Fable: The Boss-Man
Fable: The Boss-Man
Writing Exercise #15
Back with another take on Aesop’s Fables, because I forgot to do it last week for the first Tuesday!
If you have ideas for Prompts, Crunches, Sprints, Relays, Stretches, Fables, or other writing exercises in the future, please leave them in the comments! If you would like to write your own take for this exercise, please comment with a link so that I can see what you wrote and support your work, maybe even share your version with my subscribers. Please let me know if you have any thoughts, comments, or constructive criticisms as well!
Enjoy!
Fable: The Axe is laid unto the root of the trees (#140)
A fir-tree and a thorn-bush were arguing with each other, and the fir was singing its own praises. ‘I am beautiful and tall,’ it said to the thorn, ‘and useful for making temple roofs and ships. How can you compare yourself with me?’ ‘But remember the axes and saws which cut you,’ was the reply, ‘and then you will wish you were a thorn-bush.’
No one should be vainglorious in this life; for it is insignificant people who live most safely.
It wasn’t easy for Greg to accept that this was his life now—pan-handling on the streets. It wasn’t what he wanted. He felt like the world had forgotten him. He wrote a simple cardboard sign—sincere, heartfelt: “Anything helps.”
He knew that the financial district was where the moneyed people worked, so he hoped that maybe, maybe he could catch some dollars that fell off their table. He set up, every day, on the corner of the tallest building in the financial district, a magnificent glass skyscraper.
Standing in the same spot, every day, for months, Greg started to get a feel for the kind of people that came around. One of the most interesting was the man Greg called (to himself) ‘boss-man’.
Boss-man always rolled up in a pristine black sedan, and stepped out of the back seat, usually talking on his cellphone. Boss-man always had to cross in front of Greg. After observing him for a while, Greg tried reaching out: “Mornin’ boss-man.”
The man stopped in his tracks, looked at him, and scoffed. “Get a job, you bum.”
It was the same, week after week. Boss-man would arrive, Greg would occasionally venture a conversation, and Boss-man would rebuke him as a lazy ne’er-do-well.
One day, at the end of the day, police-cruisers showed up to the building. Greg couldn’t believe his eyes—it was Boss-man, being led out in handcuffs. Boss-man looked over and caught Greg’s eye. Greg had never felt more blessed. He smiled.
(249 words )
Talk to me!
Your feedback helps to improve my writing. I would really appreciate a comment on your thoughts on this writing exercise. Consider telling me your thoughts about:
Have you heard this fable before?
Do you have a story of a positive encounter with the homeless or pan-handlers?
Have you ever had to take ethics trainings at your job?
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy! Come back next week for another writing exercise!
Have you taken a look at the section called “The Volume” recently? All my longer-form stories are kept there! Be sure to take a look and catch up on any stories you’ve missed!
Thank you and God bless!
1. I don't think I have: it reminds me of a passage in Judges, with Gideon's sons and Abimelech. Good stuff.
2. Not that I can think of, unfortunately. I might've had one and forgotten, though? For the most part no.
3: Yes! This I can definitively answer. In law school we had to take a Professional Responsibility class and then an exam, plus there's a character and fitness element of the bar exam. (It's an interview by an established attorney in the area who's just making sure you're not a total weirdo, basically, or at least it was in Indiana.) Also, after the bar exam, we have to have annual Continuing Legal Education hours which includes Ethics. Some attorneys pick those up at their annual state bar association convention; the firm I work for subscribes to a company that provides the legal education videos online. You have to get a certain number of CLE hours, including a certain number of Ethics hours, to maintain your bar license in good standing.
Now you know!
I feel personally attacked by this Fable 😂 To answer your second question: I once interacted with a panhandler poet at an intersection that was interesting. I don't even know if I can properly say he was panhandling though since he was really just a homeless guy sitting on the median with a notebook thinking about words. That interaction was the (loose) inspiration for the antagonist of the serialized story I started publishing last week. A beggar who is more than he seems: writingthehighwire.substack.com/p/this-purifying-flame
Also, my broken brain initially took "set up on the corner of the highest building" and conjured the image of a panhandler standing on the ledge of the building ever day. Quite the precarious place to ask for alms haha