Odette stood in a large room. "Upon first impression,” she paused walking around, “you may assume I'm a normal, average Kiamara, right?” She laughed softly, and spoke again, “Well, you would be wrong. I'm here to tell you my story; the story about how I came to be this way," she finishes, pointing to the seat in front of the small stage. "My life is abnormal, some may even say tragic, but I'll let you be the judge of that." A flash brightens the room as a screen drops and a short film begins.
On a small lake, sits a pure white swan, the sun reflecting off her perfect feathers. She slowly grooms her feathers and looks to the sky, squinting. The swan slowly swims towards the waters edge and gets out of the lake, walking to a small shaded spot to lay in the cool grass. She lays down and rests her head down behind her wing. Shortly after, a loud croaking noise can be heard. Her head pops up and she looks around, confused. When she can’t find the source of the noise, she lays her head back down. After another short while, the croak can be heard again, but this time when the swan pops her head up, her gaze is met by a large toad.
The swan's eyes narrow in disgust, “What do you want toad?” She asked with a hateful tone. The toad only stared blankly back at the swan croaking loudly. The swan looked at the toad, her disgust growing, “Well toad, what is it?” The toad, speaking in a hoarse voice, “Oh beautiful swan, might you share with me where I can find a meal in this place?” The swan, with disgust still in her eyes, spoke harshly, “This is my lake, toad, find somewhere else to feed.” She stood flapping her wings to shoo the toad off. The toad croaked again, “But please dear swan. I have been traveling for days and I am very famished.” The swan flapped her wings faster and snapped back, “I said be gone you horrid creature!” Once the swan finished her sentence, a cloud of smoke surrounded them.
After the smoke had cleared, in the place of the toad stood an elderly Witch. The witch started speaking, “Swan, you had an opportunity to receive fortune and even a better home,, but by being so cruel to another, especially one out of their own luck, you shall be punished.” The swan looked up at the the old woman with terror in her eyes, “Oh witch I promise, I can change my ways, I can be less selfish!” The witch started muttering under her breath in an unknown language, then suddenly pointed at the swan with an old bent wand.
The witch continued her incantation, “Selfishness be your fault, and in selfishness your fate will lie!” The witch waved her wand and a cloud of smoke swirled around the swan.
The screen turned black and lifted back into the air. A small spotlight shone on Odette, “you see, this is not some fictional story about a lost swan,” she paused sitting down, “I was once that swan, beautiful, with snow white feathers, and large wonderful wings. You see, because of my selfishness to keeping my lake to myself I was, I guess, cursed.” She held up her hands, showing her wrist bands, “these lock me in this form forever more, even my eyes tell the story of my past. My yellow-green eye being my swan self, and my green being my Kiamara self. I’m not upset about it though” she said laughing, “In fact I’m glad that foolish witch has cursed me.”
She then stood, “In fact, that witch blessed me in my opinion. I love being a Kiamara!” She throws her hands in the air, as if thanking the witch, “Though,” she paused, looking back down, “I have to stay selfish and keep the personality I had when I was a swan, I have to stay the same way I was.” Odette looks to her hands, “I don’t want to be a swan again, I mean I miss my wings yes, but I don’t want to go back to being a swan.” She sits again, “Well that is my story, I’m not a normal Kiamara, I’m at most, a misfit but I don’t regret it.”
Odette swishes her tail, “Aren't my pebbles just fantastic? Oh, you thought these were gems? or beads? No, no, no,” she laughs. She flashes a playful smile, “I'll gladly share the tale of how I got them if you have time of course.” The pebbles clink together as she begins her story.
"Long ago, when I was a swan, I lived on a hidden lake. The lake was so serene, so peaceful, hardly anything ever breaking it's silence. One day, the sun was rising, preparing for a beautiful new day. I awoke to the normal sounds of the lake awakening as well. Stretching my wings out, I decided to go for my usual morning swim to wake up fully. I walked to the waters edge, but something was unusual.
Normally on my morning swims, the sun had not hit the water yet, but today there was a small stream of light. The light was reflecting off something that shone and twinkled in the rays. I did what any normal swan would do and started my way into the lake, but dunked my head into the water to investigate further. When my head and neck were fully emerged, I opened my eyes to get a closer look at the shiny objects.
To my amazement they were bright blue pebbles; I’d never seen pebbles so beautiful. I jerked my head out of the water and looked around to make sure no one else had seen them. Once I was sure no one was around, I dove under the water, taking three pebbles at a time. After I had collected all the pebbles, I went back to land and thought to myself, these pebbles must be special, so I used them to decorate my nest.
Though one day, a pesky robin was eyeing my beautiful pebbles. No matter how many times I hissed or flapped my wings at that robin, it would always return, eyeing my perfect pebbles. After three days of putting up with that bird, I hid them where no one but I could find them.
The day after my transformation, after looking at my reflection in my lake, I went to retrieve them. Some pesky robin wasn't going to fly off with my pebbles! Then I got an idea: what if I wore the pebbles and never took them off? I quickly looked around for something to use as string. I could not find anything to use as string, so thus headed out of my perfectly hidden lake.
When I entered the woods, I found an old headband that appeared to be made out of woven string. I tore it in half, pulling off just enough string to tie my pebbles up. After I tied three of the pebbles, I then tied my new creation to my tail, but it felt like something was still missing. I started walking back to my lake, my pebbles clinking with each swish of my tail.
I entered my little hide away and noticed a feather: one of my wing feathers. I rushed over to the feather and picked it up, I looked at the feather, then my tail and tied a string around the feather, attaching it with my pebbles. After I was satisfied with my new tail decoration, I walked to the lake to check my appearance once again. Something still felt missing, and I had seven pebbles left. I remembered that I still had a little bit of the headband left.
I wove the pebbles into what was left of the headband, putting the largest in the middle. After I finished, I pulled two strings off and dangled the last two pebbles from the headband. I walked over to the lake to look at my reflection one last time: it was perfect. Everything just fit so well together, and I couldn't be happier."
Odette swings her tail again, making the pebbles clink once more, “I couldn't be happier that I found the pebbles, I had a feeling they would make cute items!” She giggles happily and bounces away, her pebbles clinking.
