"You don't know what entertainment is?! How do you spend your days?"
"Well, I usually wake up early, set up my shop for the day, operate the shop until all my stock is used up. I take a small nap. Go out into the forest to gather more fruits. Talk to my friends here and there."
"Don't you do something to amuse yourself?"
"I take a bath... Is that what you're referring to?" William asked, more confused than ever.
"What do the young kids that have no job do all day?"
"Well, they don't have much to do... So they just sleep most of the time. When they turn 14, they start helping around their parents in their jobs and all." William answered.
"So you're telling me that children younger than 13 pretty much sleep all day?" Vars asked, disbelief rocking his face.
"That's why I didn't see many children when I was selling apples or walking around the village." Vars suddenly realised.
"Yeah, I mean... What else are they supposed to do?" William asked.
"These poor, poor souls... Just doing their jobs, talking and sleeping? What good is a life without some entertainment!"
"Ok old man William, I am going to tell you a taste of my profession." Vars said with a wide smile. "Please sit down on that wooden chair and I will begin."
William sat down on the chair and Vars started.
"A long, long time ago. In a Kingdom far, far away. A wealthy man whose first wife had died, remarried another woman with two daughters. The man had a daughter of his as well. Her name was Cinderella..." Vars said as he began the first part of the tale.
William was instantly gripped by the story. He had never heard anything like it before. He always just talked about the daily affairs of the people, how their work was and what not but, this... this was something else entirely. He felt a strange sense of captivation.
"The mother and her two daughters treated the sweet and kind Cinderella like a maid and made her do all the household work. They didn't even feed her right."
"What terrible people! How can they take advantage of such a pure young girl! Do they have no shame?!" William furiously cursed the mother and her daughters.
Vars flashed a small smile. "He definitely likes the story."
"As Cinderella was crying because she didn't get to go to the royal ball hosted by the prince of the kingdom. A fairy appeared and, with her magic, gave Cinderella new clothes of the highest beauty..." Vars narrated how the fairy helped Cinderella get ready for the ball and how the fairy said that Cinderella should be back before midnight because that's how long the fairy's magic will last.
William was smiling ear to ear as he listened to Vars. He was happy that Cinderella was finally getting good done to her. "That's how she should have been treated from the start!"
Vars then went on about how everyone at the ball was mesmerized by Cinderella's beauty, including the prince. How Cinderella and the prince spent a lovely time dancing and talking together.
How Cinderella suddenly realised it was about to be midnight and how she ran away from the prince who tried his best to stop her. How she accidentally left one of her shoes behind that was taken by the prince and how the prince swore that he would find her.
William was all ears and sometimes didn't even blink because he was too engrossed in the story. "How will the prince and Cinderella reunite now that she is gone?" He thought intently.
"The prince went to all the houses in the kingdom and had every girl try the shoe to see if it fit. Finally, he made it to Cinderella's house. The evil mother's two daughters tried everything to make the shoe fit on their feet but, they were unsuccessful. Finally, Cinderella asked if she could try..." Vars said as he reached the end of the tale.
"Trying to wear the shoe when they know it doesn't belong to them! How shameless can you really be!" William once again cursed the mother's daughters out loud.
William was also overcome by a wave of joy when Vars described in detail the shocked face of the mother and her daughters when Cinderella's foot fit perfectly into the shoe. Finally, when Vars concluded the story with - "And the prince and Cinderella lived happily ever after" - William was filled with a sense of satisfaction he had rarely ever felt.
"That... that was incredible! I have never heard anything like it before!" William expressed his happiness after hearing the story. Although it was a fairly simple and common tale for most people on Earth, to someone who had never heard anything like it, it was magical to say the least.
It was an underdog story through and through. You just cheer for Cinderella to prevail over her evil mother and her daughters.
Vars also had excellent storytelling capabilities to boot. He changed his expression and voice whenever something evil happened to Cinderella. And again changed them when something good happened. This also made William more invested into the story.
"And the lesson of the story is - Be kind and good things will come your way." Vars said. "Now do you understand what I meant by tales and stories?"
William nodded and said, "This was incredible. This doesn't deserve to only be heard by this old man! Every person, especially children, should hear it! It will teach them to be kind just like Cinderella."
"You just stole my words. I was also going to suggest we host an event of some sort so that I could tell the people my story."
"It will be best if you could get as many kids as you can."
"Yeah no problem." William said as he looked out the door. "It's during night anyways. They will wake up for dinner anytime now."
After a little more discussion, William left determined. He had told Vars to rest up as he should be tired from selling all those apples.
Vars sat down on the chair and started to collect his thoughts.
"So I have been transported to this world after my death. That's not too weird on its own. It does raise some questions about death but, I'm no philosopher so I don't really care." Vars thought sitting on the hard wooden chair.
"This reincarnation thing seems so... Amazing! I think I am 18 years old so... that means I am 10 years younger than I was before. I have so much more time to improve my craft! I can improve my art skills, create better stories, make a feature-length film! Wait. I don't think these people have cameras..." Vars thought once again.
"With so much more time on my hands... Maybe I can even..." Vars took a long pause thinking about something.
"Nah who am I kidding. It'll probably take me a few more lifetimes to seriously consider doing THAT." Vars thought.
After that, Vars started to look around the old man's shop. He didn't find much. Just some old cloth bags, empty drawers except one that held two silver coins and a couple of copper coins, a chipped wooden club and some old bowls.
"No paper huh? Thought I could maybe paint to pass the time." Vars thought inwardly.
Vars found nothing to his interest. As he was tired from selling all those apples earlier, he got some paper bags, laid them on the hard wooden boards and fell on them to take a moment's rest. He didn't even notice when he fell asleep.
The crisp sounds of bare feet walking on rough ground sounded as a figure approached two talking men. They were startled for a second before recovering from the surprise.
"Oh! You almost scared me there. What's got you in such a rush, old man?" One of them asked.
"If you want to know what has got me so excited be sure to come to the village centre in an hour from now. And be sure to bring the kids. Bring the dinner along with you." William said.
"The village centre? What is going to happen at the village centre? I've heard no news of it until now?" The other questioned.
"It's a special sort of event I should say. Have you two heard of the outsider who came in today in the morning?" William asked.
"Yeah. I heard he was helping you sell your wares."
"Well, it's related to his profession I should say. It's a profession like no other! It even got my old blood stirring after such a long time!"
"Well I suppose there is no harm in attending the event. We don't really have anything to do at night other than eat food and talk with the family."
"Could you tell us some more details about the event? You sound very excited."
"Ah sorry there. I have to inform many more people. I don't have the luxury of time, you see. Do me a favour and inform anyone else you meet about the gathering." William said as he started walking off.
"I don't know why but, suddenly I'm fired up after hearing old man William! He hasn't sounded this excited and lively in ten years!"
"You bet. I wonder... Just what could that outsider have done to have him in such a state. Well, we won't have to wait long I guess."