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In the mornings, little Boy went to school, and from midday till evening, he was tasked to help with the chores around the temple. Gardening, cleaning, sweeping, mopping, scrubbing— and any kind of -ing the Priest saw fit to assign that day. The child never knew what was coming, for the chores in the temple seemed never-ending. The ancient Church was enormous, and the layers of dust— centuries old.
The temple's servants did their share too, but the strict old Priest paid no mind. "It will strengthen your character, Boy," he would religiously say— though not as often as "Hurry up!" "Do it again!" or his personal favorite: "Get on with it, you rut! Or I'll spank you!"
Still, little Boy didn't give the old Priest many chances to carry out his beloved spanking— or at least, not as often as the strict Priest might have liked to. For the child always tried his best to comply with his uncle's orders—however unreasonable they might be— and fulfill all his duties responsibly. Or at the very least, as far as the Priest's watchful eye could see.
So Boy did exactly what he was told—most of the time— and when all the chores were done (meaning, when the Priest was away or busy elsewhere), the child would seize those rare, precious minutes of free time to slip away into the immense expanse of the temple gardens. There, he would usually bask under the glittering sun in a bed of cushy autumn leaves, marvel at the small forest animals darting back and forth through the temple's bordering bushes, and admire all the varied types of wonderful insects that thrived amidst the garden greenery— though the Priest persistently referred to them as 'pests'.
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YOU ARE READING
The Priest, the Boy and the Slug.
Short StoryThere was once an innocent naughty boy whose evil uncle-priest made him do all the temple's chores. The boy was miserable and all alone in the world until, one day, he found his best friend and hope- in a slug!
