The Demon and the Firebird (first two pages of fourteen)


Far away in space there lives a firebird
She flew freely between the stars and will fly to you
Her feathers of fire, shimmering, lit by every colour of fire
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and pink
And glittering flashes of dazzling white

Long, long ago there was a horrible demon that hid in the darkest place on moon. The demon spent most of his time spinning thick, black webs to keep out the starlight, but sometimes he would stop and peep out to watch the firebird. A nasty sneer did not improve his ugly features, and his eyes glinted as red as blood. The more he watched the firebird, the more he hated her. ‘How ridiculous you look!' he used to cry out. But the firebird did not hear him. At last, the demon became so eaten up by jealousy and spite, that he resolved to capture the firebird if he could. So he took the hardest iron, from heaviest of all the worlds, and he built a dreadful cage. Upon the door of the cage he fixed a fearsome lock, which closed like a snapping jaw. He buried the cage deep in his webs. Then he spun a new, huge web, strung between the moon of the earth and some other moons of the solar system, and then he waited.

The firebird flew joyfully about, her feathers gleaming and scattering rainbows. Round and round the planets she swooped, and out and out to dance through the galaxy before returning again to the sun. When she was near enough, with a swift pirouette she tucked her wings close to her body, and began to drop towards the sun like a golden bomb. Down and down and faster and faster she sped, leaving a glittering trail of stardust behind her. She flashed around the sun and shot away towards another star. Spreading her wings to fly onward, she did not spy the black strands in her way. And too late she felt their shadows, as one of her wings was caught by the web. In that instant, the firebird was tugged to a jarring halt. Her wing was held fast in the darkness. In a flurry of fear and pain, the firebird flapped to and fro, trying to free herself - but she only became more entangled in the clinging fibres. Now, as the firebird struggled, out came the demon, leaping and cackling, his red eyes pulsing with glee. Scurrying up, he quickly bound the firebird tighter in his net, only cackling louder at her plaintive cries. Dangling her from his waist, he went swinging down into the depths of his webs. Then, with a sudden violent tug, like cracking a whip, he unravelled her and sent her whirling into the cage. The firebird tumbled across the floor and hit the bars on the other side. There was a resounding hollow ‘CLANG!’ as the door slammed shut. The key turned in the lock, and the demon took it away.