The story prompt for this piece was “And They Lived…”
The Answer Is…
Once upon a time, there was a very old man. He was known as the ‘Man of a thousand answers.’ The reason being that no matter what question you asked him, he had an answer for you. And he loved answering questions.
Now people of the village relied on him, for his answers to their questions were always proved to be true.
“How do I cure my wife’s illness?”
“What can I do to stop my child from crying so much?”
“What is the secret to happiness?’
“When will I find true love?”
“Where did I leave the keys to my house?”
And he knew the answer.
There came a time when, old as he was, he found the true love of his life. She was as old as he was. She became known as the ‘Woman of a thousand questions’, which seemed appropriate since she married the old man.
She was never satisfied with the status quo. If a decision was made in the village, she had a question that would make the village put more thought into their resolve.
When someone came to her with a question, she would respond with a question that would guide that person to understand themselves better.
When asked, “How do I get my employer to value my achievements? Her response was, “What do you value in your achievements, and why is your employer’s opinion vital to you?
When asked, “Is there a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?” Her response was, “Is there joy in finding out or only in the reward?”
People had so many things to ask and never knew which one to ask their questions to. Both provided solutions to problems.
Of course, there came a time when the old man had a question that he needed to ask. He asked his wife, “Are you happy?”
Her response was, “Are you happy?”
His answer was, “Of course.”
Her response was, “Did you need to ask?”
Despite the obvious answer, he chose not to answer for the first time. He just gazed deeply into her eyes and smiled.
And they lived…well, you know how it goes.
