Jovial - Chapter Six

I remember those lovely days when I was only ten years old, and Garette was thirteen. We would often go outside and play in the snow. He'd throw snowballs at me, then hide behind a tree and snicker.

I would laugh along with him, make a snowball myself, then return the throw.

Then, Garette would have me sit next to him to tell me a story. "Come," he would murmur, "Plant yourself right here." He'd gently tap the snowy spot that was beside him. And I would do so.

"Let me tell you a story about the little boy who cried 'wolf!'" Garette said with a smile. "Have you ever heard of that one?"

I shook my head. "No," I murmured.

"Well," Garette cleared his throat and continued on, "Once upon a time there was a little shepherd boy. Everyone in the little village would wake up early in the morning and have him take care of their sheep, and as usual, that's what he would do. Until one day, the shepherd boy became bored. He simply stared at the sheep eat grass, walk around, and sleep all day.

Then, the little shepherd boy had a sneaky idea. For his entertainment, he wanted to joke with the village people. So he stood up frantically, then screamed, 'Wolf!' Many people ran up the tall hill with torches and different weapons. They looked very worried. They asked the shepherd boy, "Where is the wolf? Where is it? We have to kill it before it eats our sheep!"

"Then what happened?" I asked.

"The little shepherd boy laughed at them and said, "Aha! Nonsense! There's no wolf here, you all fell for my trick!" The village people didn't find this amusing one bit. "Foolish boy," a man told him, "Do you know what kind of trouble you could've gotten yourself into?"

A day later, the little shepherd boy decided to play a trick on the village people again and-"

"What a dummy!" I interrupted.

Garette sighed and continued, "As I was saying, the little shepherd boy decided to play a trick on the shepherd people again. So he screeched as loud as he could, "Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!" Again, the village people hurried up the tall hill with their torches and different weapons, ready to fight off the wolf. But, like yesterday, there was nothing. All the sheep were peaceful, munching on grass, walking around, and resting. The village people became much angrier than the day before. They started to shout, "You foolish boy! You'll soon regret all of this!" The little shepherd boy laughed at them and said, "Nonsense! No wolf would ever come here!" And so the villagers left him alone.

The next morning, the little shepherd boy took the sheep up the tall hill as he usually does. But then, unexpectedly, a wolf ran towards his sheep and started to growl, ready to eat them all. The shepherd boy became extremely frightened and screamed from the top of his lungs, "WOLF!"

Back at the village, the people heard him. One man said, "Should we go check on the kid?" Another man replied, "Nah. He's probably joking around again." So everyone continued working, leaving the shepherd boy defenseless and regretful. Unfortunately, the wolf killed one of the sheep, the youngest of the herd. This made the little shepherd boy very depressed, and then he soon learned his lesson. Never ever, Juniper... Never tell a lie."

I shivered at the thought. "Is the shepherd boy okay?"

"Yeah," Garette replied, "But he would've been dead if he never ran back to the village with his sheep."

I gazed up at the bright, foggy sky, wondered what it would be like to experience such a horrible thing.

And now, I'm experiencing it.

"Juniper," Holly lightly pokes my shoulder, "You lost in a train of thought or what?"

I blink, then stare at her. "Um, yeah. Sort of. I was simply remembering something... Back when I was younger."

"Okay," Holly murmurs, then closes her eyes, as if she is remembering something, too.