Once upon a time in a country a long way away I "Nebraska?" Bait asked. Kit smiled "Fine,/I In Nebraska a very well to do man was drawing up his will. He many children and he wanted to make sure all of them got enough money to survive when he died. It took him a long time but finally he had it drawn up as fairly as possible and he called all of his children together. "Children, I am getting old and it won't be long before I die and I have decided it is time I decided how this ranch will be divided up. To my daughters, I am going to give you each 100 cows as a dowry and after I die another 30.
I "Why do they get cows? That doesn't sound like much." Lacy wrinkled her nose. "100 cows is a lot of cows and a lot of money. He also had 4 daughters, that is 400 cows total." Kit said with a smile./I
He then turned to his 2 sons, "Now boys I can't give you both this ranch, so to you my oldest son I am going to give all of my land and what is left of my cattle after your sisters are married. And for you, my youngest son, I am giving you the liquid assets of your grandfather's land."
I "What's liquid assets?" Two Bit asked confused.
Kit thought then said, "The cash left from the sale of the land."
"Why didn't the old guy say that in the first place?"
"He wanted to sound smart that's why." Jolly answered confidently. /I
This suited all of the old man's children and everything on the ranch was going good. The man's daughters got married to their sweethearts and took their inheritances with them. More time passed until about 2 years after the old man made his announcement. His youngest son was now 21 and was feeling a bit restless. He was tired of working the ranch and went into his dad's office.
"Dad I want the money you were going to give me when you died now. I want to go see the rest of the world and I can't do that if I am stuck here." He stood back waiting to see his dad's reaction.
The old man was very sad, but knew he should give the money to his son to avoid problems.
I "He shouldn't have told him off." Jolly said.
"Well he didn't."
"Why not."
"Cause he loved his son that's why. Now can I continue?"
"Yes" Jolly looked contrite. /I
Well the son took his money and headed for bigger and better things. He made a lot of friends with all that money. I "No kidding, Ise be friends with a guy with lots of money." "SHHHH"/I He and his new friends spent all that money on beer and gambled it all away. When his friends realized that all the money was gone they left and went to find some one else that had money that they could spend.
I "They weren't very good friends Kit." "No they weren't Bait but that is what kind of friends he wanted./I
Now the young man was at a lost of what to do. At first he was able to buy a lot of things on credit at the restaurants he normally went to; but soon they realized he didn't have any more money and they wouldn't serve him any more. He then began to life on the streets, since he was use to a life where his food was served to him at meal times and such he realized pretty quickly he couldn't steal food from street vendors. In desperation he began to eat out of the trashcans behind the restaurants where he had once paid to eat at.
One day as he fought with some dogs over the scraps from a trash can it hit him. His father's migrant workers I "What's a migrant worker?" "Some one who moves from farm to farm during harvest and helps for food and maybe shelter if they are lucky." "Ohh"/I Any way his father's migrant workers ate better than this. It was about harvest time maybe he could sneak in with them and at least get some food with out his father knowing. So he headed for home.
Now it was a long trip he had to travel for many days till even a few landmarks looked familiar and as he got closer to home he wondered if this was such a good idea. His father had to hate him, no one could love such a fool. What the young man didn't know was that his father stood every day at the end of his property from dawn till dusk waiting for him to come home.
His older brother and sisters would go out and beg his father to come in but the old man refused saying he was waiting till he knew that his son was dead, or the day his son came home, until he died which ever came first. Now the old man was very old now and very frail but he waited, one day as it was just getting dark he saw a figure coming close. He hoped against that it would be his son.
As the gaunt figure of a man came closer the older man looked into the face, searching for the features he had longed to see each day ever since his son had left home. It was hard to imagine but there the eyes were his son's I "Eyes? How stupid is that." Jolly scoffed but was quickly silenced by both of the little girls and Bait who were enthralled by the story. /I.
The young man seeing that his father had come out to meet him, threw himself at his father's feet begging, "I have broken your trust. I don't deserve to be your son, please let me starve with your migrant workers, call me your son no longer."
The father reached down and lifted up his son till they stood eye to eye then embraced him. "My son, you came home that is all that matters. You were gone and you have returned. I can no sooner cut off my hand than I could cut you off from my family." He then began leading the boy back to the house calling out to anyone who passed by, "My son has come back from the dead. Come I am throwing a party everyone is invited. No one is to be left out. Come bring my best suit and my finest gold watch. My son shall have the best I can give him."
That night the biggest party the county had ever seen was thrown and the older brother came up from the fields where he had been working to bring in the harvest. When he saw that the party was for his younger brother he was angry. He went to his father and pulled him aside. "What is the meaning of this, I have worked hard for you since I was 13 never once have I disobeyed you or caused you any pain. Yet here you are throwing a party for the boy who has been nothing but trouble, who left with out a word and who we haven't seen since the day he left. Why go to all this trouble?"
The father looked into his son's eyes, hurt "Don't you realize that I love you both? Your brother has been gone for so long and if it had been you, I would have thrown the same party. But please don't spoil this, come eat and drink with us. Be happy that your brother is back." He then went back into the party celebrating at the return of his youngest son. The older son stood outside for a moment before heading in to welcome his brother home. Tomorrow would be a day for talking, and just maybe he would learn something from this brother who had made a mistake."
AN: If this seems just a bit familar then you paid attention in Sunday School as a kid, it is the story of the Prodical Son from Luke. Yes I know, silly but I am in the middle of a terrible writters block and figured this was something totally fluffy that I could use to help break it. We'll see if it worked.
I "Why do they get cows? That doesn't sound like much." Lacy wrinkled her nose. "100 cows is a lot of cows and a lot of money. He also had 4 daughters, that is 400 cows total." Kit said with a smile./I
He then turned to his 2 sons, "Now boys I can't give you both this ranch, so to you my oldest son I am going to give all of my land and what is left of my cattle after your sisters are married. And for you, my youngest son, I am giving you the liquid assets of your grandfather's land."
I "What's liquid assets?" Two Bit asked confused.
Kit thought then said, "The cash left from the sale of the land."
"Why didn't the old guy say that in the first place?"
"He wanted to sound smart that's why." Jolly answered confidently. /I
This suited all of the old man's children and everything on the ranch was going good. The man's daughters got married to their sweethearts and took their inheritances with them. More time passed until about 2 years after the old man made his announcement. His youngest son was now 21 and was feeling a bit restless. He was tired of working the ranch and went into his dad's office.
"Dad I want the money you were going to give me when you died now. I want to go see the rest of the world and I can't do that if I am stuck here." He stood back waiting to see his dad's reaction.
The old man was very sad, but knew he should give the money to his son to avoid problems.
I "He shouldn't have told him off." Jolly said.
"Well he didn't."
"Why not."
"Cause he loved his son that's why. Now can I continue?"
"Yes" Jolly looked contrite. /I
Well the son took his money and headed for bigger and better things. He made a lot of friends with all that money. I "No kidding, Ise be friends with a guy with lots of money." "SHHHH"/I He and his new friends spent all that money on beer and gambled it all away. When his friends realized that all the money was gone they left and went to find some one else that had money that they could spend.
I "They weren't very good friends Kit." "No they weren't Bait but that is what kind of friends he wanted./I
Now the young man was at a lost of what to do. At first he was able to buy a lot of things on credit at the restaurants he normally went to; but soon they realized he didn't have any more money and they wouldn't serve him any more. He then began to life on the streets, since he was use to a life where his food was served to him at meal times and such he realized pretty quickly he couldn't steal food from street vendors. In desperation he began to eat out of the trashcans behind the restaurants where he had once paid to eat at.
One day as he fought with some dogs over the scraps from a trash can it hit him. His father's migrant workers I "What's a migrant worker?" "Some one who moves from farm to farm during harvest and helps for food and maybe shelter if they are lucky." "Ohh"/I Any way his father's migrant workers ate better than this. It was about harvest time maybe he could sneak in with them and at least get some food with out his father knowing. So he headed for home.
Now it was a long trip he had to travel for many days till even a few landmarks looked familiar and as he got closer to home he wondered if this was such a good idea. His father had to hate him, no one could love such a fool. What the young man didn't know was that his father stood every day at the end of his property from dawn till dusk waiting for him to come home.
His older brother and sisters would go out and beg his father to come in but the old man refused saying he was waiting till he knew that his son was dead, or the day his son came home, until he died which ever came first. Now the old man was very old now and very frail but he waited, one day as it was just getting dark he saw a figure coming close. He hoped against that it would be his son.
As the gaunt figure of a man came closer the older man looked into the face, searching for the features he had longed to see each day ever since his son had left home. It was hard to imagine but there the eyes were his son's I "Eyes? How stupid is that." Jolly scoffed but was quickly silenced by both of the little girls and Bait who were enthralled by the story. /I.
The young man seeing that his father had come out to meet him, threw himself at his father's feet begging, "I have broken your trust. I don't deserve to be your son, please let me starve with your migrant workers, call me your son no longer."
The father reached down and lifted up his son till they stood eye to eye then embraced him. "My son, you came home that is all that matters. You were gone and you have returned. I can no sooner cut off my hand than I could cut you off from my family." He then began leading the boy back to the house calling out to anyone who passed by, "My son has come back from the dead. Come I am throwing a party everyone is invited. No one is to be left out. Come bring my best suit and my finest gold watch. My son shall have the best I can give him."
That night the biggest party the county had ever seen was thrown and the older brother came up from the fields where he had been working to bring in the harvest. When he saw that the party was for his younger brother he was angry. He went to his father and pulled him aside. "What is the meaning of this, I have worked hard for you since I was 13 never once have I disobeyed you or caused you any pain. Yet here you are throwing a party for the boy who has been nothing but trouble, who left with out a word and who we haven't seen since the day he left. Why go to all this trouble?"
The father looked into his son's eyes, hurt "Don't you realize that I love you both? Your brother has been gone for so long and if it had been you, I would have thrown the same party. But please don't spoil this, come eat and drink with us. Be happy that your brother is back." He then went back into the party celebrating at the return of his youngest son. The older son stood outside for a moment before heading in to welcome his brother home. Tomorrow would be a day for talking, and just maybe he would learn something from this brother who had made a mistake."
AN: If this seems just a bit familar then you paid attention in Sunday School as a kid, it is the story of the Prodical Son from Luke. Yes I know, silly but I am in the middle of a terrible writters block and figured this was something totally fluffy that I could use to help break it. We'll see if it worked.