Fast is Fast

         Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Elves lived a young elf named Joaquin. He was a very fast runner and enjoyed it very much. He ran from here to there with a speed unseen before in the Elfin Kingdom. Joaquin used his fast running speed to do errands for the King of the Elves, King Jotto. King Jotto didn’t like Joaquin but used him for his errands because he was much quicker than the other elves. Joaquin’s mother and father were sick with a strange illness, and King Jotto had promised to provide their medicine if Joaquin would do the King’s errands. His parents could only get out of bed once a day to use the bathroom in their very small cottage close to the Kingdom wall. They never saw how fast Joaquin could run or how much he did to provide their medicine for them. His parents only knew that Joaquin worked for King Jotto, and they were proud of him.
       
              One day Joaquin collected taxes for King Jotto. He told the very nice citizens of the Elfin Kingdom that King Jotto needed their money to provide services for them. They must pay their taxes to get the roads fixed and keep the wall protecting the kingdom in good shape. The good citizens cried and wrung their hands but paid the taxes just as they were ordered. When Joaquin had been to every citizen’s home in the kingdom, he took the money to King Jotto. King Jotto said, “Good work! But wait, where’s your tax money?”

        “I don’t have any money. All you pay me is medicine for my parents. I don’t have any money to give you.”

        “I know that medicine is very costly so you are required to pay taxes on its worth. You owe me eighty eight elfinos for your taxes, or I’ll stop giving your parents the medicine they need.”

        “I can’t do that. I don’t know where to get eighty eight efinos,” Joaquin said. Joaquin went home and spent the rest of the night wondering where to get that much money. Eighty eight elfinos was more money than any other elf had to pay for his/her taxes. He didn’t sleep any that night; and when it was time to go back to work the next morning, he was too tired. Being too tired to run for the King, he went to market instead. He told the other citizens what King Jotto had done to him. They told him about a place outside the Kingdom walls that he could go to earn the eighty eight elfinos.

        Joaquin walked to the meadow outside the Kingdom to find the one who he could work for. Instead of finding a man, he found a very tall woman. She had blue hair and long fingers. Her name was Witena. Witena was not an elf. She saw Joaquin come into the meadow and asked him, “Why do you come to my garden?”

        “I did not know this was your garden. I am looking for work to pay my King’s taxes.”

        “I know who you are. I once worked for King Jotto when you were very young. I was a different elf so King Jotto banished me from the Kingdom. I want to give you something. Take this and give it to your parents. It will heal their sickness. It is grown in this garden. Then you will no longer need to work for King Jotto. You may work for me. I’ll pay you more than King Jotto has ever paid you, and you will be able to pay your taxes.”

        “Thank you very much!” he said. He went home and gave his parents the plant grown in Witena’s garden. They were both healed of their sickness immediately. They thanked Joaquin and loved him so.

        The next morning he went to work for Witena to earn the money to pay King Jotto’s taxes. Witena had him run from place to place gathering ingredients for her potions. When she had paid him enough money to pay King Jotto, she told him about something very upsetting. King Jotto had learned of his speed when he was very young. He snuck into their house and put something very bad into their tea jar. When his parents drank the tea they became sick. Since they needed the medicine to get better, Joaquin had to go to work for the King. It was the King’s fault they were sick. The medicine King Jotto provided wasn’t really medicine at all. It made them continue to be sick. King Jotto had fooled them to get fast Joaquin to work for him.

        “I really need to rid our Kingdom of this evil King Jotto,” said Joaquin.

        “Surely you do. I have just the stuff. This potion I have been working on all day will do that for you. All you have to do is soak your elfinos in this potion and give them to King Jotto. Be sure not to touch the elfinos after they have been in the potion.”

        Joaquin did just what Witena told him. He poured the potion out and then poured the elfinos into a sack. Without touching the eighty eight elfinos, he took them to King Jotto. When he paid the King, he told King Jotto he would get what he deserved.

        “You’re just a poor boy who needs to get medicine for your parents. You’ll do whatever I say as long as I have the medicine,” said King Jotto.

        Joaquin didn’t respond. He left without another word. King Jotto poured the elfinos into his hand, and then he had a strange reaction.

                As Joaquin was walking home, he saw King Jotto running very fast through the Kingdom. He couldn’t stop running. He ran around the Kingdom for a whole week without stopping. After a week the King cried out, “What did you do?” as he ran past. Joaquin and his parents laughed for a long time. King Jotto never stopped running. He had been tricked by Joaquin into touching the potion of never ending running. Now King Jotto couldn’t be King anymore, so they opened the gate and let him run out of the Kingdom. He kept running until they couldn’t see him anymore. They never saw King Jotto again.
1,049 Words