The storyteller saw that his audience was still with him, and very eager to know what was next, so he continued, with a flourish of his hand to start the narration again.
"The boy was taken aback. But he, as all children of the village, had been told that one did not refuse gifts from spirits. He held out his hands in acceptance of her gift, on which point she laughed, and gently caressed his cheek.
'Ah, child.' she said. 'You are much too human. This will never do.'
She picked him up as a mother would, and held him close, stroking his hair as she murmured in a language he did not recognize.
'Child, child. You will be wonderful. You will be loved. No human will touch you, no harsh hand beat you ever again.' she whispered into his ear.
An ear, the boy realized, that was much larger, and much more sensitive than he remembered. He also felt strange as the lady set him back down on the ground, finding it much higher up than he remembered. Until he looked down into the pool."
Here, Ai waved his hand again, making the picture in the air shift to the boy's perspective, so the audience saw what he saw.
"He had been changed into a beautiful, gallant, pure white creature. A spiraling horn the color of cream extended from his forehead, and his legs were slender, ending in delicate cloven hooves. The woman had turned him into a unicorn, the beast of myth and legend. And also of extraordinary kindness. As he was looking at himself in the mirror of the pool's water, the spirit approached him, rubbing his neck and nose.
'You have always been beloved of this forest, and the animals within. Now you are free to wander, and to spread your kindness throughout the world. No cage can hold you, no human can touch you. You are a free spirit now - free from that life.'
And the boy felt flowing into him strength he had never known he had. The life of before fell away from his memories, while new knowledge seeped into their place. He knew that there were others like him - others that had been changed. And he must find them. For a unicorn is never happier than with his own kind."
He switched the story back to third-person with a wave of his hand, and continued.
"The boy was freed for his kindness. But instead of cursing the family that had beat him so, he blessed them with an easy life. However, he asked one favor - to make his mother barren, so that she would never rear another child in the harsh way she had raised him."
He bowed, waving again, and creating an image in the air of unicorns running peacefully along a beach.
"Once he had done these things, he found another group of unicorns who had once been children as he had. He spent the rest of his life among this herd, able to enjoy the time with his new family, as well as spread his kindness among the animals far and wide.
This is a tale I tell. Whether it is true or not is up to you to decide. I am merely the weaver, and you are the tools. Thank you for letting this poor storyteller regale you."
He bowed again.