Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Mule Who Put On Airs

My 2015 fable "The Mule Who Put on Airs" has a message that has stuck with me. It is representative of a fatal flaw within humans that seems to only be getting worse. Pay very close attention. Chances are you have met a person like the mule in the story. Enjoy!

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Once, there was a mule who thought he was not respected. He saw how the horses were fed the best hay and were shod in the finest metal. Thinking he deserved such things, he marched inside and partook of the feast as if he belonged there. “What are you doing?” asked a horse. Said the mule, “Am I not a living beast as you? I shall take what I want.” “But what have you done to deserve such things?” asked another horse. The mule replied, “I slave for the farmer who beats me in an unjustified way when I stop to rest. I am a mistreated animal, and therefore, I shall eat the best hay as recompense.” The horses saw that this mule was deserving of no special treatment, so they all struck him with their hooves until he was run off. As the mule limped away, he said to himself, “I did not ask to be born into such responsibility. Woe is me!”

Moral: Birth accompanies no entitlements.

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This fable was written in a very similar style to that of Aesop. The character's roles were quickly presented and executed. Fables were always intended to be brief, and this story is as brief as it can possibly be considering the material that needed to be presented.

You will also note that multiple lines of conversational dialog are wrapped up in the same paragraph. Most fables do this as another way to keep the story from taking up too much space. Certain grammar rules simply get dropped for that reason.

Once again, a moral is included. I do not always feel confident about my morals, but in this case, I cannot even imagine a more perfectly written one. It sums up the purpose of the story eloquently. I am quite proud of this one.

But let's get serious about what it means...

I am sorry, but everyone--and I mean everyone--has the short time that they are alive to prove themselves. There was never meant to be free rides for anyone. I consider lazy entitled people to be one of the greatest evils on this planet. This rather traditionally written fable shows this problem perfectly.

Everyone wants to be fair. People seem to think that we all deserve the same treatment. If we were all equally good people then that would make sense. But unfortunately there are many out there who are trying as hard as they can to milk the system for all that it is worth while simultaneously trying to work as little as they can.

There is an insane belief among many people that we all deserve to be treated fairly. That simply isn't true. Those who work hard deserve such things. They may not get it, but they do deserve it. But there are many who clearly don't deserve anything good because they never bothered to be good themselves. I see this all the time. What is worse is that these entitled brats can get very ugly and cruel when their free ride is taken away from them. They will sometimes even cause harm to others in revenge.

There are good people and there are bad people--which all depends on the decisions they make. Blanket entitlements embolden the bad and cripples the good. The mule in the story felt entitled to wealth simply for having been born. He even used the popular excuse that he did not ask to be born. That is actually not an excuse. We all have the right to choose to be good people and help out or to be a lazy good-for-nothing that is ultimately a blight on the world.

I do not like these people.

I do not need these people.

Our world would be better if they all disappeared.

ALL PEOPLE SHOULD STRIVE TO BE BETTER!

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Did you hate it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Also you can visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Alien and the Talk Show Host

"The Alien and the Talk Show Host" by T.K. Wade

(The following story was written in about one hour and in one sitting on 6-25-18.)

"Welcome back," said Johnny Fez as the music played him back in. "Well, that's all we have for today." The audience booed. " No? There was something else?" He adjusted his tie and chuckled. "You got me, folks. We saved the best for last.

"As you know, there's been a lot of hullabaloo in the news lately about this man going around saying he is an alien. Doctors across the world claim that he seems to exhibit strange readings whenever they examine him. Not sure what that really means, but at the very least, it seems to have given his claim some credence.

"Anyways, I'm just babbling. Why don't we give you all a chance to decide for yourselves. Kelsey Forester, ladies and gentlemen!" Johnny stood up and clapped as a handsome man in a suit and tie walked onto the stage. The audience clapped with him as Mister Forester waved at them before shaking hands with the host. Soon they were sitting down next to one another and seemed to exchange a few friendly words as the applause settled down.

"Alright," said Johnny. "I guess you could say this is the interview of my career. An alien! Who knew?!"

Kelsey chuckled and joked, "It's the whole reason I stopped by, Johnny."

"Hey, when ratings are going down the chute, just bring in the aliens, I always say."

"Good plan."

Johnny straightened a few papers out of habit. "So, just so we are clear and I didn't just pull a random somebody out of my audience, you are an alien, correct?"

"Yes. I am entirely an alien."

"Aright, and how is Canada this time of year?"

Mister Forester laughed. "No, no. Nice try."

"So we talking about outer space here?"

"Yes and no. A little bit of both."

"Yes, you've always been a bit vague on that one. One thing that always makes me skeptical was how much you look like a human being."

"I never said I wasn't human," said Kelsey.

"So you are a human... but an alien human."

"Yes and no."

"Well at least you're being clear," said the host with a chuckle. The audience laughed with him.

Kelsey smiled and waved him off lightly. "Humans are the creatures of this planet... so naturally a human would be the best creature to be."

"Oh, no. I see what you mean. It's just that if you had wiggly antenna on your head or green skin, it might be a bit more convincing. I mean no offense to the football fans I hung out with the other day who looked pretty much the same."

Kelsey chuckled. "I got to chose what I looked like and a human being just made the most sense. Besides, if I looked like some sort of insect, it would have been less likely for me to appear on your show."

Johnny nodded. "At the very least, I would have to cancel the contract with our extermination people." The audience laughed. "No, my point is really that there has not really been much evidence, other than the medical examinations, that have really promoted what you are claiming. And some have said that you have merely used trickery to corrupt those medical scans."

"If I could be honest," began Kelsey, "I don't think the scans are failing as much as the doctors who are not prepared to see what is obviously there."

"So it is somehow the doctors failing--the technician's failing. They could not comprehend the true nature of your alien physique. Is that what you are saying?"

"Either that or the technology simply does not understand what it is seeing. One or the other."

"Alright," nodded Johnny. "That's fine. We'll give you that. Nothing more though. We need to know a bit more before we're going to believe you. I always fill my audience full of skeptics just in case one of my jokes falls flat. That way they'll know I'm really an impostor." The audience laughed and Kelsey chuckled.

"What do you need then, Johnny?" asked Mister Forester.

"Well, for starters, you can do something 'alien' for us."

"Like what?"

"Okay, I guess I am making all the suggestions here. Levitation." He picked up a pen and placed it at the edge of his desk. "Make this float off my desk."

"And that would convince you that I am an alien?"

"Well, it won't really put marks against you--I'll say that much."

"I hate to say this, but I can't make anything levitate. Even before I came to this planet, I wasn't able to do that."

Johnny picked up the pen with a nod and said, "I dunno, Kelsey, but I'm tempted to put a strike against you."

"Any reason why?"

"Well, you did put the qualifying factor into my hands, and I chose levitation. I mean... If you don't think that's fair then fine."

"No, no. That's fair. We'll call that strike one against me."

"Very neighborly of you. What do you think, folks?!" The audience clapped. Johnny continued, "So the next thing that would seem very alien to me would be technological. We've always assumed aliens came through spaceships and had heat rays or freeze rays depending on how you wanted your coffee prepared." The audience chuckled. "So I guess what I am saying is... show me the tech!"

"You sure you are ready to see the sort of tech I use?" asked Kelsey.

"You bet, sir. Blow my mind."

Kelsey Forester reached into his pocket and produced a smart phone. "Aliens of today bring their PCs with them in the form of these amazing devices called cell phones. I also have a digital watch." The audience laughed and Johnny joined them. However, when the laughter died down, the host chuckled and made a mark on a piece of paper saying, "I guess we'll call that strike two." The audience was restored to laughter. Kelsey merely smiled.

"So far we are 'oh' for two. But I'm feeling pretty generous. I'll give you one more chance."

"I appreciate it, Johnny," smiled the guest.

"Telepathy. I want you to read my mind." Johnny leaned back in his chair and grinned at his guest as if he was purposely trying to "think" something at him.

Kelsey chuckled and shook his head. "Johnny, I am not sure why anyone would want to read something quite as boring as another man's thoughts."

"Humor me."

"Your thoughts are uninteresting," said Kelsey.

"So that's a negative on telepathy then?"

"Mister Fez, why would I read the words of your thoughts when what lies deeper is far more interesting."

Johnny raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean exactly?"

"Who you are. What sort of man you are under all those uninteresting thoughts. The kind of man who layers joke after joke atop a far more fascinating darkness. The kind of darkness that leads to sexual deviancies with girls under the age of twelve. The kind of darkness that causes you to beat your wife to a point where she had entirely fallen out of the view of the public--not simply because she has been sick as of late. The kind of darkness that ultimately drew you to me. Ultimately, Mister Fez, you are a very strong and powerful man, and you know how to treat those who are below you. But what rests on the top layer--your thoughts--those things simply don't interest me."

The room was dead silent. Johnny Fez had been looking at his desk for nearly the entire time and idly flicking his pen up and down. Without looking up, he said, "And that... is strike three."

"Sure it is, Johnny," replied Kelsey with a smile.

"That's all the time we have for today," said Johnny calmly. "Take care, and goodnight." The camera quietly panned away from the two in silence, and ultimately the screen blacked out.

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Thanks for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Did you hate it? Either way, you can comment below or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Fox and the Wolf

Not to be confused with Aesop's "The Wolf and the Fox!" Completely different fable. We may go into that one later. For now, I would very much like you to read a fable I personally wrote in 2011 called "The Fox and the Wolf." Enjoy!

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A fox and a wolf had located a hen house at the same time and were unable to decide who would get the first catch. The fox thought of a way to settle the dispute and said, “I propose a fight. Whoever kills the other will take the hens for himself.” “That is acceptable for I can easily kill a fox,” replied the wolf. The fox then added, “I will need some time to ready myself. We shall meet here again tomorrow morning, and then we will fight.” The two parted ways, and on the first light of morning, the wolf returned. However he found no fox, and upon checking the hen house, there was not one morsel to be found.

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Those poor chickens! It seems that they were entirely used as a plot device for me to make my point. I'll cry about it later while dining out at KFC. In any case, this story employs one of the oldest tropes in fable history--that being the crafty fox.

Obviously a wolf would have no difficulties fighting or even killing a fox. The wolf in the story knew that. He was confident in his ability to win the contest. When the fox says that he needs time to get ready, the wolf thought this was fair. That was ultimately his mistake. The wolf concerned himself with fairness. He was also rather cocky, by the way. Never a good sign.

The problem here is that both sides are essentially evil. They are both billed as thieves in the story. Here is the thing about evil men: Alliances between them tend to be fickle or even entirely forged to begin with. A pact made with a criminal should be expected to be broken. The fox never had any intention of coming back to fight the wolf. The wolf was stupid and got what he deserved.

I did not give this story a moral. Aesop often omitted morals for many of his stories. But if I had to force myself, I'd say that the moral should be "There is no honor among thieves." Do you agree with it? Why not try making one yourself that fits better with my fable! I'd love to hear what you come up with!

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Either way, you can comment below or email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Also, you can visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Thank you!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Next Time

I have been into a Japanese band called the Seat Belts for a long time. The owner of this group is a woman named Yoko Kanno. She has made many kinds of music in her career. Much like my previous blog concerning Hazmat Modine's "Bahamut," Yoko also made a fairy tale song with a very clever story to it that makes you think critically about the effect chaos has on our society.

The song is called "Next Time." Before I get into too much detail about it, I am pleased to present you with the complete lyrics. A link to the actual audio will be provided at the end of the blog. And now, here are the complete lyrics to Yoko Kono's "Next Time!"

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We are the spooks
Behind all ideas
We wreck and we ruin
And we gloat and we creep
Call us the jinx
The hex or the kinks
But don't misconstrue our intention

We loosen screws
And cross all the wires
Rattle and shake
And we set all the fires
We will destroy
All that you create
'Cause we are the trolls of invention

Comatose radios
A speciality 'case you don't know
Broken hose overdose
We cause all these problems just so
You'll try harder next time

We come at night
And we gave you fire
Visit your dreams
Where we plan and inspire
When you are awake
You have new ideas
Emaculate gadget conception

Crash and burn, unconcerned
Your stamina is delighful
Bruised and blurred, live and learn
We cause all these problems just so
You'll do better next time

La la la...
Without us, you'd still be in the dark ages
Stumbling 'round wishing you had light
Make and we break so you make and we break everything again
Break so you make and we break so that the new age can begin

We are the spooks
Of all new ideas
We wreck and we ruin
And we crush and we creep
Call us the jinx
The hex or the kinks
But we are the souls of invention

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I found this song a very long time ago. I was still a kid when I was finding out about Yoko Kanno through her work in the anime Cowboy Bebop. I loved the music on that show which made me look into other music she did. As it turned out, I ended up getting a copy of just about every track she released.

This particular song puzzled me at first. The lyrics are sung by a man named Mr. Francesco Sansalone. He slurs and mispronounces nearly every word. It took me a bunch of tries just to figure out what he was saying. After listening to it for like the 30th time, I started to figure out what was going on. A fairy tale was being told in the form of a song.

The story is about a bunch of creatures called the "Trolls of Invention." The idea of it was that every machine made by man was innately perfect and would work forever. Enter the trolls. They would come in and essentially break the machine. When the human returned the next day, they would realize that what they thought was a perfect machine was really not. To remedy this, they would build a better machine that trumped the old one entirely. This was the goal of the Trolls of Invention: Progress.

The trolls represented chaos being introduced to a perfect system. When one thinks of the word "chaos," he may see something like an explosion or the destruction of something. In reality, it was chaos that seemed to push man forward. This is actually a very real concept.

Humans seem to thrive best when they are pushed with adversity. War inevitably leads to industrial revolutions of some kind. The stagnancy of a population does not lead to any sort of progress. In fact they tend to go insane. People tend to be content with what they have if nothing interferes of it. Change is often difficult to accept and generally unwanted altogether.

Imperfection is the key to moving forward within reality. Everything breaks and must be fixed. And the idea of fixing something should not be to create the same thing but to make something better. The Trolls of Invention simply represent this concept in the form of little demons.

I am very glad that I finally got to talk about this song. It is something I have carried with me since I was young. I hope it will inspire you as much as it did me.

If you want to hear the song for yourself, it is available at YouTube at the following link: Click here!

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? If so, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkadeauthor@gmail.com. Also I write and public books! You can check out my selection at www.tkwade.com! Thanks!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Interview with a Demon

T.K. Wade: Well, it's been a while, but the time finally came.

Demon: Yes, not since April. I'll admit that I have been looking forward to this.

TK: Oh, good. I'll admit that I haven't really been looking forward to it at all. I already postponed it once.

D: Any reason why?

TK: It wasn't really you. I just went through some hard things in my life and I couldn't make the time or emotional effort to arrange a meeting with you.

D: You did seem upset when you called to apologize.

TK: Well, I really was sorry. I wanted to do this much earlier. But now you are here.

D: Indeed.

TK: So I'd like to welcome you back to my home.

D: Thank you.

TK: As you can see, I am recording this on my phone to be transcribed later. And like last time, I'll be redacting as needed.

D: I'm sure you will. I read through the transcript of what you called the preliminary interview. It was rather curious what you chose to show and what you chose to redact.

TK: ***REDACTED***

D: ***REDACTED***

TK: ***REDACTED***

D: ***REDACTED***

TK: ***REDACTED***

D: Very well, I won't bring it up again. And just so you know, I really am pleased to be here.

TK: It means a lot to me that you feel that way. Now, I wanted to go over some things you mentioned in the preliminary.

D: Very well.

TK: You seemed to align yourself, to a degree, with humans in that each has value in their own way and is capable of being used. You also seemed to insinuate that humans as well as demons are meant to operate as a collective like the cogs in a machine rather than blatantly as individuals.

[The power went off right about here. We waited patiently for it to come back on, which it did in about a minute. There was a storm outside at the time. We only muttered about it a little, and after I listened to the recording, I decided to keep it off the record as irrelevant. We picked back up as if nothing has happened.]

D: You are skewing what I said a bit.

TK: It's really what I got from it.

D: Let me explain it to you fact by fact. Living things serve a purpose. If they did not serve a purpose, then there would hardly be a reason to have them around. Can you imagine what would happen in the world if everyone simply stopped working? It would be chaos. Human beings as pure individuals are chaotic and unpredictable. That may be fine on a deserted island, but other people do not deserve to put up with such chaos. Unpredictability is chaos. Am I making any sense to you?

TK: I'm trying to understand your definition of chaos.

D: I'll try and paint a picture for you. Have you ever seen an explosion?

TK: Yes.

D: An explosion does not really care what it destroys and what it does not destroy. It just tears a gaping hole in reality and leaves everyone to deal with the consequences. A individualist may, perhaps, be a benign thing, but that which cannot be controlled is a liability. It has the potential to be much like the explosion. The only correction to this problem is to push everyone into being the same. You have to force them into it or else their problematic and chaotic individualism could cause an explosion of a sort.

TK: I appreciate you dumbing it down for me.

D: Oh, it is my pleasure.

TK: I do see what you mean. I really do. But what about the demons?

D: What about them?

TK: Are they treated the same way?

D: We do not have a problem with individuality or chaos. Your problems are not ours. We are superior. Yes, we do, at times, work as a collective but not because we are being forced to. We simply do it because we know that it is the correct way of doing things. Certain tasks need to be accomplished, and we know how to do it without suffering the unfortunate ills of humanity.

TK: And I am sure we often give you trouble.

D: All the time.

TK: You do understand that I don't agree with any of this.

D: I am well aware of where you stand on the matter.

TK: And you could consider my standing on this to be that... chaos you mentioned.

D: Perhaps. It seems a bit more like ignorance to me. I am interested in your work. I don't despise you.

TK: But do you think I would be better off if I adapted to your way of thinking?

D: I think you would do better if you applied yourself to better instruction.

TK: Your instruction?

D: Oh, I don't think so, but I am very good at referrals.

TK: No, thank you.

D: Continue.

TK: Some of my readers were interested in who you are. They may not understand that, from my perspective, you look like a human being.

D: Physically, I am.

TK: But you have no soul.

D: I do not have a soul.

TK: Do you want a soul?

D: ***REDACTED***

TK: ***REDACTED***

D: ***REDACTED***

TK: I'm not bringing that up again.

D: Try not to get too upset with me. I really am happy to be here.

TK: I'll try. Sorry, if I offended you.

D: I'm not offended.

TK: Could you please tell my readers what you do for a living.

D: I invest with the purpose of making money.

TK: Alright, I wanted to say something about that.

D: I am eager to hear you.

TK: I have looked into investments a number of times in my life. It honestly just seems like playing the lottery. Unless you have some sort of insider knowledge, there is really no point in bothering with it. It's all chance.

D: [He chuckles.] It may be chance to the layman. To me, it is merely a puzzle that needs to be solved.

TK: A puzzle requires a pattern.

D: There is a pattern to it. It's not chance. You simply crunch the numbers and produce a solution. You then apply said solution and reap the rewards.

TK: It can't be that simple.

D: But it is. I am always surprised to hear people refer to the stock market as a game of chance. It isn't that at all.

TK: You aren't doing a very good job at making me feel very smart.

D: I wasn't really trying to.

TK: When did you first realize that you were a demon?

D: I was thirteen.

TK: Interesting number.

D: Why?

TK: Okay, before I make myself sound more like an idiot, can you tell me a bit more about what it was like to realize that you had no soul?

D: I think I need to clarify something. It was at thirteen that I was invited into this person.

TK: You were invited?

D: Yes.

TK: By a thirteen-year-old boy?

D: Yes. I was his friend. He offered and I accepted.

TK: [I was having a little trouble getting my words out at this point. I'm not going to type out all my stuttering.] But where is he now?

D: Who?

TK: The boy.

D: He is me. The boy you seem to be referring to is a memory. He allowed me to make better use of him. That was very kind of him. We were friends.

TK: So he's gone.

D: It's just a body. I am putting it to better use than he ever would have. You are doing a rather good job yourself with yours. That's all there is to it.

TK: I can't believe what I'm hearing.

D: Is this upsetting you?

TK: ***REDACTED***

D: ***REDACTED***

TK: ***REDACTED***

D: ***REDACTED***

TK: ***REDACTED***

D: Take all the time you need. I am rather upset myself that you got upset.

TK: I'm fine. I just needed a drink. I was getting a little dehydrated.

D: I understand.

TK: I talked to my friends a little about this whole thing, and I asked them to provide me with questions that I can ask on their behalf. In the interest of time, I am not going to ask all of them but have picked my favorites out of them and narrowed them down to four.

D: Very good.

TK: I just want you to answer each of them as clearly as you can and then we will end the interview for today.

D: Go ahead then.

TK: What do you dream about?

D: As in when I am asleep or is your friend talking about personal aspirations?

TK: Honestly, I didn't even think about that. Let's go with the second.

D: I marvel at the very idea of absolute equality. A perfectly functioning world where humans and demons operate as one towards the goal of indomitable synchronicity.

TK: Just to cover both bases, do you actually dream at night?

D: I do not dream, but I believe I have heard of a demon having dreams before. Generally they are the dreams of the human who once owned the body.

TK: What are the angels to you?

D: [He smiles and chuckles.] No less than than your fathers and mothers. Elders. We listen and as do accordingly.

TK: Do you consider them greater than you?

D: I know they do. I am still more of a proponent of equality.

TK: This is more my own question but is there a difference to you between the regular angels and the fallen angels?

D: [He out right laughed.] Nobody has fallen. That's a myth. The angels are what they are, and we are what we are. We all have our places, and Heaven and Earth would be much better off if we could simply work together and establish a status quo of some sort.

TK: Do you know love, if so what is love?

D: Well, it's really the same thing as desire, isn't it? If you love something, you want it. Humans romanticize it a bit more than they need to. I hear them say they love different things so complacently that a greater meaning seems implausible to me.

TK: Um... Okay. You answered the second half of the question. So can I assume that you... know love?

D: I appreciate the qualities of love--the qualities of which I just detailed. So yes.

TK: So... uh... Okay then. My last question is this: If all your desires were fulfilled what would you do next?

D: Die, probably. If not that, I would promote the status quo. I have no interest in either stopping what I am doing or changing my plans in any way. I do nothing in the name of chaos.

TK: Thank you very much for coming. I may invite you back later on. Would you be interested in a return?

D: Yes. And I will continue to monitor your blog as well as your other works. The experience was fascinating.

TK: Excellent. Have a good day.

D: Goodbye.

[Thank you for reading my blog. Did you enjoy it? Did you hate it? Either way, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Thank you!]

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Noble Fugitive

One of the most fascinating and fun tropes we have seen in fairy tale history is what is called the noble fugitive. To sum it up, we have a man--nearly almost always a man--who has found himself on the run from the law, yet he still does what he can to help those in need. Robin Hood is likely the most famous of these types, but there are many ways to accomplish this sort of character.

One of the common factors of the noble fugitives generally has to do with the unfortunate fallibility of present law. He is either confused with someone else's crime, or the crime he committed was justified despite being against the law. Whatever the case, the authorities want him either captured or killed. In the case of Robin Hood, it was due to the corruption of the prince and the sheriff. He stood against them to help the innocent who were being bled dry by the elites.

A similar but far more cynical version is the case of the Star Wars Jedi Master Rahm Kota. He was one of the surviving Jedi Masters after the emperor ordered all of his kind killed. He still fought the good fight for a while until a battle with a Sith apprentice left him blind. This blindness made him quite cynical. He was still good and willing to fight, but he spent much of that time getting drunk and talking about what was wrong with the universe.

The latter example is often interpreted in the form of a wandering fugitive. He wears rags and constantly scavenges for food. He could have a grand past life such as Master Kota, or he could just simply be a loner on the wrong side of the law. Nevertheless, he will act entirely by his heart with no mind for the law whatsoever. What does a fugitive have to lose anyways? Being on the wrong side of the law pretty much exempts you from having to follow it. Besides... in most fairy tales, breaking the law often just led to execution anyways. At this point, you should be free to murder and steal from those who deserve it for the sake of those you decide to help.

The main principle the noble fugitive really sets is the meaninglessness of the law itself. It's not real. It's just a set of rules pulled together by a particular group of people. Sometimes the majority of the country has no say in these laws whatsoever. And let's just be honest, if laws were truly sacred, they would be the same across the entire planet. Unwittingly becoming a fugitive can put this sort of thing into perspective. You suddenly realize that you are being hunted for merely following your conscious. It has a way of disillusioning your perception of the law.

In many tales of corrupt kings, the laws seemed really only to favor the elites. Taxes were often levied to make the king more comfortable. Meanwhile, the peasants were... well... peasants. They lived miserable lives in fear that they would be arrested for not paying their taxes on time. It is no wonder that when a noble fugitive came to stand up for them, they did what they could to protect them. After all, he's all they got!

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Also! Visit my website at www.tkwade.com and have a look at my books! Thanks!

Robin Hood

Jedi Master Kota

Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Coyote and His Meal

Everyone really seemed to enjoy my own personal fable in last week's blog. I've decided to give you another and possibly even more down the line. In this spotlight, I am happy to present to you another one of my own personal fables known as "The Coyote and His Meal," written in 2011. Enjoy!

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A hungry coyote, having trapped a man in his den, was soon to slay and feast upon his flesh, however the man protested, “I forbid you to feast upon me. As a man, I possess a name, and those who are named are dominant over those who do not.” With a chuckle, the coyote replied, “Name yourself what you will, for by tomorrow, you will fill my belly.”

Moral: Pride is no saving grace.

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Unlike "The Fox and the Snake" which ventured away from the Aesop's formula slightly, this story follows the style of Aesop perfectly. I also included a moral with this one... per tradition.

The premise of this fable has to do with the ultimate worthlessness of false pride. People often think more highly of themselves than they really ought to. The argument the man in the story made suggests that he really had nothing worth bragging about in how he lived. Take note of that!

Why was his only argument that he was a man and had a name? What did he do as a man? Was he a carpenter? Did he paint? A sculptor? What was important about him? All he seemed to say was that he was a man and had a name, and those alone meant that he would be exempt from being killed and devoured by a hungry coyote.

Even though it is possible that the coyote would have just as easily eaten someone who lived a better life, this particular man seemed to have lived up to a point where he deserved his ultimate fate. I have always claimed that a life worth living actually takes effort. People who simply live and nothing else are wastes of life. Actually try and pursue your dreams. If the coyote gets you, in that case, then the story is a tragedy. "The Coyote and His Meal" is not a tragedy at all. It is more a fulfillment of destiny.

The coyote makes a funny comment at the end: “Name yourself what you will, for by tomorrow, you will fill my belly.” This is all about the nature of an animal. Animals only care about food and sex. He was not taking the man's claim seriously at all. He did not even understand what the man was talking about. He must have been thinking, "What does a name have to do with me not eating you? Sure, if you want a name then fine, but I'm here to eat." Animals do not care about human ego. They have certain things they are trying to accomplish and that is the end of it.

As to the moral I chose "Pride is no saving grace." This is one of my better morals. It is short and succinct. It wraps up the whole issue in 5 words. What do you think? Could the moral been something else? If you know of a better or different moral why not write it into the comments? I'd love to hear what you think!

So that is it for "The Coyote and His Meal." I have written a few more fables. I will let you read them as I get around to them. Fables were always fun for me to write. They are very brief ways to explain the problems with humanity and our relationship to the rest of the world. I look forward to showing you more!

Thank you for reading this blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Thank you!

Fairy Tale Spotlight: Dragons and Princesses

So as it turns out, if a king only has a son, a prince, they will likely not any problems with dragons. There never seems to be female dragons interested in kidnapping princes. The formula always favors the exact opposite. A male dragon will attack a kingdom and make off with a princess. This trope is pretty much uncontested throughout the ages which means there is truth to it.

Let's ask some questions about what is actually going on here:

1. Why does the dragon even want the princess?

2. What does he do with her while she is with him?

3. Why are there hardly any female dragons in lore?

And finally...

4. What is a dragon?

Let's start with the first question. Why does the dragon even want the princess? If there is one thing we associate dragons with, it's hoarding. They love to just gather up all the shiny things in the world and put them in one single spot. And what do they do? They sleep on it. Smaug from "Lord of the Rings" is a fantastic example of this.  He didn't have a princess though. I can only imagine this was because there were none to have in the area.

Dragons probably like princesses for the same reason they like jewels and gold. They are generally virgins and untouched. Why not add it to the collection? If a dragon can see the beauty in a ruby, I'm sure they can see it likewise in a human beings.

But what does he actually do with her when she is with him? That was my second question. Here we may be getting into a disturbing area. Although I am unsure if any sexual contact ever took place--mainly because of an obvious size difference--the concept of it is very plausible. There's no reason for a dragon to do anything like that with inanimate treasure, but there very well could be a sexual attraction to a beautiful princess.

Fairy tales do not often go into what happens between dragon and princess. Most stories will either show her languishing away in a cage or trapped between his body and his tail. She could simply be considered a pet, but most of these stories generally focus on the prince or other type of hero going out to save her. As most people who write and tell stories tend to be somewhat prudish, it is reasonable that the relationship between the dragon and the princess could be a sexual one. Otherwise what would be the point of abducting an attractive woman?

So why is the prince never abducted by a female dragon? Where are the females anyways? I'm sure they exist. In fact, I sometimes wonder if some of the princesses are being abducted by female dragons as well. But none of them want princes. Men are not really beautiful. There's no reason to put them anywhere. Let's face it: men are rugged beasts who were born to go about fighting and killing things! A dragon looks at a prince and says, "Ew." Then he looks as the princess and little hearts float around above its head.

So a dragon kidnapping a prince would be a very silly thing. I'd actually wonder what is wrong with that particular dragon. Where did he come from? Why is he staring so creepily at that man? Why does he have a set of little human-sized dresses nearby. Oh no. No! Not that! WHY???!!!

What is a dragon? Very likely this is another dragon creature of old. Demons are basically hybrid spirits mixed with some sort of animal or another organic substance. In this case, probably dinosaurs. The difference is that the dragon is intelligent enough to recognize what beauty is. Demons have a long history of sexual misconduct. It makes perfect sense that they would want to steal away princesses to do whatever in the quiet of their hoard.

You can imagine how scary these greedy creatures were. They were huge, had massive power, and had no qualms about terrorizing others for their own benefit. No wonder there were people who went out to slay them. Nevertheless, the dragon became a cornerstone of popular fairy tale stories. Even to this day we discuss them and talk about their lore. Dragons will never truly go away. They have gone down in history as one of the most exciting and interesting villains of all time.

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you enjoy it? Golly, I sure hope so! In any case, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Rawr!