Ergo, the Ogre

Donald thinks he was ripped off at the annual Greek Renaissance Festival and Bazaar.

He was walking around, perusing all the little shops for something special. Donald didn’t know exactly what he was looking for but when he saw it, he’d know. Eventually he came to the end of the marketplace. But hidden in the back behind the dumpsters was one last shop. There was no signage indicating the name, which Donald found odd.

Once inside he saw who he assumed must be the owner: a portly man dressed in orange, sitting cross-legged on a stack of large, square pillows. He wore a big, friendly smile on his chubby face. “Welcome to my humble ‘Little Shop with No Name.’” The man greeted him. “My name is Ali Baba-Lu. How I can help you today?”

The smell of incense was thick and almost nauseating. Donald coughed and wished for an open window.

“Pleased to meet you, Ali Baba-Lu. I am looking for something out of the ordinary, something I could find nowhere else.” Donald explained. “You got anything like that?”

Ali Baba-Lu appeared to be deep in thought for a moment, winding and unwinding his short stubby fingers around his straggly goatee.

“Indeed, I do!” He reached into a drawer between the counter and pulled out a packet of ordinary-looking stones. “What do you think of this‽”

Donald shrugged. “Looks like a bunch of stones. What do they do?”

“These are magic stones,” Ali Baba-Lu said quietly. “You plant them like seeds and pretty soon, something wonderful will grow!”

“What?” Donald was skeptical.

“Yes, sir! I shit you not!” Ali Baba-Lu’s voice was a couple octaves higher. “Money-back guarantee, if you don’t believe.”

“Okay, how much?”

“Only 10,000 Drachma*! I give you special price.”

Donald considered the exorbitant price. “Okay. I’ll take them.”

Donald paid Ali Baba-Lu, took his stones and left for home.

He rushed to the backyard and eagerly planted a few of the stones. He watered them and waited, and waited, and waited. Nothing happened. Not even a sprout!

He took the rest of the stones and headed back to the Bazaar. Wouldn’t you just know that the whole Festival had picked up and left. Nothing left but a few empty gyros wrappers. No sign of Ali Baba-Lu. Of course.

Donald felt like an idiot. He was glad no one was around to witness his foolishness.

Donald slowly walked home, tossing the stones behind him as he went. If he’d only turned around to see what was growing, he wouldn’t have believed his eyes.

People, real people, were popping up right and left, fully grown to adulthood!

He must’ve planted the stones too deep in his yard. Or maybe it was a privacy issue. They only sprout when no one’s looking.

*$33.23