Once Upon A Time
Once upon a time, there was Father Time. He lived in the castle with his three boys, Before, Now and After. Before and After were well-behaved, obedient boys, but Now was a different story altogether.
See for yourself…
Mother Nature was agitated. Father Time lay asleep and the key was missing. Yes, the key! It wound him up, waking him up from sleep. It was a ritual followed since the beginning of time itself and had never been missed. And now the world was in chaos.
“Hurry, the key must be here somewhere” she cried to all around and her shouts could be heard echoing down the halls.
Worried, Before and After ran to her.
“Mom, we wish to confess,” they chorused.
“Not now boys. Do you know what has just happened! Your Father is asleep because the key is missing. The key has never, ever been misplaced. I just can’t believe it!” she said looking distressed.
“But Mom, we want to tell you about that!” they cried out fearfully.
Mother Nature was a small, dainty woman, but she pulled herself up, placing her hands on her waist and eyes narrowed asked, “What about it?”
Nervously they replied, “Well, Now has the key. We were playing when Father went to sleep, and he laid the key on the bedside table. Now thought it was a good idea that we take the key as a prank, and we did.”
“What? Do you know what you have done? NOW!” her voice boomed across the hallways.
Now was merrily chasing a butterfly that had wandered in, when he heard her shout. Scared, he ran panting to his Mom.
“Yes Mom?” he asked nervously.
“Where is THE KEY?”
Now looked petulantly at his brothers, wanting to scream at them. But he knew that he was in serious trouble.
“It’s with me” he replied, jutting out his chin.
“GIVE IT TO ME, NOW!”
“NO. I WON’T! Let Father sleep awhile. What harm can it do?”
“You really wish to know the harm done? Come see for yourself!” saying so, she dragged him to the balcony while Now struggled to free himself.
Now got a huge shock! Kids and Officegoers were late, traffic signals were out of action, cars swerved and narrowly missed each other, airports were jammed because flights were delayed. Some people had lost their sense of direction, while others were frozen. Chaos reigned everywhere.
“But I didn’t do anything!” he cried.
“You did this. Father Time is needed here NOW. By letting him sleep, you have brought this upon others. You are ONLY to blame!” Mother cried.
Sobbing, Now handed over the key and Mother rushed to wake up Father Time. Father Time hurried to restore order into the world. And he also explained to all three boys the responsibilities that rested on their young shoulders. Before, Now and After worked in harmony under Father Time’s control keeping the world in sync.
And they lived happily ever after.
The End
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