Saturday Story - September 4, 2021

 Saturday Story - September 4, 2021

Snow White and the seven dwarfs reversed

*****

Grumpy Dwarf was not liked by his brothers.  He was always complaining - but that was natural, he was just “grumpy” 

Finally, the seven dwarfs had a family meeting.  There was Doc, Hay, Sleepy, Bashful, Dopey, and Sneezy.  And, by a vote of 7 to zero, they kicked Grumpy out of their house.  He even voted him out.  He had enough of them!!!

*****

Grumpy was an accomplished miner and woodsman and was handy with tools and household chores.  He had never been out of the woods, but found a trail and just kept walking.  He ate berries, and found a field of corn and ate a few ears, and fell asleep next to a barn. 

Waking up, he was surrounded by seven lovely ladies.  

The first lady seemed to be the head of the group. 

“Hi”, she said. “We’ve been praying for someone like you!!!”  The other ladies nodded and smiled at Grumpy. 

She added “Could you stay and work for us?  We would pay you, feed you, and give you a place to stay.  We would really like it if you would be our handyman!!!” 

Grace, Sunny, Lily, Gladys, Mercy, Rose, and Joy looked at Grumpy so expectantly. 

He was so hungry, that it sounded like a fair offer!!!.

The ladies brought him into their house.  And, they set off to fix him a meal.  

His clothes were dirty and ragged.  Gladys brought a measuring tape and soon had his size.  Mercy ran a hot bath for him.  Meanwhile, Gladys, Grace, and Sunny were cutting and sewing clothes for him. They left the clothes outside the bathroom door.  The clothes were in shades of pink, and pastels.  

Grace (who seemed to be in charge), greeted Grumpy as he came out of the bathroom.  She swooned over him.  “You look so lovely” and the other girls agreed!!! 

Grace asked, “What's your name?” 

Grumpy answered “Grumpy”.  The ladies drew back.  That wasn’t a good name for them.  The ladies huddled together and they all talked excitedly about names.  

A few minutes later, they had decided.  

Grace said “Your name will be Handsome, but we will call you ‘Han’!!!  The girls twittered excitedly.  

*****

From that day on, Han was the helper around the place.  He had eaten some of the corn before he arrived and it was ready to be picked.  The girls brought out about twenty big baskets and soon Han had them full.    

“Ooh” exclaimed Grace!!  We can sell the corn in town and buy a cow,” 

The ladies did have a horse and a broken-down wagon.  So, Han went to work fixing up the wagon and caring for the horse.  The horse needed new horseshoes.  Han found a large nice tool room.  He had watched his brothers shoe the old nag they used in the mine and so he put new shoes on the horse.  The girls told him that their father had died but had kept the tools in great shape.  

Then he fixed up the wagon.  

Meanwhile, Gladys made many more clothes for Han.  In four days, he had the wagon fixed, and he had a fancy outfit for him to wear into town.  

BUT, Grace (with her sisters), decided that Han (or old Grumpy) needed to look nicer, so Mercy, who seemed to be the beautician, cut his hair and trimmed beard. (He felt like he needed a neat beard.)    

With Grace and Sunny, Han took the wagon with the baskets of corn into town. They did sell out of the corn quickly and at a good price.  Grace had some additional money and they bought two cows.  

Everybody in town smiled and was so nice to the girls and to Han.  (He was more like his brother Bashful on this trip). 

*****

Grumpy (or Han) really was changing inside as well.  He was always grumpy at home - there wasn’t as much food as he needed and he went to bed hungry, his brothers made him go into the deeper parts of the mine to dig, Being with these ladies changed him.  

He hadn’t learned to read or write, but Sunny (who seemed to be the teacher) gave him a couple of hours of lessons in the evenings.  

*****

As fall came on, Han with the girls cut firewood for the winter. Sunny seemed to be his main helper as they built stalls for the cows and fixed up the barn.  In late October, all of them (except for Gladys - who seemed to run the household), dug the potatoes, carrots, and beets.  Finished harvesting the corn and made it ready for the winter.  

Sunny helped Han milk the cows and Gladys and Rose processed the milk.  Two cows didn't make a lot of milk, but it was something.  

Han and Sunny had a plan to get more cows - they could cut more wood and sell the excess in town and buy more cows.  They also learned that Lars, a neighbor about ten miles away, had a bull.  Not sure how it was done, Sunny talked Lars into a deal.  The first calf would be for the seven girls, and then the second calf would go to Lars.  This deal would last for the next six years for stud service.  

*****

To be finished next week!!!

YES - I'm still on the road, and my three keys are still sticking!!!

LOVE WINS!!!

Karen