Dark Charcoal and Seven Giants

 Once upon a time, long, long, time ago, when people spoke in verses only, there was a peasant woman named Mrs. Charcoal who worked in a coal mine. She lived with her husband, and they had no children.

One day, when she was still at work, she looked outside the little window they had in the ceiling of the factory and saw a wishing star. She noticed this star just when she was saying to herself: “I wish some day when work is done/ hurry up home fast, and in a run/ to be pregnant due to some fun/ and when nine months period is gone/ deliver a baby, when pain is none/ a cute and nice, charcoal-colored son/ to name him either Shaun or John or Ron.” And lo and behold the very next year Mrs. Charcoal had a son as dark as, well, as dark as charcoal! Due to his features, especially color of his skin, instead of naming him Shaun or John or Ron, which were very popular at the time, they decided to call him Dark Charcoal, or DC for short; a name that was very popular those days as well.

Not long after the baby was born, Mrs. Charcoal’s husband went on a trip and never came back. Since she could not afford to run a family with her sole income from the charcoal factory, she got married to a man by the name of Mr. Black, whose name pretty much described his features, and who worked in the same factory with her. He always carried a black rock called onyx in his pocket. Not only he carried this onyx rock with him everywhere, but he also talked to it, and strangely enough, he would receive an answer from the rock as well. There was one question he continuously asked his rock, since he enjoyed the rock’s response very much. He asked his rock: “in a world so populated and so dull/ full of people, some too short and some too tall/ with shades of colors from large to small/ who is the darkest of them all?” The rock would shake a little and a voice could be heard from inside of it: “On this earth, so desolate and so bare/ finding darker than you is really rare.”

When DC was old enough to walk and talk, he had a good time playing with his stepdad. At the same time, and as he was getting older, his features were getting darker as well. One morning, when Mr. Black asked the rock the same question, the rock responded: “I shall tell you this, which is very true/ DC is getting darker than you!” Mr. Black was shocked to hear that. He was always so happy that he was so dark, above everyone else, and now he found out that another person, especially someone living in his own household, was darker than him. He became jealous and thought that he had to do something about it, pondering on his options for a long time. The only think that made him proud of himself so far, was the fact that he was in some respect above all other people. Now, another member of his own household had that title. This bothered him at first, and he kept thinking about it.

DC called Mr. Black papa, and always thought Mr. Black was his genetic dad. One day, when the spouses were talking about their son, his upbringing and his future, they decided that DC was old enough to know about the secrets of life. Therefore, they decided to talk to him, and they figured that day would have been a good day for DC to learn who his genetic father was. After they came back from work, they sat down with DC and asked him if he knew where children were coming from, and if he knew that each child to be conceived needed both genders to cooperate in giving birth to him or her. He responded that he had learned about the secrets of life from his friends, and he knew that he was conceived through the collaboration of his parents. So, very gently and patiently, Mrs. Charcoal gave him a lecture about his genetic father and the way that person suddenly disappeared and never came back. Then, she told him how she met Mr. Black after he was born and why she needed a partner in life, and finally she informed him that Mr. Black had agreed to function as DC’s father, which he had been doing it with love and care all along.

Hearing that, DC became very unhappy and went to bed early. The next day, when his parents were at work, he decided to go out and look for his genetic father. He didn’t know where and how to look for him and decided to just get on the road and look for someone who looked like himself! In the past, and each day, he would go out after his parents went to work, to play with neighbors’ kids. Therefore, before embarking on his trip, he told his close friends about his predicament, made a bag of his clothes and other necessities, and got on the road. When his parents came home and couldn’t find him at home, went to neighbors’ houses searching for him. Some neighborhood kids who used to play with him told them that DC was very unhappy in the morning, and told them that he was going to hit the road to find his genetic father. Mr. Black and Mrs. Charcoal became very sad and understood that what made DC to leave them was the conversation they had with him the night before. They became very unhappy and sorry for what they did to make the boy run away from the house. Mr. Black felt an empty space in his heart, and realized that he loved DC very much and he was in fact happy now that DC was darker than him and everyone else, as if it was inherited by the little boy through a stepfather!

Let us see what happened to DC now. He walked all morning and all evening. After the sunset and when it was getting very dark, he became very scared, especially when he heard animals’ voices hollering. He looked for a place to hide and get warm. He found a doghouse that was vacated, and slept in there for the night. Next day, he walked the whole day again, and suddenly in the middle of nowhere, he found a small and tall shack. He decided to sleep by the house and knock the door in the morning, as he did not want to wake up the residents. He found a small basement behind the house, and he spent the night in that basement. The next morning after he woke up, he was totally tired and hungry, so he decided to knock the door, hoping someone would let him in. No one however answered the door as if no one was in the house. By pushing the entrance door, a little bit, he realized that the door was unlocked. He timidly walked in and found a small house with a small space, but a tall ceiling. Although he was a little boy, but still all the furniture were much taller than any furniture he had ever seen before. He was very hungry and noticed some fruits on the kitchen table, but he could not reach them. So, our boy climbed on the tall chair, then climbed on the tall table, and found huge apples and pears and oranges. They were so large that just one apple filled him up, and with a full stomach, he started yawning. Then, he walked around in the house and searched all the corners of that small and tall shack. After a while, he kept yawning again, and since he had not had a good night sleep the night before, after he found a bedroom where he saw seven huge beds in that small room, he decided to sleep on one of the beds. He was very cold and tired; so, he climbed on the top of one of the beds and went under the blanket and instantly fell sleep.

This was the house of seven giant women. Each morning, they woke up and went to work in a line, and came back in the evening for supper and cooking and cleaning, in addition to a little bit of dozing to get ready for the next day’s work. These giant women were meticulous in their housekeeping and each piece of the furniture was clean and organized and always standing in the same place, short of a hair of shifting. That evening, when our giant women came back home from work, they smelled a strange odor. Then, they realized that some of the furniture were moved around, in addition to one of the apples missing, while its core was left on the table. They became suspicious that they had been rubbed. Although their house was very tall, it was exceedingly small considering its length and width, consisting of just the kitchen and the bedroom. So, they checked the bedroom and in one of the beds, they found a lump on the blanket. They gently removed the blanket to find a little boy sleeping. They were amazed as to who that little human was and what he was doing there. After they saw his innocent face, they decided to let him stay in sleep and not to wake him up until the morning. So, they picked him up gently and put him on the side of the bed, and after they had their supper and did all their chores, they went to sleep themselves.

The next morning, DC woke up to find some giant woman sharing the bed with him. He got so scared of the size of the giant and almost screamed, but covered his mouth with his hand not to wake her up. Then, he noticed more giants on the other beds. He jumped down from the bed and hid underneath it, as he heard one of the giants moving. Not much time passed after giant women woke up one by one, and looked for DC, but could not find him, and thought that he was gone. They gathered around the dining room table for breakfast and started speaking about the little intruder, while DC could hear them. One of them said: “ what a cute little thing/ was that nifty human being/ I wish he was here yet/ so we tame him like a pet.” Another giant said: “wish we woke him last night/ to tell him he was alright/ and if he stayed with us here/ we would keep him close and dear.” A third giant said: “let us search for him around/ until the time he is found/ and make sure that we mention/ that he’s in our protection.”

Hearing this conversation, DC realized that he would probably be safe with them. He came out of his hiding place and told them that he was hiding as he feared them. The giants asked him who he was and where he was coming from. At this point, DC told them his whole predicament, and that he ran away from his house to find his own destiny. He continued: “I am DC with the most hideous face/ there is no one in the world to take my place/ I am the ugliest of all in this world/ looking at me you will never get bored.” The giants told him that they were happy to have him with them. They advised him that he was not ugly, as black was a pretty color, and thy emphasized that he should be proud of the color of his skin. They also offered him to stay with them, as they would assist him in finding the destiny the boy was looking for. Then, each of the giants picked him up and played with him and made him laugh; that made DC very happy, and he decided to stay with them.

Now, let’s see what happened to DC’s mom and stepdad. The day he ran away from the house, after getting back home from work his parents looked for him everywhere but could not find him. They asked neighbors’ kids, those he used to play with, but they did not know of his whereabouts either. However, those kids who missed their playmate wished for him to be back, as well as telling his parents about DC’s concerns for his genetic dad, and his search for him. Mr. Black was happy at first that DC was gone since the boy was growing to be darker than him. Not long after, as we mentioned earlier, he realized that regardless of his color, he was happy to have him as a son. He recognized how much he missed DC too, and promised his wife to search for him until they find him. As he was used to checking with his pet rock, Mr. Black took it out of his pocket and asked the rock who was the darkest of them all, which he heard the same response. Then, he told the rock: “it is good to be the darkest of them all/ as DC is growing, he’s getting darker and tall/ you’re saying that my title as ‘The Darkest’ is gone/ I am glad that it’s transferred to my son.”

DC, as well, missed his family a lot, and wished he was back with them, although those giants were taking a good care of him. After a few days of staying with the giants, he shared his feelings with them: “I would like to share my feelings with you/ and what I think my parents are going through/ they’re looking for me to find me anywhere/ in the forest, in the bushes, here, there/ they’ll be worried, and I am hoping for their health/ I could find them if I had some means or wealth.” Giant ladies told him that he was welcomed to stay with them for as long as he wished. They also told him not to worry about his parents, and if he wished, they could accompany him in searching for his parents’ house. They also mentioned that they were expecting to receive some vacation from their employer soon, and when they are on vacation, they will search the forest and look around to find his parents.

At this point, DC was in a state of limbo, as to what to do next. He was doing fine with the giant ladies, as it seemed that they liked him, but he was also worried about his parents and the way he suddenly disappeared. Each morning, giants would go to work leaving him at home by himself. They had already allowed him to help them with the gardening in their absence, and to bring home edible fruits and vegetables. Each morning, he would go out of the house and work on the garden, where everything grew twice or three times as big as fruits and vegetables he used to have around his parents’ house. He would spend all his day maintaining and cultivating them and putting something together for supper. When the seven giants were back home, they would eat their supper together, and discuss events of the day. Since they did not have to prepare their meal as DC was doing it for them, the giants had more time to spend with DC, talk about events of the day and play games with him. DC would share with them his previous life setting and would talk to them about friends around his parents’ home, in addition to the family he grew up with, and all the details of his past life.

One evening, when the giants were back from work, after they had their supper and were getting cozy and talkative, they asked the little boy if he was ready to embark on a trip to search for his parents’ house. They emphasized again that the safest place for him was near his family. They also informed him that they were granted a long vacation from their work, which they could use in searching for his parents’ house. DC was extremely happy to hear that, and they all had a good night sleep. The following day, they packed for their trip and hit the road. DC became so happy that very soon he might see his parents again and play with his old neighborhood playmates.

Seven giant ladies and the boy walked for miles and miles, until they got to a road that looked like the one he had gone through before. Since the road and surrounding bushes looked familiar to DC, the giant ladies asked him to lead and look at the trees and other surroundings and try to use the same path that he had used before. With his memory and the giants’ instructions they finally found the house, where DC was born and raised.

As they entered the house, they realized that his parents were already back from work. The evening they reunited was a glorious and unforgettable event for everyone. Mr. Black and Mrs. Charcoal were so happy to see DC back, and they all celebrated for the rest of the evening and night, all the way through early in the morning. The husband and wife thanked those giant ladies as well, and asked them to stay with them and celebrate DC’s return. At the end of the celebration while singing: “to your health is this drink/ whether white, red or pink/ it just matters what you think/ our thoughts now are making a link/ let our sorrows fall and sink/ and our minds make a link/ …” and they continued singing about love and cooperation and good feelings throughout that evening; and in fact, for the rest of their lives. And, they all lived happily ever after.