The Raspberry Griffin

The Griffin’s wife was distraught. Her aging, faithful companion hadn’t returned home. Fearing the worst, she sought answers from the King, but what she found was a tale too good to be true. Whenever the Griffin thought his daily outing might turn into an extended sojourn, he would tell his lifelong companion, Joan, beforehand. Epic adventures were in the mythic creature’s nature, but lately, signs of age had begun to show, and when the Griffin hadn’t been seen for two full nights, she became quite worried.

The next morning, Joan left their humble cottage in the woods seeking help from the King. Before long, she crossed paths with a young couple out for a hike. She stopped them to inquire about her husband.
They said they hadn’t seen an aging Griffin, but they had met a similar, but much younger character at a tavern the night before who shared an epic tale. Desperate for any kind of lead, Joan asked for details of the story. The duo said the creature had just returned from a quest to find the Fountain of Youth, which, in fact, they were now off to see for themselves.

Continuing, the pair said in order to find it, they had to walk upstream to a waterfall with a cave behind it containing a special pool with mermaids. En route, they were to collect two special chalices. Upon reaching the pool, they were to find a mermaid, request she place a tear in their cup, and upon mixing it with water from the pool, they would receive everlasting life.

Intrigued yet suspicious, Joan wished the pair well on their journey, and she continued toward the castle. Quickly, she met another group of young adventure seekers who also had a similar experience the night before.

Only this time, the young Creature shared a story of searching for a cup that, when drunk from, would grant eternal life. The Griffin told them they could find it in a treasure-filled vault within a hidden temple in a secret canyon. However, they had to be careful of several traps once inside, and they had to be very wise in choosing which vessel from which to drink, lest they choose poorly and perish.

Beginning to sense a pattern, Joan wished the group well and resumed her search. Before long, she reached a village near the castle where she saw a friend hanging clothes on a line rather aggressively. Sensing tension, she asked the friend about both her own well-being and if she had seen the Griffin.

After rolling her eyes and swallowing a scoff, she went on to detail the source of her frustration. The previous night, her husband had gone to the village tavern with his friends Ron and Harry. He came home several hours late, blaming his delay on a freak storm of cold, howling winds that felt like flying dementors pulling at their souls, but credited a giant bird friend they had met at the bar for guiding them safely home.
Now convinced of the situation, but maintaining niceties, Joan wished her friend well and headed straight for the tavern. As she opened the door and her eyes adjusted to the dark interior, her first sight was not her missing husband but rather the King himself.

Frustration and exhaustion rising, Joan approached him and pleaded for help. The King, always a kind host, offered her a barstool, passed her a cool beverage in a chalice, and told her not to worry. The gesture and drink surprisingly put Joan at total ease as the King began to speak.

He explained that two days prior, he spotted the Griffin circling his fields looking rather fatigued. He signaled the mythic creature to land in his raspberry patch and met him with a cool beverage – a hefeweizen made with raspberries from the very field in which they stood.

Almost instantly, color returned to the great bird’s feathers, like life returning to his soul. The elixir had made him feel so rejuvenated that he told the King he had to go share it with others. So the Griffin and the King brought a few barrels of it down to the tavern.

Thus, for the last few days, the Griffin, feeling like a younger version of himself, had spent hour after hour regaling the village folks with all kinds of wild stories. In fact, the King continued, he was in the backyard of the tavern right now telling all the children that he was once an old, old bird, but one day just burst into flames and emerged as a younger version of himself.

Peering out the window, Joan finally caught a glimpse of her husband. Between the sight of him filling the children’s minds with wild stories and the positive vibes the raspberry hefeweizen was delivering, she knew everything would be fine. So long as the Griffin gave her a huge apology, promised never to do that again, and found a way to make up for it big time. And he did.