A Miner's Tale

     There was once a tale  from a far away land of gold, diamonds, emeralds and mines, where a young miner had accomplished his 1000th day in the most laborious mine.    

  As was the custom, he would join of the circle who would welcome the king on his annual visit.From this circle  one would be chosen through a game of chance,To recite the miners oath to the king before all, Ora, the young miner was the one to be blessed with this honor.

     The day had finally arrived after much anticipation, but to everyone's bewilderment, it was not the king that showed  but his stead, the youngest princess Tazanna.She was a mysterious person had not once shown her face. A silly rumour had once spread around the country, of a wish to be granted to the one who would dicover,what laid well hidden beneath that cover of cloth and more cloth.     As she approched the miners,they all dropped to one knee.And watched with glee or jealousy,as Ora carried out his duty enthousiasthically.The only thing all could see was her eyes and the bridge of her nose,for the rest of her sacred skin was suffocated by cloth and more cloth.   She moved with so much grace as her black gown flowed in unison with her steps, never looking straight at him or at anyone else, and  even the sound of her voice remained a mystery.   The princess slithered through the mining site quietly,and stopped only to inspect the gold with a gloved hand. Ora stared at her mesmired by her strange aire of divinity, trying to imagine what she possibly looked like.Suddenly, before leaving the site,she turned towards him and spoke; "Go to the valley of Kosa and turn over every rock that you see, for as below one of them lies a sacred stone hidden by an old sage. should you chose to keep it, you shall become rich, however if you bring it to me, i shall grant you one wish." .    She then vanished behind an army of servants before regaining her royal carriage and leaving the young miner speechless.

        He rose immediately as if he were being hynotised by a hidden force, and thence headed out on this ridiculous quest. The other miners did not stop him and only hoped for his return once he had realised his folly .They knew that not even an army of men could turn over every stone in the valley of Kosa for they streched out as far as the eye could see like a desert of rocks.



   

   Having walked for several days feeding on weeds and dew, Ora finally reached his destination.

      He commenced the unquenchable task of  turning over the stones one by one, marking the place where he had stopped and starting from that very same spot the  next day. And so on he continued day after day, stone after stone.One day he awoke with the length of his coarse hair creating an evil looking oriole around his head.His mind filled with dark thoughts and solitude,and he began feeling angry about having been fooled by the princess, the witch, he had come to call her.He cussed at her, at the stones and then at her once again. shouting angrily, hating everything up until the sky. In his craze, he tripped over a rock and fell flat to the ground.
 As he looked angrily towards his feet he saw that he had knocked over a stone, and that the stone had knocked over the earth, and that the earth had knocked over the sacred stone!
         Tazanna barely recognised him when he returned,His heart beat nervously as the tip of his fingers brushed her gloved hand.He had had given her the stone without a moment's hesitation.

"Did you know that this stone is worth more than a life.""grant me my wish.""Did you know that I have no magical powers whatsoever,""Grant me my wish.""Did you know that I can't grant you any wish.""Grant me my wish.""And what is your wish.""become my wife and show yourself to me".She did, shedding off the layers of cloth, unveiling, undressing until there was nothing left to shed.



     Ora stood speechless, surprised that she had gone that far, and awestruck by her beauty."It's the least I could do,"She neared him suggestively, but did you know..."she smiled,"Did you know that the stone could have granted you anything you wished for?.That this stone will now grant me anything i wish for?"She touched his cheek, I wish for you to disappear."