S – the Storyteller

S – the Storyteller

Once there was a story. It was a simple story about a king and a queen. They were unable to have children and wanted an heir. As in most tales, they made a deal to have a child. Of course, the condition agreed upon required them to give up something valuable when the child reached a certain age. The condition didn’t concern the king or queen when the agreement was made, however, when the child came of age they needed a way to break the agreement. The story unfolds and a quest is taken until finally, all things work out in the end except for the proposer of the deal. As I said a simple story.

But now our story begins, because that simple story had nowhere to go. Yes, it was created. There was a wonderful beginning and a happy ending, but until it could be shared it had no life.

—

He was short with no distinguishable physical features. He was soft-spoken and generally blended in when in a crowd. What he had was a passion. He loved to talk. But his life was so uninteresting. No one shared his interests, No one cared to know how he spent his time. But that was about to change.

What do you do when you like to talk, but no one wants to listen? You disappear. Not in the sense that he became invisible to people. As far as others were concerned he already was. You leave. You seek out new places. So he left his village and went out into the wide world, for he wished to seek… his future.

—

He traveled for days; he traveled for months; he traveled for years. And at each new place, he found instead of talking, he listened. He heard stories of joy, stories of sadness and hardship; he heard stories of luck and misfortune. And as much as he had loved to talk, he was silent. Until he came upon a village, high up in the mountains where there were no stories. Townsfolk were very protective of their tales and experiences. They did not wish to share. And in not doing so, no one had ever shared with them.
They all watched this stranger carefully, for he was no longer invisible. They wished he would go away. But he did not. So they gathered around him as he sat cross-legged in the middle of the village square and began to speak in a loud but melodious voice, “Once there was a king and queen who wished for a child that they could not have…”

—–

Sometimes you need to be careful what you wish for, for you may get what you wish for and don’t want. But sometimes, not getting what you wish for, gets you much more of what you really need. If you don’t believe me, ask any storyteller.