Creative Writing Wizard

  “Blast!” Carl said, as he looked at the shield he was working on.

  Carl had tried to smooth out a wrinkle in the shield rim for the last several hours. The Dragon Knight’s squire came to him with the crafting request the previous week. At the time it seemed like a fairly straightforward task. What an honor, for the Dragon Knight to request a specially handcrafted shield for the upcoming tournament!

  As Carl was working on the shield, he ran into a problem with part of the metal on the shield rim as he heated it and hammered it into place. There was still work to be done, but Carl couldn’t get past this wrinkle in the metal. No matter what he did, the wrinkle in the steel stayed after multiple attempts to heat and hammer. Carl yelled, throwing his hammer in exasperation.

  Ducking the flying hammer, the Master Smith entered Carl’s section of the blacksmith tent.

  “Going well I see,” he said as he picked up the tool.

  Carl felt his skin turn a light shade of red as he apologized to the Master Smith for almost hitting him.

  “Don’t worry about it my boy, but what is the cause for the flying head-smasher?” the Master Smith inquired, gesturing at the hammer in his hand.

 ”There’s a wrinkle in the metal and I can’t seem to get it out.” Carl Replied as he dropped himself down onto a stool to take a breath.

  “I see…” the Master Smith said as he examined the shield in progress. After a moment, he said, “Ah, I see the problem. Yes, I know what will help.”

  “Really?” Carl said jumping up from the stool, knocking it over.

  “Oh yes, quite simple actually, though you’ll need something first.”

  “Anything! I’ve been working on it for hours and I can’t seem to figure it out,” Carl replied eagerly.

  “Right, then. There is a tree that bears a certain kind of leaf in the castle garden. Ask for the Master Gardener when you’re there and request a leaf from the tree at the end of the path, he’ll know which one I’m talking about.”

  “Thank you!” Carl said as he rushed out the door towards the castle garden.

  Upon arriving, Carl quickly found the Master Gardener sitting on a stool next to a small running creek that wound through the well-groomed trees. After a few moments listening to the situation, the Master Gardener gave instructions for which tree to take a leaf from.

  “But, don’t run, young smith. This is a tranquil place, and quick steps will disturb the peace here.”

  Agreeing, somewhat disgruntled, Carl made his way through the castle garden as slowly as he could considering he wanted to rush back with this ‘leaf’ that would somehow solve his problem. After a few minutes of walking in the garden, he found the tree that the Master Gardener had described. Reaching up, Carl plucked one of the leaves from the tree and examined it.

    How can this little leaf help me with my work? Carl wondered as he started back down the path he had come. As he was walking, he heard a nearby group of bards playing on their instruments while a singer vocalized along with them in a soft melody. The song was complimented by the gentle splash and trickle of the creek.

  Gazing upwards as he walked, he found he was walking a little slower than initially, taking in the senses of the garden. Light cascading through the foliage, small wings of birds fluttering as they flew through the branches, and the smell of earth filled his senses as he strolled back to the smith shop.

 When he returned to his smithing station, he looked down at the leaf and held it up to the shield where the wrinkle had formed.

  I don’t understand why the Master Smith had me get this leaf, or how this can help me? Carl thought to himself.

  After a few minutes, he sat down on his stool again and laid the leaf down by his tools. As he did so, he noticed something on the face of his hammer. Picking up his smithing tool, he examined it more closely. On the face of his hammer, a small rock was embedded in steel. Suddenly, the thought struck him, is this the cause for the wrinkle? With haste, he took a file from the table next to him and smoothed the face of his hammer.

  Leaping to his feet, he quickly heated the metal of the shield and laid it down on the anvil. With a series of blows, Carl drove his hammer into the heated metal again and again. After a few minutes, he cooled the metal to inspect his work.

  “The wrinkle… it’s gone!” Carl said, shocked.

  “Aye, you fixed your shield eh?” the Master Blacksmith leaning on the doorpost watching.

  “I did! Look the wrinkle is gone!” Carl said cheering and jumping for joy.

 ”That is has, lad. Well done,” said the Master Blacksmith patting him on the back.

 ”One thing I don’t understand though, how did the leaf help? I retrieved it like you said, but it didn’t do anything to help me. It was the rock in my hammer that was the problem.” Carl asked the Master Blacksmith

 With a glint in his eye, the Master Blacksmith explained, “Aye, the rock was the ultimate problem. But there was something else that needed fixing first.”

  “What’s that?” Carl answered confused.

  “Your eyes boy!” the Master Blacksmith said laughing as he pounded him solidly on the back.

 ”I don’t understand…” Carl replied.

 ”Sometimes lad, when we look too hard at the problem we miss the cause of the issue altogether. The leaf and the tree had no real help, but the walk and the break from your focus did.”

  Carl stood there, lost for words.

  “You keep that leaf, maybe it’ll help to be a reminder to ya.” the Black Smith chuckled as he left Carl to his task, “Tourney is a’comin boy!”

 With a smile on his face, Carl went back to task to finish out the shield for the Dragon Knight. In the corner of his eye, he saw the leaf gently resting on his table.