Honesty By Hannah Walker

Honesty By Hannah Walker

    Once upon a time in a land, far, far away, there was an Woodman, He made an honest income steadily chopping wood and during one blazing, golden, summer afternoon, he was doing just, that. He was chopping to such a steady rhythm, he didn’t realize that he was sweating profusely, and before he could stop it, his axe flew from his grip, into the river! He squealed in horror as his prized axe plunged down into the blue unknown. As he descended to his knees to weep eternally for his prized possession; his only way to earn income, he heard a glorious buzzing coming towards him. As he turned to look, he fell to his knees once again; for, hovering above him was the messenger of the gods, Mercury.

      “Ahhhhh!” the Woodman screamed, tumbling backwards, because the Official Messenger of the gods didn’t usually make house calls. “Oh, stand up, you coward!” he irritably bellowed. “I have lots of wishes to grant, so don’t think you get any special treatment.” He sighed “Let me guess, you found a magical golden lamp and you have a flea ridden monkey. Well sorry, I don’t do the genie thing anymore.” The Woodman was obviously puzzled but told the messenger,   “I-I- I lost my-my axe in the river!” The Woodman quaked. “Oh, that truly is awful isn’t it? Much better than poofing up a dress for some dye blonde, how can I help?” Mercury impatiently consoled. “Uh, I thought you-you could find it?” The Woodman stammered.  “Well than, let’s start!” he briskly appealed. And with that, he suddenly dived into the deep blue.

     He was up in a matter of seconds, with a glorious golden axe.  “AHA!!” he loudly sang. “I have found it Mr. I Dream of a Jeanie!”  But, being honest from ever since he could remember, he gloomily countered, “You are mistaken, for that is not my axe, but of much greater value.”   The bronze messenger  rolled his eyes and mumbled something like, “ungrateful little...“   and before The Woodsman could retaliate, he was under again.  This time, when the planet returned, he was carrying a silver axe. “This has to be it!”  He hopefully shrieked, but the Woodsman only shook his head. Mercury, without a look at the mortal, lunged into the river, muttering something like “He must be crazy…” 

 And this final time, when he arrived, he was carrying the Woodman’s old, prized axe. “Oh! That is my axe!” He joyfully cried!  Mercury, eagerly pleased, energetically screamed, “Yes Yes YES!! You did it!!” The Woodman formally cheerful, was now, very, very confused. “I, what?”  He carefully asked, remembering the time when his mother told him, “Crazy people can’t control their emotions, slowly back away and turned to run for his life, when Mercury pulled him back to the river. “Finally!” He gratefully exhaled “I’ve been looking for someone as honest as you since, well, the kid with the monkey!”  Seeing that the Woodman was clearly still confused he raised the two axes the Woodman refused, and gave them to the startled peasant.  “A gift, for the most honest person I’ve met in a long while.” Mercury explained. And before anything more could be uttered, he was gone.  

    Later that day, the same woodman was bragging about it in a bar, when the bartender decided to try the same tactic, for she was low on cash.  So, she lugged an ancient, rusty axe down to the waterway and, as soon as she threw the instrument into the river, the mythical fire ball appeared.  “I have lost my axe!”  She deceitfully cried, and sadly pointed to the river. And as before, the planet threw himself into the river and came up with a golden axe. “Yes! That is it!” the deceitful bartender joyfully jested.  But the planet could see through the lie and replied, “You have tried to cheat the gods out of a precious gift and for that, you will get neither of the axes. And with that, Mercury zoomed away, leaving two different people the same lesson, Honesty is the best policy.