Franz Digs a Hole
One day, Franz was looking for a pot of special paint for his older brother, Forde. The paint was special because if you said a magic chant and dipped your brush into the paint, it would become whatever colour you need it to be. Forde liked to tell him that it was a family heirloom from their mother's side, but Kyle had once admitted to Franz that it was actually a gift from a gypsy that had once fallen for him, which he passed on to Forde.
As Franz rifled through the cupboard, he found a shovel tucked away behind the dinner plates.
"Hey Forde! What's this shovel doing here?" he yelled.
"Where is it?" Forde yelled back.
"It's in the cupboard with the plates!"
"I dunno! Go outside and dig a hole if you want! Have you found my paint?"
"Not yet!" Franz took the shovel out of the cupboard and laid it on the ground. After a bit more searching, he found the special paint and brought it to Forde, said 'Hello' to Princess Eirika and went outside with the shovel; Forde hadn't told him why Eirika was here, at least with a straight face, but Franz was certain that it wasn't for tea and biscuits, and he didn't want any part of it.
Deciding to take a walk, Franz soon found himself wandering into the outskirts of town. For whatever reason, he decided that he would do as Forde suggested and dig a hole.
Using all of his might, he stabbed the shovel into the compacted earth and jumped on it to push it deeper. Then, he tried to lift the dirt out, but had to struggle and struggle, grunting and groaning, until he finally pried it loose and moved it to the side. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he thrust the shovel into the small hole that was now before him. Leaving the shovel stuck in the ground, Franz stood back to think. Did he want the hole to be wide but shallow or thin but deep? Or even wide and deep or thin and shallow?
Eventually, he chose thin and deep. With that, he carried on shovelling dirt. Naturally, he began to find it difficult once the hole was deeper than he was tall. But, he pressed on, because that's the kind of guy he was: determined. His patience paid off, for he soon had a hole five meters deep. Feeling triumphant, he sat down and let the sweat roll down his arms and face.
After a while, he stood up and decided that he'd given his brother long enough. But as he turned to go, his friend Amelia called out to him.
"Hi Franz! I haven't seen you in ages! How are you? What are you doing out here?"
Franz turned to her and beamed. "Hello Amelia! I'm fine. I was just digging a hole with this shovel I found. How is your mother? Is she well?"
Amelia ignored his questions. "Wow! You sure are lucky to have a shovel, Franz! Duessel would never let me have one." She knelt down and looked in the hole. Then, she smiled at Franz coyly and said, "I like holes. I like to eat them."
"Okay," said Franz. With a nudge from Franz's foot, Amelia yelped and dropped head first into the hole. As she began to giggle, Franz began shovelling the dirt back into the hole. When it was all back in, he stomped on the dirt to compact it, then laid the shovel where the hole had been. After nodding sombrely, Franz made his way home.