THE CLOWN AND THE MAGIC FISH
Story by Tony Waterfall
Original illustrations by Ilya Viryachev
CHAPTER ONE
1
Once upon a time, in the time of THEN, there was a land called Goodthen.
It was a land of Kings and Queens and Knights and Castles and Dragons, and things like that.
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Once upon the same time, in the same time of THEN, there was a land called Badthen.
It also was a land of Kings and Queens and Knights and Castles and Dragons and things like that.
There was one big difference between Goodthen and Badthen.
3
In Goodthen, there were only Good Kings and Good Queens and Good Knights and Good Castles
and Good Dragons, and Good Things like that.
While in Badthen, there were only Bad Kings and Bad Queens and Bad Knights and Bad Castles, and Bad Things like that.
4
Goodthen was the bigger land because there are always more Good People and
Good Things around than Bad People and Bad Things around
Don’t think that because there were not as many Badthen People, that they were not troublesome to the Goodthen People.
You cannot blame the Badthen People because they were under the spell of an Evil Witch, who had
died a long time ago, but had never broken the spell, and so they had to remain Bad.
5
We will now talk about the Goodthen People because it is always more fun to talk about Good Things than Bad Things.
Goodthen was a big, white shiny Castle at the top of a small hill, which was in the middle
of the biggest greenest lawn that you have ever seen.
On one side of the Castle, the grass ran on for as far as you can see, or anyone has ever been.
On another side was ocean water as blue and warm and friendly as you could dream of.
At the end of the water you could see another shade of blue; this was the soft blue like a bird’s egg; it was
the sky and in it were littlepuffs of white clouds and a great big yellow sun.
6
The sun shone every day in Goodthen except when the Badthen People were around.
On the third side of the Castle were the mountains, so big and high that they stopped all the little puffs of clouds from going by.
These mountains looked like chocolate ice cream with white marshmallow running down them.
It wasn’t really marshmallow, but white glistening snow.
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On the other side of Goodthen was a gigantic forest of beautiful redwood trees.
These trees were so tall that you could not see their tops.
This forest would have been a lovely place to play except for one thing.
8
Right in the middle of this forest was the dirty grey Castle of Badthen and so the forest had no choice but to be a Bad Forest.
You see the Bad People can even make Good Forests Bad.
It was always raining in Badthen and so there were big Bad Clouds over the forest making it a very unfriendly place to be.
CHAPTER TWO
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On this particular day the hero of this story, the Clown of Goodthen, was walking out the main doors of the Castle.
These doors were as high as three giraffes and as heavy as three elephants, so you see that it was a very big castle.
10
The Clown had now passed through the big doors and was walking on the bridge which goes over the moat.
I didn’t tell you this before, but there is a moat all around the castle.
When the Clown got to the moat, he could not help but stop and look at the water in the moat.
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The moat was not like the water in the ocean, which was a royal blue; this water was clear, so that when you looked into it you could see all the flowers growing on the bottom.
In Goodthen, flowers grow in the water as well as in the ground.
While the Clown was looking at all these flowers, there was a movement in the water. He looked closer and closer.
He saw something that he had never seen before, and he had seen a lot of things.
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What he saw, was a fish that had so many colours, that he did not know which colour to look at first.
“Excuse me for staring,” said the Clown, “but I have never seen such a beautifully coloured fish before.”
“Excuse Me,” said the Magic Fish, you knew it had to be a Magic Fish, didn’t you? “But, I have never seen such a beautifully coloured person before.”
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They both laughed so hard that the Magic Fish sent ripples through the water.
The ripples went all around the moat and came back to the other side.
You see the colours the Clown had on were just as bright as the colours of the Magic Fish.
“How is it Mr. Fish that I have never seen you before?” asked the Clown.
The Clown thought he had seen everyone in Goodthen before.
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The Magic Fish, who now had a mysterious twinkle in his eye, said in his bubbly voice, that all fish have,
“I am a Magical Fish and I live in Goodinbetween which is sometimes here and sometimes there. I can only be seen when I want to be seen.”
“Why is it you want to be seen by me?” asked the Clown.
Whereby the Magic Fish answered that he only helped unselfish people and had come to help the Clown with his problem.
“But I don’t have a problem,” said the Clown. “I am the Clown of Goodthen and everyone knows who I am and that I am happy.”
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This was quite true, for when you saw the Clown he had such a happy look on his face that you could not help but laugh, and feel happy with him.
The Clown made you laugh the kind of laugh that you laugh when you are not supposed to laugh.
The Magic Fish knew this, and agreed with it, for why else was he here if the Clown had not done such a good job of making everyone in Goodthen happy.
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The Magic Fish said “All you say is true, but have I not seen you looking into this water with a troubled look in your eyes?"
It was true that the Clown had looked troubled when he had been at the bridge before.
The Clown said he did feel troubled when he came this way, not because of the water, but because of all the Bad Things in Badthen.
From the bridge he had a perfect view of the Badthen Forest and all its’ dark and unhappy clouds.
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To someone like the Clown who just wanted to make people happy, anyone who was not happy made the Clown unhappy.
When the Clown came to the bridge and saw all the unhappy things in Badthen, he became troubled and unhappy.
The Clown asked the Magic Fish “Could you help me make Badthen Good?"
The Magic Fish said that he was there to help and that if the Clown came the next day he was sure that he would have thought of a way to solve the problem.
The Clown grinned and the Magic Fish winked back. So with much laughter and gaiety, the Clown headed back to the Castle.
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CHAPTER THREE
You could always tell when the Clown entered the Castle.
The two Goodthen Giants who spent their day opening and closing the doors would bellow with laughter, so loud that you could hear it miles away.
For miles around when people heard this laughter they would laugh also.
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The Clown had decided to go and see the King and Queen.
When he got there, they were both looking very sad until they saw him and started to laugh.
“How I wish they could be happy all the time,” thought the Clown to himself.
“Why my King do you look so sad?” asked the Clown.
20
The King said
“When the People of Goodthen go into the outer forest for a picnic, and to play amongst the trees, the Badthen People come and make it rain, and the Goodthen People get colds.
We all know that colds are no fun.”
The Clown grinned and said that maybe this would change soon.
The King and Queen looked at each other and wondered what the Clown meant, be he had left so fast that they did not have time to ask.
21
The Clown now climbed up the highest tower of the Castle.
This tower was almost as high as the little white clouds, but not quite.
He always felt good when he came up here.
At this height there was always a breeze to make the flags and pennants fly proudly in the sunlight.
22
He liked to look down and see the Knights and Princesses riding their white horses and having a great time.
He could see some of the children playing with the Good Dragons and the other children playing in the sailboats out in the ocean.
If he looked hard enough he could even see polar bears and the white rabbits building snowmen on the side of the mountains.
23
Over by the Badthen Forest there was no laughter and no happiness, only grey and black clouds. “But,” he thought, “maybe this will change soon.”
Meanwhile the Magic Fish was swimming about the flowers in the moat trying to think of an answer to the problem.
It was a difficult task, for nobody from Goodthen had been to Badthen and returned
24
The reason for that was that as soon as you got deep into the Badthen Forest the Badthen Guards would turn you into thorn bushes.
Now so many thorn bushes were mixed among the trees, it was almost impossible to get through anyway.
The Magic Fish was troubled because although he was a Magic Fish, his magic could not stop the Clown from being changed into a thorn bush.
Then the idea came to him, from where he did not know, and the more he thought about it the better it looked.
With his mind somewhat settled the Magic Fish went to sleep to await the coming day.
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CHAPTER FOUR
The day started as all days in Goodthen do, beautifully.
The birds were singing, the sun shining brightly over everything, except Badthen.
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As the Clown walked out of the Castle to meet the Magic Fish, there was the usual laughter.
The smiles on the giants’ faces made him more determined in what he had to do.
When he reached the moat the Magic Fish was waiting for him. “Good morning, Mr. Fish,” said the Clown. “And good morning to you Mr. Clown; let’s hope we see others.” answered the Magic Fish.
After some thought on the Magic Fish’s remark the Clown asked what the Magic Fish had meant.
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The Magic Fish answered that he did not have the power to stop the Clown from being turned into a thorn bush, but he could make them invisible.
This way they could get past the guards. Beyond that, he did not know what would happen because he had never been inside Badthen before.
The Clown agreed to this and hand in fin, the two invisible adventurers set out.
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As you well know, if you have ever been invisible, it takes a while to get used to the idea that nobody can see you.
By the time they reached the edge of the Badthen Forest and saw the black clouds and felt the cold wet rain, they were feeling a lot less brave than when they had started out.
They pushed forward into the forest, into Badthen, and into the unknown.
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CHAPTER Five
The next morning still found the Clown and the Magic Fish trudging through the Badthen Forest.
All around them were the big redwoods and wound around them were the thorn bushes.
The thought of turning into one of those bushes terrified the pair. Every step they took, it got blacker and damper around them.
About noon of the second day, as they were walking along the road that led to the Badthen Castle, they saw some Badthen Guards.
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These guards were dirty and very, very unfriendly looking.
The guards had their “Rain Sticks” ready for any chance to use them.
The “Rain Sticks” were what they used to turn people into thorn bushes.
Mind you, “Rain Sticks” could only be used when it was raining.
Although the Clown and the Magic Fish were invisible, they were still very careful when passing by the guards.
31
About two hours later as they were crossing the road to the other side, where it wasn’t quite so muddy, the Clown gave the Magic Fish a big push that sent him head over fin into the ditch, and jumped in after him.
The Clown had not done this a moment too soon, for down the road from the direction of the Badthen Castle came a sixty foot long, fire-breathing dragon.
Had they not been in the ditch, they would have been badly burned or worse, invisible or not.
32
They were both so badly shaken by this experience that they stayed in the ditch until nightfall.
There was not much difference between nightfall and daybreak, both times were very dark. They started walking again.
A few more hours traveling brought them in sight of the Badthen Castle and what an ugly Castle it was.
33
The Badthen Castle was almost as big as the Goodthen Castle but it was so run down it looked like a million years old, maybe not a million years old, but very old.
It was a dirty grey colour with weeds all around.
The moat looked like a swamp with steam rising from it.
Not far from where they were, was a wood cutter’s shack and so they decided to go there and think up a plan.
The shack was piled high with logs, but they were able to find a place to sit.
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CHAPTER SIX
They knew they had to get inside the Castle, but the big doors were locked and looked like they would never open.
The only other way they could see was to cross the moat and climb over the walls, but they were too high to climb.
35
They decided to walk around the Castle and see if there was another way in.
Now up until this time they had nothing to eat, so when the Clown saw a thorn bush with berries, he picked one.
“Ouch!” said a voice, but the Clown continued to pick the berries. “Ouch!” said the voice again, but the Clown did not seem to hear.
The Magic Fish said “Wait. Can’t you hear the talking?”
But of course, the Clown wasn’t a Magic Clown so he couldn’t hear the thorn bush talking.
36
The Clown was very puzzled to hear the Magic Fish talking to the thorn bush.
After a few minutes conversation with the bush, the Magic Fish came over and said that the thorn bush was a very old Knight from Goodthen who had been turned into a thorn bush while try to destroy Badthen.
The Magic Fish also told the Clown that the thorn bush had told him of a secret tunnel that went under the moat.
The tunnel came up inside the Badthen Castle and they would find the opening in a big tree not far from where they were.
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The Clown did not know what to make of it, but he thought since they had come this far, they might as well go the rest of the way.
Sure enough, just a few yards away they found the tree with an opening hidden in the roots.
The opening didn’t look very inviting but nevertheless in they crawled.
It took quite a while to cover the length of the tunnel and it was now morning.
Up ahead they saw the end of the tunnel and scampered towards it.
38
The Clown and the Magic Fish had come out of the tunnel under a pile of straw inside the horse stables.
They climbed out and looked around.
The Magic Fish let out a gasp and cried “My magic does not work inside the Castle. We are no longer invisible!”
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CHAPTER SEVEN
Meanwhile, back in Goodthen, when the Clown did not return that first night, they sent out a search party, but no trace of the Clown was to be found in Goodthen.
The King and the Queen guessed that he had gone to Badthen by the way he was acting when they last saw him.
They called all the Knights together and told them to be ready at sunrise.
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As the sun was rising over the Goodthen Mountains, the big doors of Goodthen opened and the King rode out in full shining armour.
Behind the big golden horse that the King rode came one of the most magnificent sights that you will ever see.
One hundred Knights dressed in shining armour and riding on strong horses.
All about, the coloured flags flew. They headed straight for Badthen.
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CHAPTER EIGHT
The Clown and the Magic Fish did not know that the King and the Knights were coming to look for them.
They were worried about the guards who were coming to feed their horses.
Suddenly, right in front of them stood a big, mean-looking guard. Suddenly, right in front of them stood a big, mean-looking guard.
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The guard looked at them and they looked back at him.
The Clown and the Magic Fish thought that this was the end, but to their surprise the guard just started to laugh.
To someone like the guard who had never seen a Clown, let alone a Magic Fish, he could not help himself but just laughed and laughed.
The louder he laughed, the more guards came over and they too started to laugh.
Before long, the whole Badthen Castle was laughing and soon the whole Badthen Forest was laughing.
As everyone laughed, the rain stopped and you could see the sun coming through the black clouds.
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As the Goodthen King and his Knights came to the edge of the forest, a magnificent thing happened.
The thorn bushes that lined the forest all changed back into the children and people they used to be.
The spell of the Evil Witch only lasted while it rained.
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The Goodthen King just could not believe his eyes.
The whole forest was shining with sunlight.
As the King and his Knights rode down the road to Badthen, they saw another sight that made them rub their eyes in disbelief.
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It was the Clown and the Magic Fish riding on the back of a Badthen Dragon and next to them on another dragon rode the King and Queen of Badthen.
All about them people were laughing.
The King of Goodthen invited the King and Queen of Badthen and all their people to a big picnic on the grass of Goodthen.
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The picnic was the happiest of times.
The two Kings got together and decided to change the name of Badthen to Badnomore.
As a special honour they made the Clown of Goodthen the Clown of Badnomore also.
They wanted to do something for the Magic Fish, but he said that he was needed back in Goodinbetween.
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As the Magic Fish and the Clown walked back to the moat, the Clown asked “How will I find you?”
To this the Magic Fish answered “You will not need to find me for you have found your true self and I shall always be with you.”
Never again was there rain or dark clouds over the forest.
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When Badnomore Castle was cleaned, it was every bit as beautiful as Goodthen and everybody was happy.
The happiest person was the Clown of Goodthen and Badnomore, who was happy because everybody else was happy.
IN EVERY THING YOU DO, THINK OF OTHERS
Tony Waterfall
© copyright Tony Waterfall
