Thursday, March 14, 2024

zero plus nothing equals - 14. the stranger


by jeremy witherington

part fourteen of 31

for previous episode, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here



avast, thou knave!

what a curious phrase.

even for a curious dream.

number ten woke up.

his connection had been repossessed.

so he decided to tell himself a story.

it was a bland afternoon in the town of nowhere.

but the young person was determined to be served.

the king was irate.

business was bad, and he was under the weather.

he knew he must not get too excited.

the sun shone on the coral reef on the horizon.

the knave was sad, and gazed longingly at the young person.

the king blamed the knave for the bad business the town was doing.

and the king also did not care for the longing glances the knave was directing at the young person.

suddenly a stranger appeared on the horizon.

the stranger was riding a strange beast, such as had never been seen before.

the stranger arrived on the dusty street and tied his strange beast up in front of the saloon.

as the church had been burned down earlier that week.

howdy, the king politely addressed the stranger .

what is good about it? the stranger replied, apparently mishearing the king’s word.

well, the king, polite as ever, replied, the sun is shining, and plans are in effect to rebuild the church which so unfortunately burned earlier this week.

where is the queen? the stranger rudely interrupted him.

i am afraid she is indisposed.

in that case i will be on my way.

would you like a drink? the saloon is open, even though the church burned down.

without bothering to reply, the stranger turned and untied the strange beast which he had tied up only moments before, and remounted it.

and rode out of town, never to be seen again.

this is all the knave’s fault, the king mused bitterly.

next





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