Fic for a Pic- Childhood
Title: Storytime
Category: Childhood
Rating: G
Words: 1,277
Pic:
Once upon a time, there were two men named Tuti and Nagayan, and they were entrusted for a time with the care of a little girl, Nagayan's niece.
The little girl swore that Tuti was the best hair-braider the world had ever seen, and begged him to braid her hair after the three had finished their afternoon meal. Nagayan seemed to find this quite funny, but Tuti agreed without any kind of a fight. This is presumably because he had a younger sister and understood that hair-braiding is Very Serious Business.
Nagayan volunteered to finish the dishes from their meal while Tuti worked, and as he headed to the kitchen, he heard the little girl ask Tuti to tell her a story, because her mother had said it weaved magic into her hair (when the little girl was older she would learn that her mother simply wanted the little girl to sit still). When Tuti agreed, Nagayan decided to only pretend to finish the dishes but instead listen to the story, too.
This is the tale he told:
There was once a princess who had long, beautiful dark brown hair. She lived high in the palm trees on an island where there were whispering flowers and singing coconuts. Don't ask her name, because she changed it every day, sometimes twice. The people of the island simply knew her as The Princess.
On the island also lived her Uncle Takashi, who was her dearest friend in all the world. He wove palm branches into wonderful clothes that he sold, but he always saved his prettiest dresses for The Princess.
Off the shore of the island there lived a group of creatures that were half-people, half-fish. They grew strange plants on the ocean floor that, when they bloomed, glowed brilliantly for a month. So every month, one of the creatures would swim to the shore and deliver bloomed plants for the island people to use for light.
Most often, the creature who made these deliveries was one named Tuti. He had been doing it for many years, and had become a great friend to The Princess, and especially to Uncle Takashi. He came up to visit whenever he could, usually bringing odd or beautiful things with him from the depths of the ocean.
Unfortunately, the island was also plagued by a terrible monster. It came in the form of a giant tropical bird with flashy, tacky feathers and an annoying, screeching call. It had named itself Gaku, and it had a nest high atop the dunes on a neighboring island.
For many months, Gaku had been begging Uncle Takashi to weave him a hat, but Uncle Takashi always refused, because of the way Gaku terrorized the Islanders. This made Gaku very angry, and one day, as The Princess and Uncle Takashi collected clams for dinner, Gaku swept down from the sky, grabbed Uncle Takashi in his huge claws, and carried him away.
The Princess ran after them, but of course Gaku flew out over the ocean and once The Princess was up to her chin in seawater, she could go no further- the distance to Gaku's island was too great to swim.
She turned and began to swim back to her own island to get help, but it was difficult because of the tears in her eyes. She was determined, however, to rescue her uncle.
Suddenly, Tuti popped up from the water in front of her and asked what was wrong. When she told him, he looked very angry and worried and said, "I will help you- stay here." Then he disappeared under the water.
Not even a moment later, he reappeared, and beside him was a shark. If The Princess was afraid, she showed no sign of it, except for a step backward.
"His name is Moriyama," said Tuti, "And he is a dear friend of mine. He will carry you to Gaku's island."
The Princess nodded and carefully climbed onto Moriyama's back. The three set off, and despite his burden, Moriyama swam at an amazing speed, and Tuti kept pace beside them.
When they reached Gaku's island, Tuti had to stay in the water, but he said, "I will wait for you here at the shore. Return when you have rescued your uncle, and I will help you both escape."
The Princess nodded and then turned and ran as fast as she could toward the highest dune, where she knew Gaku's nest would be. However, running and climbing in sand is no easy task. Before long her legs were aching and her lungs were burning, but she couldn't slow down or rest, not while her uncle was in danger.
As she crept up upon the nest, she was relieved to find Gaku nowhere in sight. There was, however, plenty more to see- the bird had amassed a huge collection of the most vulgar things the world had ever seen: everything from jewelry to dishware to gaudy figurines. Unable to spy her uncle, she began calling his name, and after a moment, she heard him yelling her Name of the Day back. As she followed the sound of his voice, she came upon a large pile of dune grass, and soon realized he was buried beneath it!
The Princess immediately began pulling the grasses away, ignoring Uncle Takashi's questions about how she had gotten there and his warnings that Gaku could return at any moment. Presently she was able to lighten the pile enough that her uncle could wiggle free. As soon as he stood, she grabbed his hand and pulled him at a run-and-tumble back down the dune.
They were nearly in the water when they heard the monster's terrible screeching call as it realized Uncle Takashi was gone. When they reached Tuti, The Princess scrambled onto Moriyama's back, and Tuti helped her uncle climb on behind. They set off again, but they weren't moving fast enough- The Princess could hear Gaku's wings flapping closer every second.
Suddenly, Tuti yelled, "Take a deep breath!" and both The Princess and Uncle Takashi did, on reflex; and it was a good thing too, because in the next moment Moriyama dove them deep into the water, narrowly escaping Gaku's talons.
The surfaced just in time to see Gaku swoop down again, but this time, Tuti leapt out of the water, something long and dark in his hand. He whipped it around one of the monster's wings. There was a crack and a sizzle of electricity in the air, and then a cry of pain from Gaku. As Tuti fell back into the water and let the Electric Eel go with a word of thanks, the monstrous bird flew limply back to his island, never to kidnap anyone again.
The Princess and Uncle Takashi made it safely back to their island, and remain great friends with Tuti to this day. Their epic tale is told throughout the world, and surely they will have more adventures. However, for now, this is the end.
The intended and unexpected audiences of this tale were both held spellbound even after it was finished. Who knows how long they would have sat in silence if the knock of the little girl's parents at the door had not jolted them out of it?
After the little girl had left, amidst many promises from Tuti that he would tell her more stories in the future, Nagayan decided that the dishes could wait a little while longer. He wanted to show his true appreciation for Tuti's hand in saving his (fictional) life. After all, such generosity had to be repaid. But that, my friends, is another tale.
The End.