saint_monkey

The Seven Truths
(A three page fable with an extra page.)

There was once a girl who lived by the sea. For some reason that I am not sure of, the fact that she lived by the sea is important, but that doesn't really matter right now. The girl lived alone, well... alone with her father really. Long ago her mother had disappeared while hanging the sheets to dry and to all who told the tale anyhow, was considered as good as dead. Hauled off by marauders and ravaged and marooned on some uncharted rocky shore, or something to that effect. (No marauders had been seen before or since, but the elderly ladies that told the story in hushed tones in the tea circles around town continued to hold onto a shred of hope.) Her father was a clockmaker and a "Rag-and-Bone" man, known well among his peers for being able to obtain and mend all manner of things. He wasn't very well suited to care for a young girl by himself, but he managed in a humble, unassuming way.

( the rest of the story )