A Sweet Fairytale

(1)

One day the Boy declared that pennies were “worthless”
To which his father replied:
“Nevertheless, hold on to that last penny.
You may need it someday”

“But it’s only a penny –
And it’s just as worthless as the others” – the boy quipped.

But the Father continued:
“Maybe someday you will need to buy a train ticket
To travel some where…
but when you go to pay you’re a penny short
And they won’t sell you the ticket.”

“I don’t believe that” – the boy laughed.

“It’s true” – the father said.

Years later when the Boy became a Man
He still thought pennies were worthless –
But, ironically, it was usually the last coin he fished out
Of his pocket and put down on the counter
Whenever he paid for something.

(2)

One day just to make a point, the Father said:
“Nothing is free. You pay for everything.
Everything has a price.”

“Everything” - the boy asked?
“Yes” the father repeated “Everything has a price.”

The boy said nothing because knew his father was wrong
He thought of the slice of ham or cheese
The butcher gave him when he went shopping with his mother;
He thought of the cookie the bakery girl handed down to him
From behind the clean crystal clear display cases
Full of cakes and the pastries

And then he remembered the baker
Emerging from the backroom,
carrying trays of freshly baked goods from the oven –
And when the boy Grew up wrote a story about it all

(3)

In his story, the Baker was really a Troll
And was always covered from head to toe
in what everyone thought was fine powdered flour,
But which was really magic dust thrown on him by the Wizard
To partially hide his ugly, misshapen features,
And, also, to ensure he would behave and not try to escape


The Wizard was evil and very crafty.
He knew that the numbered tickets
His customers’ plucked from the
Take-One Ticket Machine were really
Magical spell breakers
Designed to break the curse
He had put on the Troll -
Who really wasn’t a troll,
But a Prince that had fallen prey
To the Evil Wizard in his youth
And who had been held captive
In the back of the shop ever since

And the poor Prince had been a Troll
For so long he had almost forgotten
That he had once been a Prince

Now, you may be wondering why the Troll
Just didn’t bolt out the front door

It all had to do with the tiny bell
The Evil Wizard had hung above the front door

Every time it sounded,
It neutralized all of the contra-spells cast
When ever a customer plucked a ticket
From the Take-A-Ticket Machine

And because anyone who entered the shop
Also had to leave the shop through the same door
The bell always rang twice,
Ensuring there was absolutely no chance
Any of the Take-A-Ticket Machine contra- spells would work

Now, the reason I took over the story from the Boy
Was because he played a very key role in helping
The Troll to escape but never knew this

How did it happen?
Well, one day the Boy and his mother
visited the bakery to purchase some loaves of bread

As they entered the shop, the little bell rang.

The mother took a ticket from the Take-A-Ticket Machine
As she usually did and when it was here turn to place her order,
she and the Boy stepped up to the glass counter.

One of the Bakery Fairies reached over the counter and
Handed the boy a cookie
and just as he took the cookie
The Troll came out of the back room.

The Boy had never been this close to the troll.
He looked into the Troll’s eyes.
They were tired and sad.

The Boy look at the cookie he was holding and said to the Troll:
“Here, take this cookie.”
And when he did, the troll turned back into the Prince again
(but not a young Prince – even magic has its limitations.)
The spell had been broken.

And once the spell was broken,
the evil Wizard lost all his powers and left in a huff
but the fairies captured him at the train station
where he had tried to buy a train ticket out of town
but couldn't because he was a penny short

The Prince, who actually enjoyed baking,
continued to run the Bakery,
making sure that all the little boys and girls who visited
His shop always got a free cookie.

(But he didn't remove the Take-A-Ticket machine
because it helped him to serve the customers in an orderly manner
or the bell over the door for no reason other than he had always
liked the sound it made.)