The Old Carver

Once, there was an old wood-carver. Most would say he was the best there ever was. Hand this man a set of tools and a block of wood and he could create dreams. His favorite things to craft were wooden figurines. Birds, dogs, spiders, bears, and all manner of creatures of wood lined his shelves and filled his chests. He loved everything about his wooden habitat. One night he gazed at his ceiling from his bed, and could not fall to sleep. He knew that something about his collection was incomplete, but he couldn’t figure out what. He dashed out of bed, into his workshop, switched on the light and gazed at the wooden eyes that gazed back at his soul. The old man had never felt so unsatisfied with his collection until now. They needed something, they were calling out to him, begging him. He switched off the light and went back to bed and promised himself that tomorrow he will walk to the park and ponder what on earth was missing. As he promised, he rose from bed the next morning, brushed his teeth, got dressed, and headed for the park. The park was offering him no answers and he almost began to yell in frustration when, all of sudden, a girl, looking to be right out of college, spoke to the man. “Here sir,” she spoke soft and cheerily, offering a small, roughly carved elephant to the old wood-carver. The old carver held it in his hand, studying it. It was a decent piece, could’ve been better, but whos craft couldn’t use work. The old carver had a fondness for it though. “How much?” asked the carver. “No charge,” the girl responded with a delightfully wide smile. “Why not sell it? You could surely get a few dollars for it.” “I have no need, I just want to share my little talent.” The carver smiled and told her about his store and the many wooden inhabitants it houses. She seemed very interested and agreed when the old carver offered to show her. When they entered the carver’s shop the girl’s eyes widened to the size of golfballs with joy. She ran to the nearest shelf and began inspecting every one of the animals, gleefully as she did so. It was then that the old wood-carver realized what he was missing, someone else to enjoy them too. The old carver opened his very own shop soon after and sold the carvings to children and adults alike. The shop was rightly named “The Wooden Elephant” and became the old wood-carver’s pride and joy.

Author's Note

This is not what I plan to write in the future but I was tired of talking about becoming a writer and never actually writing, so i wrote this short story to just start writing.

Reviews

[Sara Lufrano]

Hi there! Short, cute, straightfoward, and to the point. He had a change and everything. Keep it up!