2-04-2024 5:49pm

Short stories by Anita Johnson-Brown

Anita Johnson-Brown Editor

Once upon a time in a land of greed, there lived an old man who possessed great knowledge and wisdom. He had high morals and standards, and every day he sat on the cliff of a hill, looking down at the townspeople. Sometimes he would weep as people walked through the village of Nem, and his tears were like the falling rain.

One day, during a harvest event, the old man noticed a family passing by the market. They were dressed in poor and slightly torn clothes, and he could see the hunger on the kids' faces and the worry on the mom's face. The dad's face was covered in tears. There were others as well, who were dressed in fine silk garments, just an ordinary crowd of people shopping,and those of wealth. smiling, laughing, and having a good time.

But the family who was poor, and followed by a shadow of darkness changed to a ray of light, as the old man watched them, his tears flowed steadily. The poor family looked up and noticed the old man, who looked up towards the heavens as he cast a fortune of wisdom on the family. They would weep no more but would be blessed beyond belief.

The next year, during the harvest festival, the family looked up high on the hill, but the old man was nowhere in sight. As the father stared a little closer to the clouds in the sky, he saw a twinkle in his eye and became filled with wisdom. He hugged his family and said, "My wife and children, we have been blessed with more than food on our table. We are blessed with wisdom." The son asked, "Father, what is wisdom?" And the father said, "Let's go sit by this tree and I will tell you."

As the family sat down under the tree, the father said, "Wisdom is more than knowledge, street smarts, and education. It is a gift from a higher power, a gift I must pass on to you and your brothers and sisters. Wisdom is the key to life."

By Anita Johnson-Brown|The los Angeles News