Page 28 - August 2017 Voices

TELL ME A STORY

Jack’s Wish

by Phyllis Harmon, DTM

Once upon a woman standing by the side of the road. She
time there was a was dressed in a floor-length dress of cranberry
poor man named red velvet. Upon her feet were slippers of finest
Jack who lived doeskin. Her heart-shaped face was framed by a
near the road leading to Prince Nicolas of cascade of copper curls. Jack was stunned. While
Norway’s castle. Jack’s home was made of sticks his eyes feasted on the vision before him, his feet
gathered from the nearby forest, chinked with refused to move. He was stuck in the middle of
mud from the earth, and topped with a sod roof the road. And because he couldn’t move, he really
cut from the nearby fields. He lived a simple life, studied her and discovered her sable brown eyes
foraged for food in the nearby forest and wove were overflowing with tears.
his clothes from the flax of the fields. He eked “Please help me kind sir! An evil wizard
out a meager living by helping his neighbors transported me to this spot because I refused
with odd jobs mending fences, building bridges, his advances. I am forced to stand here until the
and counting the chickens before they hatched. poorest man in the kingdom gives me a lover’s
He was always ready to lend a hand for a meal kiss. I have been stuck here for hours. Everyone
or a penny or two. As claims to be the poorest, and yet here I remain.
such, he was known “Are you the poorest man in the
throughout the kingdom?” she asked. “If you are, please
kingdom as the give me a lover’s kiss! And for your
one and only reward, I will grant your dearest wish.”
Jack of all
trades.
And every
day Jack was
consumed
with a wish to
be rich. To live
in a castle, like Jack’s home was made of sticks
neighbor Nick, and
have servants to
take care of his every need. He
thought it would be wonderful to have enough
to eat, clothes that were ready made, and a roof
that didn’t leak during the winter. But, Jack kept
his thoughts to himself, afraid that people would
laugh at him and call him a fool.
Every evening as he trudged home exhausted
from a day of hard labor, he bemoaned his lot in
life and wished he could be anyone but himself.
Every night he fell asleep dreaming of becoming
a rich man.
Until one evening as he trudged home after
another day of hard work, he saw a beautiful A beautiful woman standing by the side of the road

28 VOLUME 4 ISSUE 2 AUGUST, 2017