Golden Sparkles in the Air after the Storm by Yelyzaveta Melnyk

“We can turn lead into gold and

create the most beautiful masterpieces. The same is with a kind soul, which can turn despair into hope!” cautionary proclaimed an old as this world magician. His long, thick beard represented the wisdom of centuries he sailed through, and it enveloped the entire place probably hundreds of times. These hundreds of beard-formed trails radiated and overflowed with gold, like the southern sun, enlightening even the most secret corners of the quaint library.

The room began to sing with the thin-as-strings voices of engaged children, who started excitedly discussing it with one another.

“Hear me out little brawlers”, the sage jokingly drew attention to himself… “I am going to tell you a story, which happened at these exact lands… Maybe even this exact plaaace, where you, right you-you Aaron, are sitting right now”, he looked at the most restless student.

“Once upon a time, my ancient brain even lost count of how many years passed by, there was a young, gifted man called Thanos…”

Many would notice that his blonde hair started shimmering with golden sparkles on the rays of the sun as he grew up. Though it didn’t become a huge surprise for anyone in the village, because his full of kindness heart, was radiating warm rays of sunshine itself.

What a wonderful, enchanted day it was when Thanos first met Amy! It’s like the whole world was filled with the brightest melodies touching the most vulnerable soul strings! He found her gathering flowers on a hill he used to walk to every other day to say goodbye to the setting sun. The view from this hill could show the entire small settlement in the palm of your hand.     

Amy was nervously twirling a flower between her fingers, while Thanos couldn’t take his eyes off her mesmerising nature.

“What are these for?” He quietly asked.

“For the eternal youth”, Amy whispered mysteriously.

“Why?”

“Because I wish that you could stare at my beauty forever!” The girl exclaimed, laughing.

“I…I… agree.” Replied shyly, the young man.

Amy had a lead necklace in the form of the sun, and Thanos’ attention was magnetised to it. A touch of his hand and... Something swept through Thanos's body with a flash, small lightning bolts were streaming from his fingertips. Lead turned into gold! And his hair, it also started shining brighter as ever before.

The black as the deepest night crow was sitting on a tree branch right above them, as if it was waiting for a delicious prey. "He will be miiiine!!!" With an evil sense of the unpunished victory, Ian shouted after flying to his abandoned gloomy castle in the dangerous depths of the woods.

Not a single enlightenment of the good could be found in the depth of Ian’s fallen soul. He resided at this godforsaken place because it represented that safe anti-social nest, where not a single presence of a human could bother him. From the very childhood Ian was feeling expelled by a society. His blackest of all possible tints eyes scared the villagers. Children got horrified with a single look at his crooked as a beak nose and the strict, almost evil face features. So, he chose to be this way, the way that society already doomed him to be. Ian wished that one day he could take a revenge for each offensive look, and each gossip.

Since he has seen a gift Thanos had, the villain yearned to possess it all to himself no matter what it would take. All his thoughts were twirling around the moment, when the young man turned an ordinary cheap lead necklace to the shining gold.

Meanwhile Ian’s love to Amy grew and so grew his powers. The young man started illuminating with golden shine even brighter.

One day inspired by another sunset, painting the sky with shades of orange and pink, Thanos was making a rose out of the lead for his beloved on the hill.

Suddenly, the clear evening was covered with dark fog, and a mystical croaking echoed in the air.

“It is such a shame to waste such a unique talent on such stupid garbage”, Ian reproached Thanos with disgust as he emerged from the dense fog.

“Who is that?” The young man whispered in fear. His heart began to race.

“I am the one, who can change your entire meaningless existence into something bigger, something truly sophisticated.” The villain clarified in a squeaky voice. “Love, love, love… What foolishness!” He added enviously. “It is your weakness. But you know what really matters?”

“Wait, what?”, interrupted the golden-haired young man.

“Together we can rule not only this small village but the entire world! We would be the richest men on the planet.” Continued Ian.

“But I don’t know you, and I don’t need all these fictional and unimportant things you are offering me.”

“What a fool! Your so-called ‘loovee’ blinded you. Very soon you will be left with nothing but disappointment because it will fade together with your precious golden gift.”

“My love is eternal, and I feel it with each cell of my body!” protested Thanos. His heart was full of compassion for this strange, resentful of the world stranger.

This attitude made the villain’s cheeks blush shamefully.

“So, if you don't want to go with me in a good way, then you'll have to go in a bad way!” Viciously proclaimed Ian.

And, suddenly, a thunderstorm rolled in, the fearsome whirlwinds began to mix the ground with the air and spin around Thanos.

“I would throw you in a cage of my castle and force you to make me the richest man in the entire universe! From the earliest mornings to the darkest nights, you'll be turning lead into gold and everyone would believe that it was me.”

But Ian’s sunny kindness could not be broken. He felt that the soul of the villain was in deep aching pain. “Who made you this envious? I’m so sorry for each mean person you’ve met on your way.”

The storm got even stronger.

“You… you don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Not realizing it, in reality Ian was blinded by the idea of possessing this power to create something good, which led to the possibility to become recognized. He distracted, connecting all the dots inside his head.

“Thaaanos, where are you?” Cried Amy through the deafening wind. A tiny, delicate posture without any hesitation rushed through the whirlwinds towards the love of her life. The golden necklace or, maybe, her heart, showed the path.

Now they both were standing in front of the furious villain. Or wasn’t he as furious anymore?

“Come with us, you don’t have to be alone!” Thanos suggested.

“I… I…” mumbled completely scattered Ian.

The kindness with which these two people approached his, what he has always believed a monstrous being, made him rethink his entire life. It seemed as the gift of this young man was something bigger than just turning a cheap metal into gold, but also enlightening the dark with the warmest sun rays.

“This rose, please, take it!” He handed the shining creation to Ian.

And he took it. The storm calmed, and golden sparkles enveloped the air.

“So, what is the moral of the story, would you ask me, children?” A magician with a long hair asked his young audience.

Children were listening excitingly, their ears attentively listened up to each sage’s word.

“Our villain discovered that the true gift was not just in turning lead into gold, but in transforming despair into hope and selfishness into selflessness. Be kind to each person you meet, because there is the potential to become a great human within each individual.”

The librarian with the darkest eyes was also attentively listening to the tale and started clapping with a kind smile on his face. He was recalling old times and learned lessons.