Coat Saga |
Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl named Stephanie who lived in Romania. She was very unhappy. "Another winter", she sighed "and still all I have to wear is this puffy blue abomination. Oh, woe is me!" It had been nearly two years since Stephanie first donned the cursed monstrosity, years filled with anguish and sorrow. Indeed, she could scarcely remember a single moment of happiness from her days of yore, for in all the time since, she had never truly been free. |
There was no escape. Even when the coat was removed, its oppressive presence was strongly felt as it expanded to ludicrous proportions and filled whatever room it was in with a blazing blue hue. |
Having long since resigned herself to her grief (What else could one do?), Stephanie no longer dwelled on her misfortune. One day however, as she strode across the local park, she spied the leer of a small oddly attired dog. In that moment she felt as if her heart would break. |
"Why, even the dogs have better winterware than I", she sobbed. "And they know it, too!" She recoiled at the thought. Had things really come to this? Indeed they had. |
That single chance encounter with a pretentious canine had been pivotal. It was time for a change. And although she neither knew how it was to be accomplished nor had previously even conceived of the possibility, she knew it with a certainty undaunted by the proximity of the sinister puffy blue entity which even then enveloped her. Promptly finding a secluded spot in which to reflect, she resolved, much like Buddha seeking enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree, not to move from there until a solution was at hand. It was not fast in coming. |
Three, perhaps four, hours passed before she finally had it. Elegant in its simplicity, it consisted of four simple words . . . . |
Wool is the answer. |
Of course! Why hadn't she thought of it sooner? If Stephanie could acquire a second coat, one made from wool, she could substitute it for her old blue tormentor, which could then be disposed of. She had heard tell of master woolworkers in the distant land of Alba Julia. Surely there it would be possible to obtain such a coat. |
"Oh thank you, little lamb!" she cried as she joyfully rushed off on her long journey. And it was indeed there in the land of Alba Julia that after much seeking, a suitable coat of wool was encountered. |
And Stephanie lived happily ever after! |
The End |
