A Morality Tale

To begin with, you are a prince, or a farmer's third son, or a young woman. You will come upon the test: a fairy pretending to need somebody's last bit of bread, or a challenge to do something impossible. You display your virtue, usually clever perpendicular thinking but possibly generosity, hard work, mercy, or piety, and earn the prize: a princess, kingdom, treasure, wish, or a combination of the above.

Here's the catch: you're flawed. The most important bit is when you overcome your flaw. You have to learn your lesson from it before it's too late. Did you fail the test but learn a valuable moral lesson? Then the lesson was the test, and overcoming your flaw was your virtue. Move ahead, collect your prize.

Maybe you discover your flaw later. You've passed the test and you're ready to collect your prize. Here is where your flaw rears its ugly head: pride, or greed, or ambition maybe. Despite passing the test, your prize recedes from your grasp. Only overcoming your flaw at this late stage—when it again becomes your real test—will get you what you seek.

But what if the story's over without finding your flaw? You've quested, tested, bested, and want to be rested. But without a flaw, then the story's not over... or yours is a morality tale, and it's about to make an example of you.

Embedded in the Stone

Veretta hopped off the cart first. The other fifteen year olds jockeyed for position behind her, but no one contested her right to be first. They hadn't moved until she stood, though she'd delayed in the hope that someone else would take the lead. So it had always been. Tall, dark of hair, a natural leader, her peers deferred to her almost by reflex. And after that, she couldn't let them down.

Youths from dozens of other carts hopped off and jostled into a semblance of order before a helmed and halberded guard. Behind him stood a courtyard and castle. In the center of the courtyard, a stone. And embedded in the stone, a sword. The sword.

Veretta tried to stay near the back, but the companions from her long cart ride pushed her to the front with them, chanting her name. The guard invited her forward. With a trembling lip, she stepped forward and took the hilt in both hands.

When the sword shifted, she froze. Had anyone seen? Their hushed silence told her no. Heart in her throat, she strained, body trembling with effort, but against only her own muscles, never the stone's grip on the blade. It felt like an hour before the guard told her she had to let go. He didn't notice the sword slide a millimeter back into place as she released it.

With a humble grin and shrug, Veretta slid back into place in the crowd, and quietly left while everyone else failed.

Parable of the Farmer

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, a young moisture farmer wished for a bigger life. While out seeking lost droids, he met a robed stranger, hungry in the desert. The farmer gave his lunch away without hesitation, at which point the stranger swept off its robe to reveal one of the wish-granting aliens of Navin Yine. "I will answer three questions," said the alien. "But know that the answers may not please you."

"How can I become a pilot for the rebellion?"

"Take your speeder into the city and walk into the third cantina you see. Buy passage on the hairiest person's ship."

The farmer dashed away that moment, not even saying farewell. He followed the alien's instructions and took flight that very evening. He had a great adventure, rescued a princess, and flew for the rebellion, destroying a great enemy fortress.

Taking refuge from the enemy on a planet of ice, the farmer saw a vision while on patrol: the alien of Navin Yine. "What is your second question?"

"How can I defeat the Empire?"

"Leave your friends, take to the wing, and leap space in the direction you face when you blink the thirty-second time. Travel as many light years as the number of people you can name, and land there."

Taking the alien's directions, the farmer left that very day. He lost his wings to a swamp, served a wizened creature for a year and a day, and discovered his inner magic. With this, he overthrew the Emperor and freed the galaxy.

Years later, when he had suffered betrayal and all his apprentices lay dead or monstrous, the moisture farmer sought out the alien. "All I want is to fix the mistakes I've made. How can I make up for all the damage I've done?"

"Take flight once more," said the alien. "Point your wing at the first star that catches your eye, and fly as many parsecs as you can count regrets. Live there, and you shall find what you seek."

He lives there still.