Helping+Leslie


 * Helping**
 * Leslie **

** By Emily Brands ** Leslie was the daughter of King Arthur and Queen Elizabeth. They ruled over the land of Karpul, and gave their daughter everything she wanted. Surprisingly, she was not very spoiled and she saved up her money to get things that she really wanted. One such thing was a horse named Sweltie for the stable built out back. All of her food and anything else she needed was paid for by the little girl. She was only ten, but she had already learned the value of saving and earning money. In the kingdom, there were many people who had lived out their lives there. Whole family trees stayed in the kingdom because it was a happy place, full of peace and promise. But some people took their good fortune for granted. They lived with almost as much money as the King and Queen, but hoarded it and showed it off instead of using it for practical things. Huge, beautiful paintings hung from the walls, instruments of all kinds gathered dust in rooms barely lived in, the latest items on the market were always an accessory in the home. Even though there were people who had much less than them, with only simple furniture and clothes in their homes, these people could not see them, for their noses were so high in the air. One morning over breakfast, Leslie confronted her parents about seeing her grandparents on the other side of the kingdom. Since the journey took more than two days going one way, her parents were apprehensive to saying yes. What if she got into trouble along the way, her mother said. What if the awful creatures of the forest took her away while she slept, her father replied. Leslie had not thought of all the things that could go wrong, but she was adamant about going. She could feel that something was wrong with her grandparents, but would not tell the King and Queen, since they had much to do around the castle. Reluctantly, and with many rules assigned to her, Leslie’s parents decided to let her go. Leslie spent the rest of the day packing and getting her horse ready for the coming journey. It would not be easy on Sweltie, and she wanted to make sure the horse would be comfortable and not weighed down. She packed lightly and sensibly and went to bed early for a full night’s rest. Leslie’s grandparents adorned her nighttime slumber, along with nightmares of monsters coming from the forests to take her away and eat her for dinner. The Queen, being a light sleeper, heard her daughter tossing and turning in the night, so she went to investigate. She found Leslie sitting in her bed and staring out at the fierce wind and rain that whipped the leaves to and fro. Leslie’s mother sat at the end of the bed and whispered “What’s wrong, child?” Leslie knew that she could not lie to her mother now, or she would never fall asleep. So she told the Queen about her grandparents and what she felt. The Queen listened faithfully to the story and told Leslie what she thought at the end. “Leslie, I understand why you want to go. Your father and I would take you, but a King and Queen’s work is never done. When you get to your grandparents house, please tell them that we love them so.” With that, Queen Elizabeth kissed Leslie on the top of her head and let her daughter get the rest she needed. In the morning, Leslie woke early and saddled up her horse. Before she left, her parents repeated the rules to her and then they said their good-byes. Leslie left her parents waving behind the castle gate. In front of her was a stretch of dirt road. She looked at the map she had had the professional map maker create the night before and planned out her journey. Then, she was on her way. During the first half of her day, Leslie trotted along on Sweltie among the trees and the wildlife. Since she was in between towns in the kingdom, the only people she saw were those that were transporting bulk items in large carts. Leslie enjoyed being by herself sometimes. It was nice to hear the birds chirping and the squirrels fluttering across the leaves. She was alone, but not lonely in the forest. Around noon, Leslie stopped on the edge of the town called Reital to let her horse rest and to eat some lunch. As she was finishing up her apple, Leslie heard something behind her move in the undergrowth. She turned around quickly, but found nothing behind her. Upon turning her back, she heard the noise again and became frightened. She slowly turned her head and found that a fox had been making the rustling noises! Leslie took some dried meat from her pouch and knelt down to the small creature. It came forward hesitantly, but the young girl managed to have the fox take the meat from her hand. It fed on the dried stick greedily and then looked to Leslie for more. “I’m sorry, my friend, but that is all the food I can spare. Maybe another traveler will come your way soon and give you some more.” Leslie turned her back to the animal and began to rearrange her things to begin riding again. She could feel the fox behind her, but she figured it would leave when it realized there was no more food. Suddenly, there was a great commotion as an orange ball of fur hurtled into Leslie’s view and snapped up her pouch. Before she had time to bat an eyelash, the fox was gone, as well as all her food for the journey. Leslie was so startled that she decided it was best just to forget about what had happened. She knew that she had money and the next town was only a couple of minutes away, where she would able to buy some fresh provisions. Leslie stopped in the center of Reital and found a farmer’s market set up, with plenty of fruits and vegetables. She bought six oranges, a pound of green beans and some carrots, as well as some apples for her horse. There was no meat being sold, but Leslie was sure she could live without it. With that, she left the town and started towards the next, a small village by the name of Appreta. This was where her grandparents were and even though it was beginning to get dark outside, Leslie had this growing sense of urgency inside her to get to her grandparents as soon as she could. About a half an hour after Leslie had left the safety of the town, the sky began to darken. She stopped in a clearing that was fairly dry, unsaddled her horse and built a fire so she would not get chilly in the cool night air. Leslie thought about her parents and how they must be worrying about her safety. Where do you think she is, her mother would ask. Do you think people are treating her well, her father would reply. She missed them too, and she hoped that she would be able to make it home safely. When the night finally descended into total darkness, Leslie decided that she should probably get to bed. But it was hard for her to get to sleep in the forest. There were many unfamiliar sounds here, sounds that she never heard at home. Owls hooted loudly and unrecognizable shapes flitted in the corner of her eye. Her horse also seemed to be scared and this made her even more uneasy. Finally, after hours of worrying and fretting, Leslie fell into a deep sleep that was fraught with nightmares. Around 6 in the morning, just before the sun came up, Leslie was awakened by another rustling in the underbrush. Except this sound was bigger and clumsier and she knew it was not a sure-footed animal. She saw a figure emerge next to her horse which was rummaging through her bag. It seemed to realize that she was looking at it and the figure quickly packed up her stuff, shoved it into a jacket pocket and then saddled the horse. “Hey! Stop! That’s my horse! Why are you taking him?!” she screamed. Leslie tried to catch them, but the figure was already up and gone with everything that Leslie had. She sat down in the middle of the road and wept. She did not weep for her food or her money that had been stolen, but her horse. Whenever Leslie needed someone to listen to her problems, Sweltie was there, even if he couldn’t give her advice. When Leslie’s cat had died in a horrible cart accident, her horse had been there. Now he was gone, and she would probably never see him again. When it seemed that all the tears had been cried out of her, Leslie finally looked up to see what time it was. The sky was lit, but thunderclouds were quickly moving across the sky. She knew it would rain soon, and with no money, no food and no horse, Leslie was probably going to be caught in the downpour. With no hope of getting to her grandparents before they would pass away, for she could feel that their time was near, Leslie began the slow journey home. After walking for about an hour, the rain began. Cold, wet needles pelted her skin and ran down her arms and legs. With nothing to do about it, she kept walking. A couple people (rich ones she could tell), drove by in covered wagons. Every time Leslie tried to flag them down, to see if she could get a ride, no one would stop for her. They all believed her to be a beggar, a lesser people that were not fit to be in the company of them. After a while, Leslie stopped trying to get their attention and she just walked along the road, dejected and unwanted. Suddenly, Leslie realized that in front of her, a cart had pulled over to the side of the dirt road. It was not fancy, but it was a nice cart, with doors and a ceiling. One of these doors opened and a frantic hand emerged, waving her over. Slowly, Leslie approached the cart and peered inside. An old man looked back at her. He softly said, “Would you like a ride young lady?” Leslie had been so washed up with how awful people could be, and what others would do to get some food and a horse, that she had forgotten that there were some people in the world who were kind and generous and were willing to give a sad soul a ride to their home. “Yes,” Leslie said gratefully and climbed in. After telling the man where her grandparents’ house was and starting on their way there, the old man told Leslie about himself. She learned that his name was Harry Smith, and that he lived in a cottage in the previous village she had visited and that he had two children and a wife. His children were grown now and had children of their own and no longer need him. His wife had passed away the previous year. He said he had a nice farm with good soil to make healthy crops year after year, which made him a little wealthier than his neighbors. After talking for a while, Leslie got up the courage to ask him a question. “Sir, why did you pick me up along-side the road?” she inquired. When so many people had passed her by, she wondered why this man had stopped. “Well you looked like you needed some help and who would I be if I didn’t help a fellow human being out?” he stated matter-of-factly. Leslie smiled. “I guess your right sir.” When they finally got to her grandparents’ home, Leslie knew she had made it just in time. “Thank you, sir. Because of you, I will get to see my grandparents one more time before they pass away.” And with that, Leslie hurried into the house, getting there just in time to see her grandparents’ loving faces.

A few weeks later, after Harry Smith got back to his home from his errand to another town, a package came to his door. Inside was a homemade mug, with the name “Grandad” engraved on the side. This is what the letter said: Dad: This is Margaret and Drew, your son and daughter if you remember us. Your grandchildren have really been missing you lately and I was wondering if we could come up and see you sometime. This is a homemade mug that Lucy made for you. She wanted to show you how much she loved you. How much we all love you. Your beloved children, Margaret and Drew

You see, the man had not seen his children in a long time. Because of what he did, Leslie was able to contact his son and daughter and tell them how much their father missed them. Sometimes, good deeds are rewarded in the happiest ways.