The Red-Bearded Monster
A red-bearded monster came to the town. He had eyes like brass bells, a nose like a garlic bulb, and a big red beard that hung down to his belly button. This monster had a peculiar habit: he loved to force people to listen to his stories. After telling a story, he would take away the listener’s favorite possession as a reward.
Each time, the red-bearded monster told the same story, but each time, he took something different from his audience.
No one dared to refuse to listen to the red-bearded monster’s story, and no one dared to withhold their beloved items. If they did, the monster would glare with his brass bell eyes, blow his red beard, and roar so loudly that the whole town could hear.
One day, the red-bearded monster found someone new to tell his story to. He saw a little boy riding a golden rocking horse and approached him. “Little boy, I’ll tell you a story. When I’m done, you have to give me your rocking horse.”
The little boy happily agreed. “Okay, okay, I love listening to stories!”
This was the first time someone had eagerly agreed to listen to his story. The red-bearded monster, delighted, began his tale in a loud voice: “Once upon a time, a male monster met a female monster and fell in love with her. The male monster and the female monster got married and had a little monster.” At this point, the red-bearded monster laughed proudly, “Haha, that little monster is me. So, how was the story? You have to give me the rocking horse as payment.”
The little boy blinked and asked, “What happened next? What happened to the little monster?”
The red-bearded monster replied, “Oh, the little monster grew up to be a big monster.”
The little boy asked again, “And then? What happened to the big monster?”
The red-bearded monster scratched his head. “Then, the big monster went around telling stories.”
“And then? What happened after the stories?”
The red-bearded monster stammered, “Then… then the big monster got a lot of treasures.”
“And after that? What happened after he got the treasures?”
Sweat started to pour from the red-bearded monster’s forehead. “Then… then… the big monster was very happy…”
“And then?”
The red-bearded monster, looking like he was about to cry, said, “Then… then… there was nothing after that.”
The little boy insisted, “No, after the big monster was happy, what happened next?”
The red-bearded monster’s face looked miserable. “After that… after that…”
The little boy said, “You have to tell me what happened next, then I can give you the rocking horse!”
The red-bearded monster thought: That’s right, how can I take his rocking horse if the story isn’t finished? But what happened next?
Suddenly, the red-bearded monster remembered the town’s library. Surely, the storybooks there would have the answer he needed. He told the little boy, “Wait here, I’ll go find out what happened next.”
The red-bearded monster became the most studious monster ever. He read one storybook after another and told the little boy story after story. However, every time the little boy would ask, “What happened next?”
Eventually, the red-bearded monster became the best storyteller. Following him was the little boy and a large group of children.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
