All copyright of Rene Horn (see http://rhorn.unixcab.org/copyright.html for copyright and distribution rights) The Cat, by Rene Horn 09/17/2004 There was once this cat who was entrusted by his master to watch over their house while the master was away. The cat adored his master, much more so than his master adored him. One night, he had a dream of the most wonderful scratching post, and scratched at it with abandon. He soon awoke to find that he had in fact been scratching at something, but it was not a scratching post. He looked, only to quickly realize that it was his master's favorite chair. He quickly feared for what his master would say. He did not fear for his life for his master was merciful, but he feared that he would thenceforth be viewed as flawed, much like a stain upon a silk shirt. He did not wish for his master to be stained. He went out the next day to buy a new chair just like the old. He brought it home and replaced it with the broken one. He left later that same day to wonder world, without a note,without a goodbye. He occasionally returned in secret to see if his master missed him, but on all such occasions, the cat found no evidence of any grief. The King and the Pauper, by Rene Horn 10/03/2004 Once, there was a king and a pauper. The king and the pauper were good friends, though they rarely had time to see each other. The king wished so much to help his friend, but he had neither the time nor the energy, but that mattered little to the pauper. The pauper was quite happy with his lifestyle, and did not care for the riches of the world. Time passed, and they continued to have communique with each other. The pauper created a business for himself that he thoroughly enjoyed, and the king was happy that his friend was happy and finding he enjoyed and was, as he saw it, "moving up in the world." The pauper did quite thoroughly enjoy his work, though he kept little of his profits. Rather, he utilized the money to bring others out of poverty, for that was a part of his nature. The king continued to run his nation, with particular eye and concern for all his citizens. He was a good king who tried with all his time and resources to hear and help his citizens, though many wondered whether he spread such things too thin to truly be effective in any particular area. Some of his citizenry were zealous and loyal citizens, though zealotry had, upon occasion, went to extremes that embarrassed the king, but there was little the king could do. Other citizens could care less about their king. And still others waivered somewhere between the two extremes. The zealotry of some among the king's citizenry began to perpetuate amongst other in other kingdoms. Those kingdoms would complain, particularly over the more violent citizenry, but there was little the king could do. The zealots would create conjectures of the king through their own imaginations, though the king did little to present the truth of himself to his citizens, and so such conjectures continued without check. The pauper was concerned for he loved the king, but he did not love his citizens for the actions. No, that would be incorrect. The pauper did love the citizens. He loved them with all his heart, but their actions disgusted him. His heart was heavy with grief, and in his communique with the king, he would beg and plead for him to reveal his true nature, his true and fallible nature. The king would not respond. After many non-responded communiques, the pauper gave up trying. His heart was broken over what was happening in the kingdom, but he felt powerless to do anything. He would try to make them listen, but many did not care. He was a pauper, and none listened to paupers. The king did not respond for he did not know how to respond. He would be at a loss for words when he read the communiques from his friend. He knew the pauper was right, but he too felt powerless over what to do.