A Festival Never to be Forgotten
Story by Aviva Jacobs (9 years old)
Written by Zev Jacobs (12 years old)
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a village lay in the heart of a valley. Practically everyone in the village was preparing for a grand festival held annually to celebrate the founding of the village. However, there was one wealthy man who didn’t share in the excitement.
This man dreaded the day of the festival because the mayor’s daughter was choosing a husband then. He knew she would choose the blacksmith’s son, as it was fairly obvious that they were in love, but he wanted her for himself. He toyed with the idea of sabotaging the festival, but a foolproof plan eluded him. However, when he finally gave up that line of thinking, inspiration came.
He had heard there were dragons up in the mountains near the village, so he recruited a group of men from the village––by bribing them––two days before the festival, and he led them up into the mountains with the excuse of going hunting––and in a way they were.
They journeyed long and hard for six hours and stopped for half an hour to eat. After that it was only another hour to find the rumored Cliff of Dragons. When they got there, they spotted countless caves. They searched a few and quickly found a snoring dragon. They attempted to tie it up with light-up chain necklaces they had brought specifically for this. The procedure mostly went well, although at one time the dragon belched and turned on its side. The burp emitted fire and one man had his hair scorched clean off.
When they searched the rest of the caves they found two more dragons. The capture of them went smoothly and without misfortune. That night, they flew on the backs of the dragons in the shrouds of darkness to a secret cavern near the village.
When they arrived at the cavern, they hid the dragons there and went back to the village. The next morning, they went to the cavern and fed and watered them. That day, everyone was excitedly speculating on who would be chosen as the husband of Sarah, the mayor’s daughter. Most of the people thought it would be the blacksmith’s son, but a few thought otherwise. Throughout the day the tension grew, and eventually the people started placing bets on it.
Finally, the day came, and people started heading for the fairgrounds. Everyone was in a good mood, because these annual festivals were always a jolly affair. Meanwhile, the jealous man Billigan and his evil group of men rode to the cavern where they were keeping the dragons. Their plan was to lead the dragons close to the festival and set them free, and the villagers wouldn’t know who did it. The villagers wondered where the men were but came to the conclusion that they had only started to the festival early.
Suddenly, on the way to the festival, a storm loomed in front of the villagers. It was only minutes before it came down on them in a cascade of wind and snow. They sought shelter near the cavern, which looked merely like a pile of boulders and rocks, but couldn’t find anything suitable. The blacksmith advised that they should look for a cave in the rocky hill, which was right next to the cavern.
They searched long and hard until the blacksmith’s son found the cavern. They entered it with a feeling of relief, but were not at all relieved at what they saw. The three dragons looked quite intimidating, especially in a dark cave. They were very lucky that the dragons were chained up.
Billigan’s group of men tried to stay quiet, but with that many men in a confined space like that, they just couldn’t do it. The crucial moment came when one man let out a small cough. No one had heard him, but he assumed someone must have and he scrambled farther into the cavern, which did alert the villagers. They found him, and two others near him. They forced Billigan’s plan out of the evil men, and when they searched the rest of the cavern they found the others. Billigan and his six remaining men put up a fight but they were no match for the eighteen villagers.
After the storm had abated, the villagers brought the rebels back to the village to decide what to do with them. They eventually decided to turn them in to the king, so a party of eight, including the mayor and his daughter, set out to do so. It took them four days to get there. The journey went without incident.
When they finally got to the royal city they were greeted by a soldier who asked what business they had there. They told them they had prisoners to turn in to the king and the soldier let them pass beyond the city gates.
When they got to the palace they were asked again what their business was, and again they stated their business. They were led into the throne room, and the sight they beheld was like nothing they had seen before. There were woven tapestries depicting battle scenes and scenes of nature. There were paintings of lakes and paintings of the king’s ancestors. There were carpets of the finest silk and wool. But most beautiful of all, the king’s clothes. He wore red velvet pants and golden chainmail, he wore a blue satin undershirt and a purple cape of silk. And finally, he wore an LED King Crown.
The mayor approached the throne uncertainly and bowed before the king. He mumbled incoherently until one of the royal guards gestured for him to speak. He mumbled more, but after several seconds he gathered enough courage to speak, and he told the king their story. The king agreed that the rebels should be locked up, and after a fair trial that’s exactly what happened.
The eight villagers traveled back to the village, and they rescheduled the festival for two days after they returned, even if it was a couple of weeks late. On the day of the festival, everyone had a good time. There were games and contests, with prizes paid for by the king himself, who wanted to reward the villagers for the capture of the criminals. There was even a parade with twelve drummers wearing Shamrock Top Hats and three other musicians, including one who played a flute, one who played a harp and one who played two Light-up Pink Maracas, all paid for by the king.
However, what the villagers enjoyed most was the end of the festival, which was the time that Sarah would choose a husband. When the moment arrived, she declared, “I choose,” the drummers did a drumroll, “you!” she pointed to the blacksmith’s son. The villagers cheered as she said that final word. Everyone went home feeling happy, especially since the wedding was the very next day.
At the wedding, there was much food––and wine, which the people drank out of Light-up Green Shot Glasses. Everyone was dressed nicely. The mayor was wearing a green and white doublet with an LED Beaded Shamrock Necklace and his wife was wearing a dark blue satin dress with an LED Pink Hearts Necklace. Everyone enjoyed their food.
Eventually, it was time for the ceremonies, and when the townspeople saw the bride they were astonished. She wore a beautiful white dress with a lovely LED Red Hearts Necklace and LED Faux Green Diamond Earrings. It really was an astonishing sight. Finally, the town’s priest married them, and the groom and bride kissed. There was much applause, and the villagers followed them as they walked to their carriage. The villagers shot Red Rose Confetti Cannons as the couple started to roll away on their honeymoon.
