One fine sunny day, Merlin decided to go for a walk to his favourite spot amongst the Oak trees. He had a particular favourite tree which he sat by and contemplated life in general, and dreamed about how one day he would be a great magician, as this was in his youth and he still had a lot to learn about the magic arts.
So it happened that this day he noticed there were also some other people taking a stroll through the woods. They came closer and suddenly he realised he recognised them; they were the three women he had seen singing on the television just the day before. He remembered their new song was called “Fate” and it was a really soulful tune, so he said to them that he was very impressed and thought it was an amazing track. They thanked him for the complement and asked him his name. When he said “Merlin”, the woman who was dressed all in red remarked in a mellow Jamaican accent that with a name like that he had to be a magician. “Not yet,” he replied, “But I’m working on it.” One of the other women in the band, who looked like she had Indian ancestry, and was wearing all blue, said to him, “Well, if you’re into magic, you might be interested in the Talisman of Change then.” Merlin said that he hadn’t heard of it and asked for some more details. The last woman who had a green outfit on, and spoke with an enchanting Irish accent, told him that when you wore the Talisman of Change you could transform any object you wanted into another.
“You could turn a stone into a gem,” said the Jamaican woman.
“You could turn lead into gold,” said the Indian woman.
“You could even turn water to wine, or anything else you felt like,” concluded the Irish woman.
When Merlin heard all this he thought that this sounded an essential requirement for any magician worth his salt. So he asked the three women, how did one come by such an amazing pendant?
“There’s only one of it’s kind,” said the Jamaican woman in her red designer gear, “but now it’s in three pieces and three people each have a piece. We can take you to them but you’ll have to get the pieces yourself.”
“Each piece looks like a spiral,” explained the Indian woman in her stylish blue clothes, “and then they have to be put together in a single whole for the talisman to work.”
“So, if you want to get a lift with us then we’ll take you to the first person.”
With this offer from the green garbed Irish woman, Merlin gladly accepted and they all went back to the limousine which the women had for when they wanted to get out to the country for a while.
Pretty soon they were back in the city, cruised through the traffic, and eventually pulled up next to a fast-food restaurant.
“You see that guy sitting near the door,” one of the women indicated, “His name’s Thomas and he has a piece of the Talisman.” Merlin nodded in understanding, took a deep breath and got out of the limo. He entered the restaurant and went up to Thomas who was munching away on a huge, dripping burger. He felt somewhat repulsed by Thomas’ appearance which was dirty and unkempt and he could tell by Thomas’ B.O. that he hadn’t washed in quite a while.
“Hello there, Thomas,” Merlin introduced himself, “Do you mind if I have a seat?”
“Do I know you?” Thomas asked, a dull, confused look in his eyes.
“No, but we have mutual acquaintances.”
“Oh,” said Thomas and again started stuffing his already bulging mouth.
“I wanted to ask you if you could give me the spiral you have.”
“Spiral, what spiral?” Some half-eaten food spilled out of Thomas’ mouth and fell onto his lardy, bulging beerbelly. After a huge gulping swallow, he sat for a moment and very slowly a dim glimmer of remembrance spread over his greasy face.
“Wait a minute,” he said and dug around in one of his pockets. He pulled out a handful of rubbish, empty wrappers, fluff and dirt and sifted through the pile. Buried in the heap he managed to find a blackened spiral object and handed it to Merlin.
“Don’t know what it is. I was going to chuck it away,” Thomas grunted.
For its size Merlin found it particularly heavy and while he brushed off the remaining debris, Thomas went back to his beef-burger munching oblivion. Merlin said thanks to the vacant Thomas and left the restaurant, feeling very happy that he had managed to get the first piece of the Talisman.
Back in the limo, the women congratulated Merlin, and then they sped off to their next destination. While the Jamaican woman in red made a phone call to arrange Merlin’s next encounter, the Indian woman in blue clothes put the first piece of the Talisman in a safe place. Then the Irish woman in green gave Merlin some advice.
“This next piece might be more tricky to get. The person you have got to see is a lot more devious and you’ll have to watch out. His name’s Mr. S. We’re just pulling up to his offices now. Good luck.”
Again Merlin took a deep breath and hopped out of the limo. In front of him was the imposing edifice of Mr. S’s office building. He went through the huge glass doors and up to the reception where he introduced himself.
“Ah, yes, Mr. S has been expecting you.”
Merlin was accompanied up to the private office of Mr. S and shown to the huge seat in front of an even larger desk, behind which Mr. S sat, talking on the telephone. He finished up his conversation and then turned his attention to Merlin.
“So, what’s the deal then?” he asked and fixed his stare upon Merlin.
“Well Mr. S, I came to ask if….”
“Just call me Raja,” Mr. S interrupted. “That means king, you know. One day I’m going to rule the world, you know.”
Merlin was a bit taken aback by this, and so gathering himself, he started again.
“Well Raja, I came to ask if I could have the spiral you have.”
“You mean this,” said Mr. S and held up a lighter which had the spiral mounted on it. He then proceeded to light a huge cigar and puffed the smoke in Merlin’s direction. The smoke smelled strange, not just of tobacco, but also of petrol and burnt roast beef and it made Merlin cough. Just then Mr. S’s secretary came into the room and put down a cup of black coffee on the desk. She then put three huge spoonfuls of sugar in and stirred it while she asked:
“Is there anything else I can get you?”
“No, that’s all for now. You can go.”
While this had been going on Merlin was thinking to himself about the Irish woman’s word of warning. He slipped his hand into his pocket and took out a bottle of water. He usually carried this water with him, but it was no ordinary water, this was magic water that Archangel Michael had given to him. He removed the lid and took a couple of sips while Mr. S had some gulps of his coffee, then they both put them down on the desk.
“So, what are you going to give me in return for the spiral?” Mr. S asked.
Merlin didn’t have any money so he thought fast.
“I can’t pay you for it, but maybe I can be of some service.”
“Yes, I like the sound of that,” Mr. S. replied. “Let’s make a formal agreement.”
He opened his desk drawer and took out a contract. He placed it with a pen in front of Merlin and then explained:
“Sign this and I’ll give you the spiral.”
When he read it, Merlin suspected something wasn’t right but he had a plan in mind. So he took the pen and signed on the dotted line. They exchanged the contract and spiral and Merlin noticed the spiral was extraordinarily hot, almost too hot to touch, so he quickly put it in his pocket. Meanwhile, Mr. S. had sat down with the contract in front of him on the desk and with a malicious glee in his voice he said to Merlin:
“You realise that you have just signed a life long contract with me to do my bidding. You belong to me now and there’s no way to get out of it. I have your signature to prove it.”
Merlin spotted his opportunity and with an imperceptible nudge knocked over his bottle of water. It streamed across the desk and went all over the contract and as it spilled onto Mr. S. in his chair, Merlin’s signature was wiped off without a trace.
“It doesn’t look like I signed anything to me. ‘Bye.”
Merlin turned and headed back to the limo as fast as he could leaving a wet and speechless Mr. S. sitting at his desk. Back in the limo, Merlin was glad to have made it, but his mind was racing at the thought of how close he had been to becoming one of Mr. S’s minions. The women left him to recompose himself as they sped on to their next destination.
Out of the city they drove and back into the country once more, into a landscape of undulating hills, trees and fields. They passed herds of sheep and cows and little villages along the road until they arrived at the town of Glastonbury, where they were to meet the person who had the final piece of the Talisman. They parked the limo and went into the gardens of the Chalice Well at the base of the Tor. In the shining sunlight they met with the woman who was also known as the Lady of the Lake. She was dressed completely in white and sat serenely amid the flowers and herbs in the garden. Merlin was extremely happy to be able to visit such a wonderful place, so peaceful and calm after the events of the rest of their quest to find the pieces of the Talisman. The thoughts which agitated his mind before came to a rest, and he again took a deep breath and gave a deep sigh of relief. The three women gave the pieces Merlin had retrieved to the Lady of the Lake, who then pulled out a brightly shining spiral on a chain from the folds of her robes. She fixed the three together and completed the Talisman. Merlin now saw that the three women had been working for her all along. Then she called upon Merlin to have a word with him.
“I’ve been watching your progress this whole time and I have to say you’ve done very well to get this far. Here is your Talisman, which once belonged to Taliesin and now is yours. Use it wisely and become a great magician who will inspire future generations to come. May you go in peace.”
Merlin again felt happy. Wearing the Talisman of Change his quest was complete and he had taken another step towards fulfilling his dream of becoming a true magician.