Storytelling Week 12: The Content Accountant

 There once existed a man named Tom. He lived in small house in a quaint town with his cheap father, Harold. They carpooled to their responsible accounting jobs every day and listened to a news broadcast in the car. Harold was very opinionated and always had a comment about gas prices or the crime rate in larger cities. "That's not the America I know," he would always say. Tom sat silently nodding even though he could not care less about what was coming out of the speakers or his father's mouth.

Tom bought everything on a credit card and never missed a payment. He preferred cash transactions, but Harold was adamant about maintaining flawless credit. Because Tom was such a loyal customer of the credit card company, he accumulated many reward points. He had never redeemed them, however, because Harold said that all of the options were impractical. "You don't need a flatscreen TV or a new computer! You know what I had for entertainment at your age? A calculator! It cost me fifty bucks too!"

Now, Tom wasn't necessarily unhappy with his life. He wasn't necessarily happy either. He was just contently vanilla. One evening after a dinner of chicken and rice, the home phone rang. Tom went to answer it thinking that it was strange for them to be getting a phone call at this hour. "Hello? This is Tom Havard."

"Good evening, Tom! My name is Stella. I work for Pioneer, your credit card company." Tom was so surprised by the call and mesmerized by the elegant voice on the other end that he said nothing. So Stella continued. "I've noticed that you've been with us for about eight years now and haven't taken advantage of your rewards points. I just wanted to let you know that they are about to expire next month. It looks like you have enough saved up to take advantage of our newest reward! Pioneer just added an all-inclusive trip to Spain to the list of rewards! I could sign you up for something now if you are interested-"

"No, thank you. Tom is not interested in taking advantage of any Pioneer rewards at this time," Harold's voice said quite loudly and harshly. Click! He must have picked up another phone on the same line.

Harold walked into the living room where Tom had taken the call. "You're welcome, son. Those people can be quite annoying. Well, I'm off to bed. See you in the morning."

The next day at work, Tom received an email from a Stella White. He clicked the link to find the Pioneer rewards list. At the top of the page was a picture of beautiful, sunny beaches. This must be the new trip to Spain that Stella was talking about last night. Tom went back to work but didn't delete the email.

The next week was Tom's thirtieth birthday. The secretary at the accounting firm had made him a calculator cake just like every year. Several of his coworkers wished him a good day, but other than that everything was normal. Tom was going through his old emails when he spotted Stella's. He inhaled once, held his breath for a moment, and on the exhale had made up his mind to go. He knew if he hesitated his father would try to talk him out of it. He booked the next flight for Spain and called a cab to pick him up at noon. At noon sharp, Tom locked his office and walked outside. He climbed into the cab and asked to be taken to his house and then the airport. He hurriedly packed a bag and grabbed his passport, which he had because one could never have too many forms of identification. He left his father a note on the kitchen counter. For the next two weeks, Tom was a free man.

Author's Note
This story was based on Connla and the Fairy Maiden in the Celtic Fairy Tales unit. Connla was the son of a king and had a nice life. He loved his father and his people very much. One day a woman appeared to Connla. She spoke of her love for him and a faraway land where there was no death or sin. Everyone lived in joy forever. She tried to convince Connla to go back with her and live with her in harmony, but his father interrupted. The king could not see the woman but could hear her. He thought she was some kind of a witch and ordered his druid to stop her blasphemy. She retreated but threw an apple at Connla, which he lived on for the next month because it replenished itself after being eaten. The woman returned the next month and tried to get Connla to follow her again. Just as she was about to leave, Connla jumped into her canoe and floated off into the sunset. I love this story because it's about escaping. That's been a theme of mine lately. Tom was content with his life but when given the chance for an adventure, he took it. The email that Tom received from Stella is representative of the apple that the woman gave Connla. It seemed to be a simple teaser of what else is out there waiting to be discovered. I also enjoyed how quickly the men made up their minds. These spur of the moment decisions, I believe, are the best ones to make. I hope that Connla and Tom had the greatest of adventures!

Bibliography
Connla and the Fairy Maiden. Celtic Fairy Tales. Joseph Jacobs. 1892.

Bolonia Beach, Spain. Wikimedia.