Lessons of the World
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Lesson Two- Luck624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2VR1UsIRP
Deep in the heart of the mysterious, wooded, and highly landmass known as Mississippi, tucked between the foothills of Alabama and the bayous of Louisiana, a stiff, brisk wind made the matchstick pine trees sway back and forth…624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWzioBYX0O
“Uh, sensei, may I take my blindfold off now?” asked Joseph. For some odd reason he felt himself moving like he was on a ship at sea.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzs1ppxpLdt
Ancient Wen, Joseph's teacher, sipped quietly from his jade tea cup; he let the sweet green tea warm his frail body. The old man looked up from his morning breakfast and watched his young apprentice carefully. “Yes, young Joseph,” Wen said. “You may take your blindfold off now.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoVQGIkE9H
“Thank you, sensei.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWYaShyOD6T
Joseph swiftly untied the blindfold and let it slip away from his face. He scanned his current surroundings. His expression went completely deadpan because he was not at all surprised at where he was. Joseph stared at the ground nearly one hundred feet below him. The still-glowing ashes of last night's campfire looked like a single orange speck at this height. Heck, even sensei's precious boulder appeared small. His blue eyes fell upon sensei sitting in the tree next to him. “Sensei, why are we one hundred feet above the ground in these pine trees? More importantly, how did we get up here?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqoW0fcuiB
Ancient Wen winked and hid a sly grin behind his tea cup. “Like a magician, an old man never tells any of his secrets.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8K3ZmgI4f7
“Yes, sensei,” replied Joseph obediently, slightly disappointed.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBPJU1BT1o
After a few more sips of tea, Ancient Wen put away his cup and tucked his arms deep into the billowing folds of his long white robe sleeves. He closed his eyes for a few moments. A small red cardinal landed on his bamboo pan hat with a greeting chirp. The old man didn't move a muscle so as to not disturb the bird. “So, young Joseph,” Wen whispered, “are you ready for your second Life Lesson?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1WRlBTd2c
Joseph rubbed some sleep from his eyes. The campfire had gone out completely by now. He sighed; he would have to totally restart it and the were only so many of his matches left.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qkPLHKDSJ
“I guess you are not ready then for Lesson Two, young Joseph,” Wen said, his tone reflecting mild agitation. “It is a total shame that the young people of today are so very easy to get sidetracked.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3u6NCPc92X
Joseph snapped back to reality. He cleared his mind of all outside distractions and focused solely on the lesson at hand. The young apprentice began to spew forth apologies. “Sorry, sensei! Please accept my sincerest and fullest apologies, sensei!” Joseph bowed his head low. “I should be punished.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGkIyncO0W
Startled at Joseph's sudden outburst, the cardinal flapped to a safe distance away. Ancient Wen tracked the bird’s path into the rosy pink sunrise. “Enough, young Joseph! You apologize like a young schoolgirl who has done something wrong,” reprimanded Ancient Wen. “Which you have. You scarred away our Little Friend.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwYDOjCnj2
Joseph was about to begin apologizing again but managed to to somehow keep his trap shut.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9arOMpX2j
“Now that that is taken of, are you ready for Lesson Two?” Ancient Wen repeated.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJI25vwmWZ6
“Yes, sensei.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadegPoJRta
“Excellent,” replied the old man. He fiddled with something in one of his sleeves and pulled out a silver half-dollar. “So, last night I taught you about Chance, and you successfully tested it. Today you learn about and test Luck.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQkNLjzzq7
Joseph's tree leaned drastically to the left as a mighty wind gust tore through the pine woods. Joseph hung on for dear life. “But, sensei,” he choked out, “isn't Luck the same thing as Chance?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtAnwrYJJ8
Ancient Wen eyed his apprentice with an amused gazed. Finally his young apprentice was beginning to question the world around him and all of its Life Lessons. The chilly wind tugged at his fu manchu, tickling his nose.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcwmJ9QB8w
“Ah. Very close, young Joseph. Very close,” said Ancient Wen. “There are differences between Chance and Luck. Subtle but noticeable. Chance is the probability for the coin to land on heads.” The old man flicked the half-dollar high into the air. “Luck is the person’s ability to make it land on heads.” His arms shot out with viper-like speed and snagged the coin in midair. When he opened his hand, the coin was sure enough head side up in his palm.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDWxwDOQ2s
“Oh. Okay,” replied Joseph. “I think I understand a bit, sensei.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUxNjI6FK7
Ancient Wen put the coin back and re folded his arms. There was a chirp, and the cardinal landed back on his pan hat. “Hello, Little Friend. Are you ready to test Luck, young Joseph? How would you suppose we go about doing that?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtC3DtrcaP
“Uh, just flip a coin again?” hazarded Joseph.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3kgH3FjYd
Ancient Wen shook his head, and Little Friend let out an angry cheep. “No no no, young Joseph. You never test the Life Lessons the same way twice. It's the principle of the thing. Instead, you’ll test Luck this way: you will simply climb down this pine tree without dying or getting hurt, if you make all the way down you will prove yourself to possess a certain amount of Luck.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVy3N6gJ2l
“So that's why we're in the tree tops,” Joseph muttered sadly. It wasn't that he was exactly scared of heights. He could climb things just fine. The climb down, however, was a whole ‘nother kettle of tea.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiI0JH2bfN
“Yes, young Joseph,” replied Ancient Wen. “You better get moving. You still have to make us lunch.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvC4nOelUDW
Joseph gulped. He stared down at the ground far below, and his stomach began to swim the five hundred meter butterfly. The young man glanced at his sensei who simply coaxed him onwards with a a wave. Okay, Joseph. You can do this, he thought to himself. It's simple really. Just go down. Let gravity do all the work for you. 624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtF9Wq9Yund
His arms and legs unfolded, and he began to methodically find hand-and-footholds among the trunk of the pine tree one limb at a time…624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPccLGVtLnZ
Joseph's eyes snapped open wide. The first thing he felt was a very intense soreness that wracked his body like waves breaking on a wrecked ship. All he knew was pain, and it just kept getting worse the more he woke up. The next thing he noticed was the cardinal, Little Friend or something, sitting happily on his chest. It let out a merry greeting.624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTosUw3mG6
“Young Joseph finally decided to wake up, has he?’ said Ancient Wen. “Now he get started on our lunch.”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvH5jUgbdap
Joseph glanced at his sensei with one eye and groaned out a question. “How did I do sensei? Did I pass?”624Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNEpPDFaSO
“Well you made it down without dying,” answered Wen. “Albeit in a dramatic fashion. You plummeted for nearly one hundred feet. Now, for lunch I was thinking about some nice boiled eggs with a dash of salt and pepper and maybe some pine needle and lemon tea…” Ancient Wen’s voice dragged on and on as Joseph put his head back down and let the warm, comforting arms unconsciousness whisk him away to Dreamland.
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