Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Once Upon A Time In ...

In a land far away, there lived a grand landowner.  It was the desire of the Grand One to own and operate the land's best Cherry Mill.  The King of the land granted the wish of the Grand One and bestowed upon him the very best Cherry Mill in all the land.

For a time, the Grand One was able to share his good fortune.  He went about the land and provided services to all the people.  In return for his services they paid him handsomely.  The Grand One's Cherry Mill grew and grew and as it grew he was able to provide jobs for the lowly serfs of the land.

While his Cherry Mill was growing, his family grew and a son was produced that would one grow to become Grand Oneson.  Through the years Grand Oneson followed his father's every step learning everything there was to know about the Cherry Mill business.

As the business grew, the Grand One discovered his wealth would increase if he dried the pits from the Cherry Mill and sold them to the serfs to be used as stuffing for their furniture.  While the serfs could not afford to buy any furniture that was stuffed, they were able to sell the furniture to the LaDiDahs.

The LaDiDahs had much furniture that was stuffed and they also had something that the son of the Grand One desired to have.  They had a daughter.  Her name was Whooptydoo.  There was no one in the land who could compare to her beauty.

Then one day when the time was right Grand Oneson proposed to Whooptydoo LaDiDahs.  There was a feast like never before. Everyone in came before the Grand One to participate in the union of the LaDiDahs and the Grand Ones.

Life continued to be good and the Grand One and Grand Oneson continued to multiply the business.  Wealth beyond what they thought possible was provided to them.

In keeping with the custom of the land Grand Oneson eventually gained total control of the Cherry Mill business, but sadly it was not enough.  His heart became consumed with growing more Cherry Mills and possibly starting a Ferret Mill.  It was a risky proposition but he was willing to take the chance.

Then one day, in the darkness, the Grand One died.  It was a solemn day and all Cherry Mills and Cherry Pit Dryers were shut down.

When production commenced, there was a new product on the production line.  The beginning of the Ferret Mill Production was the beginning of a new era.  Ferrets were used by almost everyone and the drive to make the very best Ferret was strong within the Mills of Grand Oneson.  By this time Grand Oneson's own children had grown to strapping young men.  Hopes were high for his oldest son, Settled, but the desires of the youngest ran deep and Cain was determined to overcome obstacles that had never been.

The years had been kind to Settled and Cain, but Cain was unhappy.

Settled chose a fair maid, married and settled into a happy life of raising a family.

Cain, on the other hand, was filled with churning and desire and knew not what would settle his restless urging.  Cain met a fair maid and chose her to be his wife.  He made her promises and thought that he would keep them.  He strove to love her, but her love for him was not enough.  He railed upon her and caused her great grief.

Nothing satisfied him.  The business just was not good enough.  He looked upon the lowly serfs that worked within his mills and they made his countenance drop.  They were old and wrinkled and he was displeased with what he saw.

He scoured the countryside and went before his young advisers and chose from the best of them.  But it was mighty slim pickings and there were few to choose from.  The best of the best were suffering from diminished capacity from which there was no cure.  There was a plague upon the land and the only ones who remained immune to the plague were the old ones.

It was the dreaded gattahave plague.  It makes the mind wander and see things that exist only as a vapor.  It has the power to make the heart desire that which is not right and desert the wife of your youth.  It makes ignorance seem as though it contains the knowledge of all time and forces the sick one to imagine they have great wisdom.  Yes, the plague had descended upon the land and it had sorely infected Cain and his advisers.

The advisers with all of the wisdom of a silverfish decided to replace all of the old wrinkled workers with new young advisers who performed no work but advised Cain about business affairs.

The great Cherry Mill, the Cherry Mill Driers and the Ferret Mills were all producing at peak strength.  It was during this time that the King upon seeing all that was happening and viewing the plague upon the land that He caused a great curse to come upon the Cherry Mills and caused a weevil to grow and devour the wood.

Without the Cherry Wood, the mills could not run, the pits could not be dried and cash could not be transferred to keep the Ferret Mill running.  Thus began the decline of the Grand One's legacy.

The moral of the story is...  Well, if you cannot determine the moral of this story you may be one of the young advisers.

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