looked like. But when Charlie and Mer got closer, Charlie realized they weren’t the same kind of Normskies as the ones in Hobsbury. These ones, when they saw the two Gingeleys, smiled and waved. A tall, handsome Normsky walked over to say hello and give Mer a hug. Charlie couldn’t believe his eyes and ears; they weren't being taunted!
This was true even when they got to the town. Normskies and Gingeleys alike were going about their business. Mer guided him to a small cottage. She knocked on the door, and a voice replied “come in”. The two complied. The inside of the cottage was dark and musky. An old lady stood around a cauldron mixing something, it smelled like soup. “Ah, Mer! How great to see you! And I see you have brought a friend?”
“Yes, Sage, this is Charlie from Hobsbury. But listen, Good Wizard has requested a potion. Do you have it ready yet? And the other thing he asked for?”
“Yes, yes, I have it all ready. But won’t you two stay a while and taste my soup?”
“I’m afraid we don’t have much time, the day will come to an end soon enough.”
The old lady sighed and went to grab two little bottles. She gave one to Mer and said “this one first” and only then did she give her the other. Mer thanked her and turned to leave. As they were walking out the door, she shouted after Charlie, something about being wise.
“What now?” Charlie asked.
“Now we go back.”
“You mean, that’s the end of the adventure?”
“Not quite. You want to be a Normsky, don’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“The Good Wizard. He knows a lot, more than you might think. So, do you?” She was genuinely intrigued, as she didn’t understand why anyone would want to trade being a Gingely for anything else.
“Yeah, I just want to be normal.”
By now they had reached the edge of the path, and were headed back towards Hobsbury. Mer took out the first of the two bottles and told him to drink it. “This potion will make you a Normsky. I won’t come back with you at the moment, because I need to take care of something else, but I’ll be back soon enough. Enjoy being a Normsky, Charlie.”
And with that, the red-headed beauty turned and walked back the way they had come. Charlie looked at the potion in his hand and smiled. Finally he would be able to fit in! He uncorked the bottle and gulped the potion down. It tasted so... bland. Charlie waited, and waited, but did not feel any different. Disappointed, he decided to just go back home, the potion hadn’t worked.
Along the way, he passed the Normskies playing in the field once again. In an attempt to avoid the usual taunting, he sped up and tried to go unnoticed. He failed to do the latter, however, and the Normskies soon came over to him. But instead of laughing at him, one of the Norsmkies invited him to come play. It was then that Charlie realized that the potion did work! Excited, he joined them for the game.
For the next couple of hours, as the sky slowly began to change colors, he enjoyed playing with the Normskies and cracking jokes with them. Just as dusk was starting to set in, Charlie noticed Mer walking back along the path. The other Normskies noticed too, and they began to laugh and call her names. Charlie, anxious to fit in with his new friends, started yelling out names too, even though he felt terrible about it. Mer kept walking, but Charlie noticed a tear sliding down her cheek. So she was not immune to everything.
That evening, as the group split up, Charlie made his way home. For the first time since taking the potion, he saw himself in a mirror. He was the same, except for his hair, which was now jet black. It was not what Charlie expected. “My hair looks foreign,” he said out loud.
“Yes, it does,” a voice said. Charlie turned around to find Mer standing in the hallway. “So, how did it feel to finally be a Normsky?”
“It was not quite what I thought it would be like. I thought I would feel normal. But I still felt like a stranger, especially when we laughed at you. I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did it.” He suddenly felt really sad that he had lost his red hair.
“We never realize what it is that we have until it is gone, do we?” Mer sighed. “Charlie, when I was a young girl, I turned my mother into a bear because I wanted her to stop being so controlling. After I realized what it was that I had done, I frantically tried to fix my mistake. In the end, I managed to stop my dad from almost hunting her down and reverse the spell I had inadvertently put on her. I did a terrible, terrible thing, but it has taught me to appreciate and be proud of what I have, my family, my talents, my hair.”
Charlie, heavy with dispair, slumped into a chair. “What have I done?”
“You did exactly what I did. You wanted to be normal, as so many people do. Now that you are, you miss being different; special. Red hair is something to be proud of, Charlie, and those that taunt it only do so because they see you as an easy target.”
“You are right. But how can I get it back?”
“Well, lucky for you, the Good Wizard and I thought this might happen and so made sure we would have the counterpotion ready.” That was when she took out the second bottle.
“This will give me my hair back?”
“Yes, it will. You will still be able to hang out with the Normskies. Remember what it was like when we went to the other town earlier today?”
“How can I ever thank you?”
“Don’t bother. Here, drink up.” So he did. This potion did not taste quite so bland, in fact, it was different, tangy but sweet. He did not at once feel different, but when he looked at himself in the mirror, he saw Charlie looking back, red hair, freckles, and all. He smiled, as did Mer.
“I am different, and that’s okay!”
