Finding Happiness Ch. 03

Donna was laughing as she began the story.

Once, very long ago, there lived a man. He was a very good man. He wanted to do the right things to please his gods and his family. He worked hard and while he had only a small piece of farmland and a tiny house he was blessed with good harvests and a large family. He loved his family very much, but began to feel the tiniest seed of dissatisfaction growing in his heart.

His house was tiny and filled with his many children and the other members of his family. Both his and his wife's mothers had come to live with them. Both women were strong willed and proud and had many words of wisdom to share, whether they were invited or not. Frequently their words of advice were at odds and the man felt harried. It seemed that no matter how hard he tried to do the right things, always someone was complaining. There was little peace in his home. If the mothers were not debating among themselves, the children were demanding his attention or needing his guidance. He began to feel that there was no place of peace and refuge in this world for him.

This man wanted nothing more than to do the right things to please his gods and his family, so he went to the spiritual leader of the community, a wise and old man who had always helped him in the past.

"Oh good teacher and father, I am so unhappy. I need your guidance." The man poured out his tale of woe to the older man.

"I can only help you if you promise to do everything I tell you to do without question. Will you make that promise to me and our gods?"

"Oh yes, I promise. I would do anything to cure this sadness in my heart and to once more feel love and happiness for my family."

"Then go home and go into your hen house and gather up all the chickens there and take them into your house to live with you. Do not tell your family why you do this. Just smile and say that you are listening to your heart."

As Donna told this part of the story she finished unbuttoning Junie's blouse and lifted it up her arms twisting it around the handcuffs to keep it from falling back down. Junie felt the air on her skin and knew that all she had covering her breasts was her thin bra. At least it was one of her bras that covered her nipples. A wave of nausea shook her and she swallowed hard and forced herself to breathe.

It was not many days before the man was back pleading with the spiritual leader. "Teacher, things are twice as bad as ever before. The chickens are all over the place. My wife is screaming at me with a temper I have never witnessed before. The old women are calling me a madman. The children are screaming and chasing the hens all around. Teacher, this is not helping."

"You made a promise to me and our gods. You must keep that promise. Trust me that this will help. Go home and go into the field. Gather up your goats and bring them into your house as well."

"Father, this is madness, but I will obey."

As she told this part of the story, Donna reached behind Junie and unsnapped her bra and lifted it up with her blouse, letting her breasts fall down. Junie could not help but protest, "No, oh please, no. Oh god, I am going to be sick." As she lost her breakfast, she felt a bowl under her chin and heard the vomit splash. When she had finally emptied her stomach, she felt the car pull over briefly and listened as Donna opened the car door and poured out the bowl beside the road. "Here, Junie, take a swallow of water." She felt the lip of a water bottle touching her mouth and she took a sip, rinsing her mouth.

As the car started moving, Donna began to tell the story again.

When the man returned to his counselor, he was filthy and his hair was wild and uncombed. "Oh, teacher, the goats have taken over my house, they have chewed on everything. They shit everywhere. My wife has stopped screaming, she has stopped speaking to me at all. Things have never been so horrible. I cannot sleep."

The old man nodded and looked very satisfied. "Yes, my son, the way to happiness is often difficult. Now you must go and take your sow and her piglets. Bring them into your house."

This time the man did not protest. He began to weep and tore at his hair as he turned to his home.

Donna reached down and unzipped Junie's slacks and began to work them down around her hips and down past her knees. Junie did not protest. She did not fight. She sat in a state of shock, tears flowing down her face, soft sobs shaking her.

The man was even filthier and his clothing was torn. He had a bloodstained bandage wrapped around one of his hands. "Teacher, the pig has developed a terrible temper. She screams in rage louder than either of my mothers. She has attacked me and I must stay home to protect my wife and children from her. My wife has forbidden me my place beside her at night. Please, teacher, explain how this is going to make me happy."

"You are a good man, my son, to follow my directions so well. I promise you that this is the pathway to happiness. Now go back and bring your milk cow into your house."

Donna began to push Junie's underwear down her legs, exposing her whole body naked and vulnerable to the eyes of any car that passed by. Junie gasped and once more her stomach convulsed, but she was empty and had nothing more than a mouthful of sour liquid to lose. She felt Donna catch it in the basin and, once again, took the sip of water to rinse her mouth.

The man did not speak as he stood before his spiritual leader. His eyes were deep dark wounds in his face.

The older man embraced him and noted the rank smell of manure about the man. "Tell me, my son, how is it in your house with the cow?"

"My mothers have left my house. They say they refuse to live with a madman and his animals. My wife threatens to leave as well. Teacher, I have followed all your instructions and now I am going to lose everything I have ever loved." Tears flowed down the man's face washing pale tracks in the grime caked there.

"Do not despair, my son. Go home and take your cow and put it back into the pasture."

As Donna told this part of the story she began to pull up Junie's panties. Junie gratefully raised up her hips, sighing in relief at this small amount of clothing covering her nakedness.

When the man returned to the teacher his face was clean and he seemed to have a small amount of hope in his eyes. "Teacher, my wife says she will not leave me. She says she does not understand my madness, but that she loves me and will stay by me. She has allowed me back into our marriage bed again."

"You have taken your first step back on the road to happiness, my son. When you get home, return the sow and her piglets back to the sty."

Donna began to pull up Junie's pants and for the first time Junie laughed out loud. "I see what you are doing, Ma'am."

"Hush, Junie, and listen."

"Yes, Ma'am."

The man was clean and had a smile of happiness on his face when he returned to the teacher. "Oh teacher, my house is so nice. There is so much more room and the goats seem much better behaved now that the pig has gone. I can go to work in my fields again. My wife is singing a song in our kitchen."

"I can see your happiness is growing, my son. I think the goats will be much happier in the pasture once more, as well."

Donna pulled Junie's bra down and reached around her fastening the hooks, carefully adjusting the straps and underwires. Junie had a big smile on her face and a happy giggle bubbled up.

The man had a spring to his step and was whistling as he came to talk with his teacher. "The goats do seem much happier in the pasture. And I am much happier as well. Master, I must thank you for your wisdom."

"You are most welcome, my boy. All you have left to do is to return the hens to their coup. And then come back and tell me what you have learned."

Junie had a calm, happy expression on her face as Donna buttoned her blouse back up.

The man came back to the house of his spiritual leader. He brought a gift of his finest piglet and a basket filled with eggs and cheese. "Oh teacher, I am the richest and happiest man in the village. My house is a mansion and my children are true angels. I love my wife more than the air I breathe. I am truly blessed by our gods. I am forever indebted to you. Without your wisdom I would never have realized what a lucky man I am."

The old man accepted the gifts and blessed the man. As he watched the man hurrying home to his family, the wise teacher thought to himself that it was amazing that it took clear to putting the cow in the house to get the mothers to move in with their other children.

Donna unfastened the handcuffs and took off the blindfold just in time for Junie to see they were almost at the city.

The anxiety was there, but it no longer threatened to overwhelm her. Junie wrapped her arms around Donna and laughed with delight. "That was the best story! It was just what I needed to keep my mind off my problems. Did you make it up?"

Bob roared with laughter, "No, Junie, she did not make it up. It is an old story, most likely a Jewish folk tale. The original has the teacher as a rabbi and it used to be told with the most horrible Yiddish accent. Donna's family has been telling it for generations."

Donna looked just a bit pouty. "I added a lot. I tell it better than they did and I made it more politically correct." Bob only laughed louder.

You might recognize this story as one I had up in the past, under the titled Northwest Hunters. I took it down for revision and a brief flirtation with possible publication.

Book One of Northwest Hunters, title Joining the Circle is already posted.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Please take the time to rate and leave a comment if the spirit moves you.

Enjoy

xantu