Week 5 Story: Where's my Luck?

"Alright, kiddo. You should really be going to bed now. I told your mom that I would put you to sleep before nine this time. No more TV." said Bailey. 

"Fiiine. But you gotta tell me a bedtime story first." whined Beth. 

"You got yourself a deal kid. 

Once upon a time in a land faraway, much different from the land we live in now, lived two brothers named Paul and Richard. 

 Richard was rich, and Paul was poor. This was because Richard had a good Luck while Paul had a bad Luck. 

One day, Paul went over to Richard's house to visit him. Paul was walking to Richard's mansion when he noticed a man driving in Richard's car. 

Paul said, "What do you think you're doing in my brother's car? Who are you?"

The man replied, "I'm your brother's Luck, and I'm taking his car to pick him up."

"You're Richard's Luck? Where has my Luck been all this time? I work harder than Richard ever has, but I'm nowhere near as successful. You're the reason Richard is rich." exclaimed Paul. 

"That is correct. Not everyone is blessed to have good Luck. I'm the best Luck there is. But I can't help you. I only help Richard. So if you want to bring fortune to your life you gotta find your own Luck." the Luck boasted. 

"Ok, where do I find my Luck?" Paul asked. 

"Your Luck is the laziest there is. He's probably asleep in his house." said Richard's Luck.

"Fine, give me the directions to his house." Paul demanded. 

So Paul went on his journey to find his Luck. On his journey, he met several other unfortunate people: a gardener, a businessman, and a thief. The gardener was never able to keep a plant alive for more than a week. The businessman was on the verge of bankruptcy. The thief was horrible at stealing things. All three of these people asked Paul to send a message to his Luck. They wanted to know how to bring fortune into their lives.

So Paul found his Luck and woke him up. His Luck was not very happy. However, Paul refused to leave until his Luck helped Paul solve his and these people's misfortunes. So the Luck told the gardener that there is gold buried in his garden. If he digs it up he'll become rich. He said that the businessman will win the lottery soon. Money will never be scarce for him again. Paul's Luck said that the thief will finally be able to steal a foolish man's fortune. He will never have to steal again. 

Paul said, "What about me? Where do I find my fortune?"

"Just take this bag of gold and leave me alone, will you? This should be more than enough" the Luck said. 

So Paul went back to the gardener and told him about the buried treasure. He thanked him greatly and gave him a share. Paul added it to his stash of gold. Then, Paul went to the businessman and told him about the lottery win; the businessman thanked him and promised to deliver a portion to him when he receives it. Then, Paul went to the thief and told him about the foolish man he would steal from. 

The thief then said, "Hmm...quick, look behind you!"

Paul quickly turned around. When he turned back his stash of gold was gone and so was the thief. He soon realized that he was the foolish man. 

Isn't his Luck supposed to help him? Then Paul remembered back to what Richard's Luck said. He said that he only helps Richard. Maybe if Richard's Luck helped others that would diminish the fortune Richard would receive. Paul soon regretted helping the others find their fortune. 

He was too tired from his journey to chase after the thief so he rested for the night. The next day, he found a check. It was written out to his name from the businessman. In the past, Paul would be grateful for this amount of money. But now, Paul had gotten a taste of being rich. So, he decided to go to his Luck and demand for more fortune. 

Paul's Luck was even angrier this time when he was woken up from his slumber. He said that it was Paul's fault he lost the money. So he kicked Paul out of the house and refused to help him. Paul was outraged. Why couldn't his Luck be as good as Richard's? When he left the house he noticed the gardener and the businessman walking towards him. They were carrying a bag of gold. It was his bag of gold.

They said that they saw a thief running away with it. They recognized the bag as his so they stole it back and had the thief arrested. Paul soon realized that his Luck didn't control everything. That good things can still result from doing good deeds. He was ashamed that he even thought about regretting helping them. He was ashamed that he was becoming greedy. He vowed to spend the rest of his life helping others who had bad a Luck like his. He would force his Luck to help bring fortune to other's lives. The End. 

"Wow, that's a cool story Bailey. So does that mean when someone is lucky it's because they have their own Luck helping them?" asked Beth. 

"Maybe, who knows? But, the moral of the story is to not depend on your Luck for everything. I forgot to mention that Richard ended up losing his fortune. His Luck saw the good Paul was doing and decided to leave Richard and help Paul instead. So Paul's Luck became Richard's Luck and Richard's Luck became Paul's Luck." said Bailey

"Whoa. Awesome. I like Paul. He's nice. Richard sucks though. I'm glad Paul ended up okay. Good night Bailey" said Beth. 

"Good night Beth" replied Bailey

Image Information: Four leaf clover (pixabay)

Author's Note: 

For this week's story, I decided to retell the story about the man who went to wake his luck. The original story is about two brothers who are rich and poor. The poor brother went to his rich brother's house and saw someone herding his brother's horses. He asked the horseherder what he thought he was doing with his brother's horses. The herder said that he was his brother's Luck. The brother then decided that he would need to wake up his own Luck. He went on his journey and met three people: a gardener, a king, and a wolf. These people asked the poor brother to ask his Luck how to bring fortune into their lives. So the poor brother's Luck told him how to bring fortune into their lives. The poor brother then went to the gardener and the king and brought them fortune. He went to the wolf and said that the wolf would eat someone foolish to relieve his starving belly. The wolf then ate the poor brother. 

So my version is generally the same. I kept the gardener the same but changed the wolf into the thief and the king into a businessman to make it more modern. I also decided to change the ending to add a moral to the story. In the original, it just ended with the poor brother dying. So I let the gardener and business "pay forward" the generosity and fortune Paul gave them to show that you should always care about others and not depend on luck for everything. 

I also added the part about Bailey and Beth. I thought it would be cool to retell the story in a babysitter's words to a kid.  

Bibliography:

"The Man Who Went to Wake His Luck" from the Persian Tales written by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (weblink)