The Story Teller

Archive for October, 2011

In a remote place in a province, children are so excited about the Halloween. Every year, they make their costumes out of scrap and recycled materials like old curtains, colored papers and tattered shirts and pants. They knock ‘trick or treating’ on every house except for the shack at the end of the road.

It was believed to be inhabited by an old witch and her 6-year old granddaughter. Everybody was scared to pass by the shack and nobody talked with the people who lived there except for those few who are brave and sensible. So, not even the most desperate child goes there to ask for a treat and nobody seems to mind.

As soon as it got dark, the children grouped themselves and went on trick or treating around . It was in the middle of the night when a group of children called at the open gate of the big house a few meters from the scary shack.  The expectant children shouted gleefully..

“Trick or Treat!!!”

However, instead of a bag of sweets, out came from inside the house a big black dog and chased the terrified children who ran for their lives. Fast as they were, however, they were no match for the hungry dog which was gaining fast on them. Then, out of the darkness, flew a big rock towards the surprised dog and knocked it down.

The cornered children were even more terrified to learn that they were at the front of the scary shack. Then out the door walked an old woman. But contrary to what they have always thought, she looks kind and very much concerned about them. She helped them up and asked if they were hurt. The children couldn’t speak, more so when they saw a little girl holding another piece of rock in her hand.

“Are you okay?” she asked “that dog nearly got you..Come inside and rest.”

The children were so grateful. Once inside the house, they were presented with food and sweets.

“We prepared these for you. Every year, my grandmother and I cook and prepare things for you but you don’t come so we have to eat them ourselves. Now that you’re here, I hope you like them..” the girl said with sincere smile on her face.

From that year on, the shack became the best place for ‘trick or treating’ children which now includes the little girl from the shack at the end of the road.

(Original story by the blog author. Any similarities with other others, fiction or otherwise are purely incidental.)

My friend, a 32year-old father, was finally given a chance to pursue his college education. When his brother, his benefactor for that matter, asked him what course he wanted to take, he readily answered Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management. I, myself, was surprised with his choice of course, but when I mentioned it to him, I found out that he actually has an intention of looking for Kitchen Management Jobs abroad.  Well, that makes sense, right?

Having stopped studying for almost 15 years, it was quite surprising that he had little difficulty in adjusting to life as a student or maybe that’s the power of determination. Well, I really wish him luck both in his studies and his future work.

It’s another 3 Day Sale at the mall where I work. And every time events such as this happens, every shop is required to participate. So, we put a special shelf and filled it with selected items and put a big “SALE” poster up the ceiling. It worked. Today, the second day of the SALE, our discounted items are disappearing at a fast rate. However, just as we were having fun watching our items being bought, our 6 year-old POS broke down and we had to record each transaction manually.

I told our officer-in-charge that we need to get one of those new barcode scanners to survive the event, but we both know that it would be too late as tomorrow is the last day of the SALE. So, there is nothing left for us to do but get on with it and acquire a new POS later. But as tomorrow is my off from work, I guess I would just wish them luck.

Benjamin Banneker was an African American astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, almanac author and farmer.

He was a grandson of a slave and an indentured servant, Banna Ka/Bannaky and Molly Walsh, respectively. The couple bore children including Mary Bannaky. Mary bought a slave named Robert, freed him and eventually married him and had several children which included Benjamin.

When Benjamin was about 21 years old, he received a gift from his friend Josef Levi, it was a patent watch. Benjamin took the watch apart to see how it worked and put them back again. Then, he copied each part of the watch by carving them out of wood, thus was the first clock ever made in America. Quite remarkably, he clock has worked accurately for forty years.

,Wikipedia

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After 20 years of separation, best friends Andrea and Joanna met again.

Andrea visited her hometown after touring around the world. She is a travel book writer and had written books about European and Asian countries. It has always been her dream, to travel. So, as soon as she graduated from college, she found a way to go abroad as a tourist and started to write about the places she had visited. When her first book was published, she made a career out of writing, thus realizing her dream to travel.

Joanna, on the other hand is the typical country girl. Studied Agriculture in a state university, she spent her life tilling the land she loved so much. She is the president of the cooperative for farmers and is loved and respected by her subordinates.

And now, the Andrea and Joanna meet again. Both in their 40s, they are so happy to see each other. Andrea looks so lovely in her beautiful red dress from Paris, France and high heeled shoes from Italy. Her cheeks are flushed with the heat of her tropical country and her smile is radiant as she sees her friend smiling back at her.

Joanna, tanned from constant exposure to the sun, looks equally radiant in her white cotton shirt and denim pants. The two women hugged each other and were overwhelmed by happiness. There was so much to say. There was so much to talk about.

That night, they couldn’t sleep. They talked about themselves and how different their lives are from each other’s. Andrea was so excited as she told Joanna about the beautiful Statue of Liberty in New York, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Eiffel Tower in France, the Colosseum in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Opera House in Sidney, the Big Ben in London, the Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall of China and a lot lot more. Andrea was animated and Joanna was very happy for her friend, she knew how much Andrea wanted to go places and her friend’s dream came true.

Then, Andrea asked Joanna about her, and the latter said..

“I’m doing fine here..” then smiled sweetly.

“Do you visit the city?” Andrea asked thoughtfully.

“Every now and then…”

“Oh…” Andrea suddenly felt sad for her friend. She knew that Joanna is a very smart person and here she is, rotting here in a remote place and visits the city every now and then..

“Why don’t you leave this place? Work in the city, meet people, have fun..”

Joanna was curious..

“But why would I go there?”

“Because that’s where life really is. You would see the biggest malls selling the most fashionable clothes, the tallest buildings and the busiest streets .”

“But.. what’s wrong with HERE?”

“There is NOTHING here but mountains, rivers, trees and mud..”

Joanna looked at Andrea. Surely, her friend doesn’t see the real beauty of their place..

“No, Andeng, you are wrong.. There is so much here that you haven’t seen and known yet. And don’t think that my life is wasted. I love it here that’s why I stayed. I love the predictability. I love to witness the changing of the season, when the mahogany trees lose their leaves, and the mango flowers begin to bloom. I love waking up to see the rising sun emerging from that mountain out there and I love watching it set down the field over there. I love the heat of summer and the serenity of the rainy days. I love everything around here and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

“Obviously, we are looking at this place in different eyes. You are meant to go places and I am meant to stay here. We simply follow our hearts’ desires and I believe we are both happy about it..

Andrea hugged her friend. Joanna is right. Maybe she is a nomad and Joanna is a settler and what is happiness for her may not be the same happiness for her friend.

The following night, Andrea started to write another book. It was about the beauty of their place in the eyes of someone who lives there all her life.

(Original story by the blog author. Any similarities with other stories, fiction or otherwise, are purely incidental)

This is the St. Petersburg, the Imperial capital of Russia from 1713-1728 and 1732-1918. It was founded by Tsar Peter The Great.

In 1914, the name was changed to Petrograd, to Leningrad in 1924 and was changed back to St. Petersburg in 1991.

The Revolution of 1905, February Revolution and October Revolution all began in St. Petersburg thus acquiring the name The City of Three Revolutions.

On March 12, 1918, the Soviets transferred the government to Moscow.

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A rich man just moved in a new place. He had with him three faithful laborers. Alberto, Dionisio and Miguel. Since he had something to do, he left the house to them with specific orders to make themselves useful while he was gone.

After a week, however, the rich man haven’t returned yet. The three laborers are done with the unpacking and furnishing the house. Now, there was nothing left to do but wait with the rich man’s order to make themselves useful hanging in all their heads.

Alberto stayed in the house and out of trouble. He believes that he is more useful to the rich man if the latter comes back with him in the house and in good health. The more daring Dionisio, went out for a while and came back by lunch time while the most daring of all, Miguel, went out as well but came back late in the afternoon.

The following day, the rich man arrived and his three faithful laborers were overjoyed. So, after making himself comfortable, the rich man called on them and asked them what they did while he was gone. The three laborers described what they did to the house and the rich man was happy. But when he asked how they made themselves useful, each of them has different answer.

Alberto said that he stayed in the house and kept out of trouble. The rich man was happy and gave him a bag of gold. Then Dionisio said he went out for a while and looked around the neighborhood. He learned the name of each of their neighbors and found an electrician, a plumber, and a teacher. The rich man was pleased, he gave him three bags of gold. Finally, Miguel spoke and said he went out farther and longer than Dionisio did and found a clinic, the police station, the school, a convenient store and the wet market. The rich man was overwhelmed and gave him five bags of gold.

So, which among the three laborers are you? The careful one, the more daring or the most daring?

(Original story by the blog author. Any similarities with other stories are purely incidental)

One of my regular students did not come for our sessions the whole week last week. A few days ago, we received a call from his mom telling us that Vincent* had an accident. It seems like he had an accident on the skateboard and spent a week at the hospital. Mom said he hit his head on the pavement and received several stitches in addition to various scans. Obviously, Vincent was not wearing any protection for his head when it happened.

Hopefully, the boy would learn a lesson to be careful next time. He should wear a helmet to protect his head and maybe something to protect his eyes similar to a pair of snowboarding goggles. It is better to be safe than sorry. That is why even if my son, Daryl, loves to bike around the subdivision freely, he is required to wear helmet and knee and elbow pads. Talk about overprotective mom, lol!