By Natacha.Avomo
01/19/09
Once upon a time, there was a small village off the West coast of England. It was called “Ember.” Ember was widely known for it legends. One of which was the “Bearded Man.” No one knew where he came from or his real name. They only knew him as the “Bearded Man,” a nickname the children had given him.
This story take place about fifty years ago, when a man resembling Saint Nicholas move into this village. He was honest, nice but above all wise. He soon won over the village children hearts. These children had only heard of Santa Claus, through stories told to them by their parents. But here came a man that looked just like him, helped the needed and always kept his door open to strangers. All but the parent were reluctant to accept this wonderful being. They believed there was no such thing as a perfect person. Yet, this man seems to prove them wrong.
So, the parents organized a meeting to talk about ways to get rid of the Bearded Man. At the beginning of the meeting, some parents were unwilling to go forth with this plan. After all they told them selves “he did nothing wrong but love our children.” The village mayor was selected to be the leader of the group. He was a young skinny man with lumpy arms. He had no children but resented the bearded man for stealing his popularity with the kids. The town merchant asked” how are we going to get rid of the bearded man?” A voice from the crowd yelled “by wrecking his life like he wrecked ours.” It was Ms. Catherine, the town hobo. She spends most of her time digging trash cans for food. Her hair was full with the biggest lice the people of Ember have ever seen.
The mayor curiously asked “exactly how are we going to wreck his life?”
By taunting him until he leave town answered old hag Catherine.
That is not a bad idea everyone simultaneously agreed
“Can’t everyone please be quiet,” shouted the mayor
Standing up like a president who is preparing to deliver an important speech he said” seeing that we all agree with Ms.Catherine is plan. This meeting is over.
The next day, when the bearded man went to buy groceries, nobody wanted to sell him any. He did not understand why people did not want him to buy anything form them. Walking home, he felt unease. He felt like everyone was looking at him. He never minded people looking at him. But on this particular day, he could sense hostility in the air, like people wanted to hurt him. Suddenly, he run home and locked his door. For four months, the Bearded Man does not come out of his house. When children went to knock at his house, he did not answer. They wondered why, unaware that the sadness in their heart was caused by their parents.
Sensing unhappiness from their children, some parents decide to apologize to the bearded man. So, they went to his house, knocked and waited for the bearded man to respond but only silence answered them. They looked through the window trying to see whether they were signs of life form moving around the house, nothing. Feeling worried, they busted the door, looked around the house, but it was empty. The children ran throughout town screaming “the bearded man disappeared”. In a few minutes, the whole town was at the bearded man house. They wondered when had he move, and whether or not he was an ordinary human being. A child standing outside, looking at the cloud saw a figure resembling the bearded man smiling down on the town. He yells, “everyone come outside and look at the sky.” People ran outside and stood motionless once they saw what or who was in the sky. Children believe he was Santa Clause. The fact is nobody really knew who he was. But what is known is that he was a great man.
