The Banquet- A short story by ME!!!

The Banquet

Many, many years ago in the quiet town of Alsace, France there sat a castle across a lush, rolling, green landscape. It had its own sad little story, of many executions, murders, suicides and misunderstandings which seemed to run from each generation to generation of the Royal LaFarçiu Family that lived there. At the time of our story there lived the unfortunate and frequently sickly King Glek LaFarçiu . If an average townie eye were to pass by it they would dismiss it, as one of the mere crumbling and unkempt castles they were used to. Now if an architect of some sort were to see it they would be taken aback by its dreamy and majestic turrets, once they ignored its many defaults and looked at its beautiful architecture. The stables, the chambers and the gardens were in dire need of repairs. In one such lonely, dry and neglected garden, under the meagre shade of an oak tree, sat a cat named Suzzete. She sat, sunbathing and thinking about the supposedly 'great' banquet the king was due to hold soon.


Almost a month before Suzzete basked in the sun under the oak tree, a flushed message boy had run into the stables, where Suzzete happened to be at the time, and cried ''King Glek has sent a message: 'To all my loyal subjects, Come!!! I have ordered a banquet to celebrate the return of my beloved son, Prince Avon from his journey across all of Europe! On this joyous occasion ,I bid thee to join me in the merrymaking! The banquet will be held in the Centre Court, Thursday afternoon on the sixteenth day of June, at 4 o'clock . I hope to see thee there!'. The messenger took a breath and continued '' King Glek has also commanded everyone to be dressed in their finery ,showered, brushed, cleaned and sparkling. Each and every one of you. Thank you".


The stable animals had been in an uproar after the messenger left. The animals clucked, neighed, barked , meowed , squeaked or mooed at the same time. Everyone wanted to discuss the news. After the animals settled down a bit , the rat said ''I think we should all give our clothes in for repair to the darner quickly because she is going to be drowning in orders soon!''.The stable folk hastily got their clothes out and marched away with a spring in their step, except the pig called Barton and Suzzete. Barton didn't go because he couldn't walk very far and Suzzete didn't go because she could always found someone else to do things for her ,so they both had given their clothes to the cow who could carry quite a lot without the resentment.


Now that the banquet was just days away, the animals were all excited except Barton who suffered from partial amnesia. He had totally forgotten about the event. No one knew that ,except Suzzete who decided to play a joke on him so he wouldn't be able to attend .She also knew that Barton had been looking forward to the delicious food and the dancing at the banquet quite eagerly. He had gotten himself a new waistcoat with embroidered buttons and collar. So a day before the banquet, Barton the pig overheard the rat discussing the banquet with all the stable animals, who were all obviously very excited. Clearly very puzzled, he went to the cat house and asked Suzzete if she knew anything about a special banquet talking place, the day after. ''Of course! Haven't you heard about Prince Avon's homecoming banquet?!? You silly pig! It's day after tomorrow , not tomorrow! Every one's invited! You'd better get prepared'', Suzzete wrongly informed him. Barton thanked her heartily and walked away.


The banquet was amazing!!! All the food you could ever imagine was there. Even the lame old cook managed to do a bit of a hobble while everyone else danced and sang merrily. The only rough patch throughout the banquet was when King Glek roared ''Why has Barton the pig not attended? He will be executed for impudence!!". While everyone shrank back into their seats , Suzzete licked her lips happily. Besides that, the afternoon wore onto the night without a hitch. When everyone started to leave, the King's crier, cried ''King Glek orders Suzzete the cat to lead Barton the pig to the gallows tomorrow morn. Anyone who would like to attend shall have to seek out permission from Brody the executioner. That will be all, Thank you". Barton's execution shocked everyone but the king's decision was final. Not a shred of guilt crossed Suzzete's evil head.


The next morning, when Suzzete and Barton reached the gallows, everyone was sad. Barton was too confused to protest when Suzzete woke him up the day of his execution. When everyone had assembled around the base of the be-headed, King Glek asked Barton why he had not attended. Barton replied that he had been informed wrongly by Suzzete and it was not his fault. The King then moved his piercing gaze from Barton to Suzzete. "IS THIS TRUE, CAT?!?!" King Glek bellowed thunderously. "Yes, but only for your sake, your majesty. For the morbid fear that we would run out of food at the banquet if Barton came, because he does eat ever so much" Suzzete said, sheepishly. This confession seemed to rock the whole audience, who started pelting her with anything they could get their hands on. Suzzete was be-headed and Barton was saved. Everyone (except Suzzete) lived happily ever after!


The moral of the story: What goes around comes around!!!


Simran Ali Malik-Aged 12