Aggressively Positive

An adaptation of the Grimm Fairy Tale "The Fisherman and His Wife," this yarn tells the story of a boy whose chance encounter with magic might be just what his family needs to rise above poverty. But how do you know when you've risen too far?

Once upon a time there was a stepfather. Now, some storytellers might go so far as to call him an "evil stepfather," but I am not one who is quick to judge, so I'll just call him "the stepfather." So one day the stepfather was walking down the road from the farm where he worked hard all day, every day, even on Saturdays and Sundays. On the way home the heel of his boot became stuck in a small pothole . . .

"Once upon a time it was summertime. I was ten years old, I could drink my weight in Del's frozen lemonade without getting a brain freeze, and I loved to swim. In fact there were two things I loved most in the entire world that summer, and the first was my neighborhood pool . . ."

"The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville Nine that day; The score stood two to four with just one inning left to play. The Mudville fans all wrung their hands for much to their lament, In strode Wespen Falls' new closer, phenom rookie Jackson Trent." 

"Once upon a time there was a monkey who lived in the forest just below the mountains. Now he was not the smartest of monkeys, but he liked to explore and he liked to discover new things. One day he was out exploring and he got lost and, as happens with everybody when they get lost, the harder he tried to find his way home, the more lost he became. Before he knew it he had wandered into the mountains . . ."