“Once upon a time, in a land far, far away,” he began, voice rough around the edges as he punctuated his introduction with a sharp cough. Another cough. 

 

Giggle. “Grandpa! You’re coughin’ more than you’re tellin’!” Charlene’s curls bounced as she swayed back and forth on her toes. 

 

Grandpa waved her off, settling back against the worn chair. “Be even less tellin’ if you keep interrupting, sweetheart,” he chuckled, reaching into his breast pocket to withdraw a tin of tobacco. “Reach me my pipe, Charlene, and I’ll tell you all about this far away land.”

 

Charlene beamed at the opportunity to help her grandfather. She lifted his pipe with gentle fingers, balancing it across both palms with as much reverence as a knight bestowed his blade. Grandpa plucked the pipe from her small hands, tucking a thumbful of loose tobacco in the chamber as he cleared his throat. “Now, as I were sayin’,” he began again, lighting the pipe and taking four quick puffs. “This land is real far away, and this story was real long ago.”

 

His granddaughter settled on the ground beside his chair, knees tucked underneath her, chin lifted to take in his every word. Grandpa blew smoke above her head and winked at her as he twirled a finger through the haze, pulling and twisting the cloud until it resembled a castle. 

 

“In a golden castle atop a hill, lived an old geezer like me with his three grown boys. His name was King Rufus, and the boys were Georgie, Frankie, and Teddie. The King was in charge of lots of people, but his favorite part of the day was teachin’ lessons to his sons. Georgie was a real tough kid, so his pa taught him the sword and the bow. Frankie was a real friendly kid, so his pa taught him the ways of the court and politickin’. But Teddie was a real smart kid, and the King did not know how to teach someone smarter than him. So King Rufus sent Teddie away to live with the smartest fella he knew - the Blue Wizard of the South.”

 

Charlene clapped her hands. “I love him! He’s my favorite!”

 

Grandpa nodded, remembering the first time he’d shared the story with Charlene. She had immediately fallen in love with the bumbling professor who taught the youngest prince how to perform magic. “That’s right, princess, you love him.”

 

She smiled serenely as he took several long drags on his pipe and started again. “The Blue Wizard was a recluse - that means he lived all alone and didn’t like people, sweetheart - but he welcomed the young prince for a small price from the King. For as long as some part of the castle stood, the professor would receive a regular stipend of the kingdom’s most prized export, the leaves of the hockberry tree.”

 

“Hoccabot, Grandpa! The hoccabot tree!” Charlene squealed, peals of laughter bouncing around them. “You never get that right.”

 

“If you say so, little one.” Grandpa blew another large cloud of smoke out, wiggling his fingers at it as it formed a tall tree. “The leaves of this tree were considered medicinal, and all of the surrounding kingdoms would buy it from King Rufus because it helped heal wounds and for some folks, got rid of the pain in their heads. No other kingdoms grew the hockberry tree, and this made the golden castle very, very rich.”

 

Charlene mouthed, “Hoccabot,” and smiled to herself. 

 

Grandpa continued, waving away the tree as he released another puff of smoke, this one shaping its way into a crescent moon. “One night, the Blue Wizard was teaching the young prince Teddie how to interpret his dreams when he had an epipipipiphany.” He coughed, covering his smile as Charlene leapt to her feet, throwing her hands up in the air at his pronunciation. “His epiphany was to try burning the leaves of the hockberry tree while Teddie slept, and they would write down what happened.”

 

A bell rang in the distance, and the grandfather’s eyebrows pinched. He took another long drag of the pipe, pushing smoke out quickly to add stars around the moon. “The smoke of the hockberry leaves filled the room, and the Blue Wizard was amazed to see that it only took a few minutes before the clouds became shapes. The Wizard tried to draw all of them to show the young prince Teddie when he woke up. The next morning, when Teddie got out of bed, he looked at the Wizard’s drawings and was shocked to see pictures of what he had been dreaming about the night before!”

 

Charlene clapped her hands, grin splitting her face. “It was magic!”

 

Grandpa nodded, reaching out his free hand to cup Charlene’s cheek. His thumb brushed her nose as he whispered, “It is magic.”

 

The bell rang once more, sounding closer to where they sat than it had before. The grandfather dipped his chin in grim acknowledgement, slowly pushing himself up out of the worn chair. He reached for Charlene’s hand, but his fingers slipped through hers. Panicking, he stumbled forward, grasping at the air that filled the space where his little princess had been just a breath before. 

 

When the rest of the smoke cleared, the grandfather hung his head and sighed heavily. Warily, he made his way across the dimly lit room to a desk covered in scrolls and withdrew a quill from its pot, scratching notes on a small scrap. For a long while after, he stood staring out of the narrow window that overlooked the rolling hills in the distance, where they stretched beneath the golden castle. 

 

The door creaked open, and Teddie’s head popped in. “Professor, how long did you get to spend with her this time?”

 

The Blue Wizard didn’t even look over his shoulder as he muttered, “Not long enough.”