a tale of two mushrooms
this little tale was written in my literature class and our assignment was to write a fairy tale.
A Tale Of Two Mushrooms
Once upon a time, there was a wee little mushroom named Bone who would hop to and from the mushroom patch every day. Day after day, he would pass another mushroom named Elton. You see, these two mushrooms were brothers and Bone would always remind the smaller mushroom, Elton, that he was superior. Their father was one of the wealthiest mushrooms in the forest so he had some of the best turf as well. Because bone was older, that meant the turf would go to him after his father passes and because of that fact, he had grown up to be arrogant. "When I get my turf, I'll let you live there still. As a slave!" Bone said one day towards elton as he laughed at him hopping away. You think that this would bother Elton but there was one thing that helped him keep his control and not get upset. He was deaf. Whenever he wanted to not listen to anybody, he would simply close his eyes and because he reads lips, that meant he had no idea what they were saying, so it didn't bother him.
One day, their father called them both together and said "I am deciding on who to give my turf to and I don't know who to give it to".
"So I have decided to have a race between the two of you and whoever I think wins, will get my turf. Also, the king heard of my idea and he has decided that, because he has no sons and his time is running out, he will appoint the winner prince of the forest." father said as he made preparations for the brothers to race. One week later, the race was ready to begin. The father then walked to the starting line.
"On your marks," He started the count. The brothers got to the starting line.
"Get set," The two mushrooms prepared to race.
"GO!" Bone pushed his competition to the ground to get a head start. He laughed as he started hopping away as fast as he could. Elton just got up and waited for his ears to stop ringing for although he was deaf, that didn't mean they were insensitive. even the slightest blow to them would cause them to start ringing to the point they start causing pain that differed depending on the scale of the blow. Elton waited for the ringing and the agonizing pain to stop before he started hopping after Bone. After a while, Bone slowed down and hopped at a leisurely pace. While he was hopping, he passed by a tree that was hunched over and it looked like it was going to fall over any second. As Bone was hopping by the tree, it spoke.
"I am hungry, do you have some food I can have?" The tree said slowly, but clearly.
"Does it look like I have any food?" The mushroom retorted and scoffed, moving along on his way without giving the tree another thought. Later on, Elton was hopping along the same path when he came along the same tree.
"I am hungry, do you have any food I can have?" The tree said, looking down at the little mushroom. The mushroom read his lips and said "I do not have any food, but I know where I can get some" Elton replied, as he went to search for food. While he was searching, he realized he didn't know what trees ate, so he thought about it for a second and then came to the conclusion that when it rains, the trees look happy so that must mean that trees ate water. He found a bucket laying around and went to a stream nearby and filled it with water. Elton took it to the old tree and watered the ground around him. After a while, the tree grew until it stood up straight. The tree then looked farther down at Elton and said in a stronger voice, "Thank you very much. Because I'm not close to the stream, that means that I don't get the water that I need sometimes. how can I repay you?". Elton then thought for a moment.
"As I have done a favor for you, you must then do a favor for me." Elton said happily, carrying on with his way. A little ways down the road was Bone who was still going at a casual pace, believing that he had already won. He then came across a doe stuck in a thick patch of mud. The doe was very scared and you could hear it in her voice.
"I am stuck. Can you free me?" The deer asked in a shaky voice.
"How on earth would I be able to free you?" Bone huffed and scoffed again. Bone then turned and ignored the doe as he kept on hopping, daydreaming about the first things he would do when he wins the turf and become a prince. Not too long after he left, Elton showed up, a little winded. As he was walking by, he noticed the trapped doe at the same time she noticed him.
"I am stuck. Can you free me?" the doe pleaded, facing him.
"I have no way to free you but I'll try" elton replied as he tried hard to think of ways to free her. How could he free a deer many times bigger than him? He has no rope, and water would, in this case, not help. As he was thinking, he was also pacing. It was during this, that he tripped and fell on a branch. As he got up and waited for the ringing to stop for the second time that day, he looked at the branch. The branch was big on one end and small on the other end. Elton then got an idea. The mud was thick enough that deer can fall in but it was also too thick for a little mushroom to fall in and get stuck. If Elton were to stand on it, he would not sink in because he was simply too light for the mud. He hopped over the mud, dragging the stick with him to try and free the deer. He put the bigger end of the stick into the mud and used the stick as leverage to try and pry her out. Eventually, it worked and he was able to free the deer.
"Thank you, I wasn't watching where I was going and I fell into the mud, how can I repay you?" The doe said in a stronger voice as she scrambled onto dry, firm ground.
"As I have done a favor for you, you must do a favor for me" Elton replied happily as he was once again, on his way. Finally, Elton had made it to the fence, where they had to touch and come back. As Elton was hopping as fast as he could, he also noticed that Bone was there too, hopping along at a slow pace. Elton decided to try and catch up as fast as he could, despite the fact that he was already extremely tired. Bone heard noises coming from behind him and looked. He was surprised to see that it was Elton trying to catch up and decided to go full speed. Despite Elton being tired, he was starting to catch up. By the time Bone had made it to the fence, Elton was hopping neck-to-neck with him. They both touched the fence at the same time but as they turned to start racing back, Bone did as he did when they first started the race and tripped him again, laughing at his presumed victory and supposed claim to the heir of the throne. Elton laid on the ground for a while, trying to catch his breath and accepting the fact that he might lose. after a minute or two, elton got back up, wincing from the ringing and called upon the rest of his energy to complete this race, even if he might lose. As he was racing, he noticed the doe that he had saved earlier.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" The doe asked, stopping him.
"I'm racing to try and become a prince." Elton replied hastily, out of breath.
"Here." She said, lying down, "Hop on."
Elton thanked her as he got on and she ran full force to the finish line. As they were leaving the trees, Elton caught a glimpse of Bone underneath a tree. The crowds that were cheering Elton on were passing by in a blur of fascinating colors. As he passed the finish line, the crowd made noise at a higher level. The father greeted him with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face. And so our tale comes to an end. You may be wondering what happened to his brother. One week later, Elton went out to find him. Eventually he did, but not in the way he was expecting. He found the bones of his brother underneath the tree that he had helped. The tree's roots were uprooted to the point that even the someone with the lightest of heads knew that tree was going to die. Elton approached the tree.
"Why did you sacrifice your life for me? It was only a race and even then i wasn't sure if i wanted to be crowned prince of the forest because i was perfectly happy with where i was" Elton asked, feeling deep sorrow and pain for the tree.
The tree then replied in a weak whisper.
"Every day, the two of you walked by my path. Every day, I saw him be mean to you. Every day, I saw him walk past my hunched over self, not even showing a passing glance to me or any other trees around while when you walked by, at the least giving me that glance, or sitting by my roots, shading yourself under my branches and reading poetry or some tale of knights, dragons, or fair folk. You gave me two gifts on those days. You gave me life, so that I may live and breath and look upon the world with wonder. You also gave me dreams. You gave me those stories of knights, those stories of dragons, those stories of fairies, sprites, and leprechauns. you gave me dreams of a place far away from where I was planted. I knew I could never visit these places with my body, but I always visited them with my mind. One day, I would visit the king's castle and dine as an honored guest. The next day, I would visit the queen's ballroom and dance the night away with the queen herself."
He took a breath and continued:
"Why did I sacrifice my life for a silly old race you say? In my mind, all gifts given to me are only borrowed and someday they must return to their more rightful owner than a silly old tree like me. I have given you life. You can now go live happier, you now have meaning, you now can raise your children and they their children in places better than what you did. I have given you your dreams back. Go and dine with the king, go and dance with the queen, go and marry the princess, accompany the knight, befriend the dragon, play with the fairies, talk with the leprechauns, fly with the sprites." He finished. Right before he died, he said a phrase that was too quiet to hear with the best of ears but Elton was able to understand him completely.
"Remember your origins, remember where you come from...."
THE END