The
Seven Chairs
Who would have thought that
seven simple Chairs could hold such magnificent yet terrifying
powers?
One day, back in the 1890s,
a well-to-do and skilled silversmith got to urge to create something
bigger than simple forks, spoons, and teapots. He wanted to use his
talent and wealth to build seven silver Chairs. The man spent days
hunched over a sketchbook, drawing plans and dimensions for his
creations. Then he began work on the Chairs.
He purchased silver in
massive quantities, much to the dismay of his family and surprise of
his neighbors. He refused to divulge any of his plans to anyone. Each
day, he would trod down the stairs to his mansion's cellar and
heated, cut, hammered, and filed into the wee hours of the night. He
did so for three years, until finally, the beautiful Chairs were
completed.
They were magnificent with
detail: each Chair was numbered with a graceful, sweeping etch on its
back; the seats were carved with different pictures, ranging
anywhere from drawings of children playing in flowery meadows to a wizard casting spells over a bubbling cauldron, and the legs of the Chairs
were pointed with carefully forged claws. Each Chair was special, and
each was different. The man was quite satisfied with his work. But
before he got the chance to share his creations with the world, he
died, and his dreams for the Chairs' futures died along with him.
The man's family fled their
mansion in sorrow; they could no longer live in a place filled with
so many of their memories of him. No one would buy the house for fear
of rumors that it was haunted by a crazed silversmith. The mansion
soon fell into disrepair, and the Chairs were forgotten and left to collect dust in the cellar.
Then something miraculous
happened. The Chairs somehow became enchanted with the power to float! They drifted out of the cellar during the night, one by one,
and were scattered across the globe. No one could begin to guess where they had come from or what had possessed them to float. But not only were the Chairs
given this great power; they were also given a great curse. Who cursed them, you might ask, but the simple answer is that no one really knows. That, my friend, is open to speculation. Decide for yourself; the truth may be too hard to handle.
The first of the Chairs
found its way onto an ocean liner, the great Titanic, nonetheless!
The silver glinted in the morning sun as it was loaded onto the ship
and into one of the many sitting rooms the first morning of the
Titanic's maiden voyage. The boat soon became flooded with people as
the passengers boarded. They dispersed into every corner of the
massive ship. The first of the passengers to visit the sitting room
was a little British boy named Anthony. He took one look at the many
couches and ottomans and armchairs, then scrambled to the sparkling Chair to
claim it as his own.
Anthony traced his fingers
along the delicate details and careful carvings. Fittingly enough,
the picture engraved on the seat was of a ship
cutting through a tempest. Anthony climbed into the Chair, and as
soon as he had sat down, it took off and rose up to the ceiling!
Anthony screamed with joy
and surprise. A crowd of passengers and crew members began to gather
as word spread quickly throughout the ship of the magical floating
Chair. People loved it; everyone wanted a turn. Anthony's parents
wondered how they would get their little boy down from somewhere so
high. Then someone said the word “land,” and the Chair, with
Anthony holding on tightly, settled slowly back on the floor, safe and sound.
The captain was notified of
the commotion the Chair was causing, and he ordered that it be glued
to the floor. A crew member was sent into the sitting room. The
passengers groaned and complained as they reluctantly cleared out,
and Anthony stared longingly at the Chair. But the crew member set to
work with his pot of paste anyway.
That night, as Anthony and
the other passengers were asleep in their cabins and the Chair was
glued safely to the floor of the sitting room, something strange
happened. The great ship came to a halting stop, waking everyone.
Crew members were alerted and raced around telling people to put on
their life jackets and be prepared to abandon ship.
Many thought it was simply
a drill, but the Titanic was really sinking. Her metal sides groaned
and began to give way; the ship filled slowly with water. People
scrambled around frantically; many were trapped in their cabins and
drowned. The upper deck filled with passengers as crew members began
to lead them to the few life boats the ship was equipped with. There
was nothing stopping the “unsinkable” ocean liner now. The bow of
the Titanic leaned further and further up toward the darkened night
sky.
The Titanic took her last
breath and slowly but surely disappeared beneath the freezing
Atlantic waters. The cool night air was filled with the sounds of
horrific screams and beautiful orchestra music as the unlucky
passengers, including the band, plunged into the sea with the ship.
The first Chair could have
floated up off the ship and saved itself, but alas, it was glued to
the sitting room floor. It went down with the Titanic, but curiously,
was never discovered among the wreckage years later.
The second Chair was found
by a young nurse in Ohio, who spotted it lying in a heap of junk in
an alleyway while on her morning commute to work. When she saw the
beautiful chair, engraved with a drawing of children playing tag in a
meadow, she immediately thought of Annie, a little girl she cared for
in the children's ward who was sick was a horrible case of
tuberculosis. The nurse knew that this find was just the thing to
cheer up little Annie, so she abandoned her bicycle in the trash heap
and carried the Chair to the hospital with her.
When Annie was presented
with the Chair, her eyes lit up and glinted like her silvery gift sitting in
the sunlight. She struggled to lift herself out of her bed, and the
nurse helped her over to the Chair so she could examine it more
closely. It had definitely lifted her spirits.
Annie absolutely loved the
Chair. It didn't take her long to discover its magical powers; each
day she would limp over to it and sit down, then float up toward the
small window near the ceiling, the only one in her room. She spent
hours looking out of it as the weeks went by. She would gaze
longingly at the street below, cough, draw pictures of the trees and
people, cough, count the Model Ts that passed by, cough... Each day
passed slowly like the one before. Annie showed few signs of
recovering, but that was fine with her; as long as she had her Chair,
she was content.
But then, one night, she
drew her last breath and died peacefully. Her body was taken from her
hospital room and was buried, but the Chair. The hospital has long since
been abandoned, and the room has become decrepit, but the the second
silver Chair still floats by Annie's bed, a lone reminder of the
courage and spirit of the sick young girl.
The third Chair wound up in
a traveling magic show, known as The Magnificent Magic of Marvelous
Max. It was a great success as a sideshow wonder. It traveled the
world and was sat upon by many. Unfortunately, no one knew of the
terrible curse it held.
One night, while docked in
Japan, Max decided to try an act he'd never done before in front of
an audience: the dreadful sword-swallow. He had practiced for months
without any incidents, so naturally, he assumed it was safe. But he
was wrong.
Max announced the trick,
then picked up his sword, not knowing that it had been laying in a
pool of water backstage. He leaned back, and the sword neared his
gaping mouth, but he lost his grip. The sword pierced his neck, the
audience screamed, and his assistant rushed in to try to save his
life. But it was too late. Within minutes, he died a painful death
due to blood lose and a collapsed windpipe.
That was the last time
anyone performed at the Japanese theater. They claim it is haunted,
not by the ghost of the fated magician, but by a silver Chair which
floats eerily above the darkened stage.
The fourth Chair was not
found by anyone. Supposedly, it grew bored and decided to float
freely around the world. And it did so, until one day, which it
inexplicably lost its power. It plummeted through the sky, past the
clouds, until it crashed abruptly on top of a plane. Amelia Earhart
and her crew were never heard from again.
The fifth Chair ended up in
Paris, France, at the Louvre art museum. None of the curators knew
were it had come from, but they were fascinated by its beauty,
craftsmanship, and power. They decided to put it on display and
share it with the world.
People came from all over
just to get a glimpse of the silver Chair, or perhaps even sneak
behind the velvet ropes and ride it up to the pointed glass ceiling.
But none could have guessed what its curse would bring upon the
museum.
For years, nothing
happened. Tourism slowed, and the Chair was no longer considered the
great wonder it once was. Finally, the museum curators made the
decision to remove the Chair from its place of honor. Workmen came
and loaded it into a crate, then carried it down to the museum
basement and set it in a dark corner, with nothing but the a little
light streaming in from a small window to find its way through the
cracks in the crate and glint off the silver.
That night, after the
Louvre had closed, an employee emerged from the cover of a broom
closet. He navigated the galleries, eluding the guards, until he had
located the most famous painting housed there: the Mona Lisa. The man
snatched it from it's place on the wall and hid it under his
overcoat, then slipped out unnoticed.
The next morning, when it
had been discovered the that the painting had been stolen, the entire
city of Paris was thrown into chaos! Famous artists, poets, and
political protesters were called in for questioning. Fingerprinting
of the empty frame was performed by the most skilled detectives. The
search for the Mona Lisa went on for two years, until the thief was
finally discovered. Fortunately, the painting was safe and was put
back on display, but nothing could have prepared the proud Parisians
for the rouse that took place the night that the silver Chair was put
into storage.
The sixth chair found it's
way to the redwood forests of California. It floated next to the tall
trees, untouched for years, until two children happened to come upon
it while exploring the woods. Cousins Karen and Mike had wandered
away from the campground while their parents were pitching the tents.
They were just in search of some fun, but what they found was much
more sinister than it appeared to be.
When they saw the Chair,
they just knew it was the adventure they had been looking for. After
much experimenting with their words, they finally coaxed it down.
Mike climbed up into it's seat, which was decorated with an engraving of a
forest filled with lush bushes, flourishing wildflowers, and tall
trees. He willed the Chair to take off, and it soared up, high above
the trees. Then he ordered it down, where it settled gently on the
soft grass. Mike and Karen did this for hours. Up, down, up, down,
up, down! It was great fun.
Soon, the sky grew dark,
and Mike and Karen's parents were still off looking for them without
much luck. The children decided it would be best to stay put and
build a small fire so they could stay warm for the night. Karen
gathered sticks and dry grass, and Mike used his Boy Scout knowledge
to coax small sparks into fluttering flames. They warmed their hands
and curled up near the fire, hoping that their parents would find
them by morning.
But they never did. By the
time the sun had risen, the great forest, along with the bodies of
the lost children and their searchers, were reduced to nothing but
ashes.
So that's the story of the
enchanted floating Chairs.
I've heard this legend so
many times, and each time, I've wondered what could have happened to
the seventh of the Chairs. Now I know. I found it floating in the
middle of the cellar in my new house.
According to the legend,
each Chair holds a terrifying curse. I suppose it's only a mater of
time before the curse of the seventh silver Chair will take effect...
