King & Queen Lee's first child was a girl. From the time she began walking ...she quickly began to get into everything. What she really liked to get into ...was clothing. She loved dress up.
And she loved looking at herself in the mirror ...until one day she grew out of it. Literally, she grew up ...but mostly grew out.
She was only 12 years old, but she felt she was mature. She was no longer interested in dress up ...aside from the royal addition of bracelets, necklaces, rings, and her expensive tiara. This interest had been joyfully anticipated ...after all, her birth name was Jewel.
On this twelfth birthday, King & Queen Lee had promised Jewel her best birthday present ever. They said it may be a few days late, but it was worth the wait. The surprise was ...a baby brother.
It had been no surprise really ...so, Jewel didn't understand why they said it would be a surprise. And Jewel did not see it as the best either. She rather disliked the new addition to the family ...taking so much of the attention away from her.
This birth of the firstborn son ...as it was in most every family, brought considerable joy with the announcement of the big event, especially being the King & Queen's first son.
And the firstborn son always had two first names, being privileged to have bestowed upon him the first of the first two names ...the name of 'Elder'. The latter of the two first names was whatever the parents of the son wanted it to be. Strangely, some people thought this was simply too confusing, so they then began to refer to the second first name ...as the middle name.
The middle name was actually considered to be of much value, as at times it had become quite problematic in large crowds when people would call out, "Elder!" So, it became the accepted practice to call the older son by his two first names.
King & Queen Lee called their son ...Elder Esau Lee. They could not be prouder of their son.
Early on, they felt Elder Esau showed great potential for learning. And at an early age, he also played dress up ...playfully practicing for when he'd become King.
Six years later, Jewel got married to Prince Belee from another kingdom. And that same year that she married, and became Jewel Belee ...King & Queen Lee had a second son. Their daughter graciously congratulated them, but she was happy she was not around to hear another crying, hungry mouth.
This second child was named Joseph Jacob Lee. It was highly evident that the King did not take to this child ...and as the years passed, King Lee was convinced that something was wrong with their second child. Queen Lee felt that it was ridiculous to think this of a 6 year old ...but, as more years went by, it was more difficult for her to convince her husband that their second child was normal. Yet, she tried ...and would say that Joseph Jacob was just a slow learner, but he retained well what he did learn.
More years passed, as they do ...and King & Queen Lee decided to visit their daughter. There was much kingdom conquering in those days, and they had not seen their daughter in quite some time. They had heard of King Belee's death, but thankfully their kingdom had not been one of the kingdoms conquered. But, to provide more safety for the now new King & Queen, they had moved to a further kingdom which they had conquered rather easily.
Before their long journey to visit their daughter, King Lee gave the royal scepter to their eldest son, who was now 26 years old. King Lee told Prince Elder Esau that he would be left totally in charge while he was gone. Queen Lee whispered to Joseph Jacob ...for him to behave himself, and stay out of the way of his elder brother. Joseph Jacob was 20 years old ...and had learned some things, mostly to keep out of the way. But, he also learned not to have to be told twice.
But, King & Queen Lee were only gone for a couple days when an uprising quickly developed ...among the women.
Prince Elder Esau advised his dad's royal knights to quell the rebellion by nightfall. But, the rebellion only grew larger.
The rebellion had got so much worse, Prince Elder Esau was afraid he'd lose the kingdom. And if that was not tragic enough ...the word was spreading to nearby kingdoms, and they were mobilizing quickly. They began to call themselves, The Women's Movement.
A young man appears at the castle gate ...insisting that it is urgent for him to talk with Prince Elder Esau. So desperate is he at this time ...that Prince Elder Esau allows the young man to enter his presence within the royal throne room.
The young man doesn't introduce himself, he just begins talking, "My older brother, Elder Johnny, is very sick ...and I am merely requesting permission to sell wares at the castle to earn enough money to help prevent my brother from getting any sicker ..."
Prince Elder Esau interrupts, "The last person who had nerve enough to ask to sell at the castle, sold my family a cow. Hey, I remember, they had a son named Elder Johnny ...you are the Cash family, aren't you?"
The young man smiles shyly, "Well, yes ...you do remember. But, honestly, we didn't know the cow was sick when we sold it to you ..."
Prince Elder Esau challenges him, "It's not just one sick cow that disturbs me ...now that it's coming back to me, your family had a real racket going on. Besides cows, you also sold pigs, swigs, and wigs ...and Elder Johnny had a very silver tongue."
The young man defends himself, "We never sold any sick pigs, and the swigs you are referring to were medicinal elixirs."
Prince Elder Esau seems to enjoy his cross-examination of this young man, "And what about the wigs ...didn't we have an outbreak of lice at that very time?"
The young man tries a humble approach, "Well, my family understood how traumatic it is for some people when they lose their hair, especially the women, and we felt that not only royalty should be able to afford the luxury of having a full head of hair."
Prince Elder Esau scoffs, "So, your mom stood up on the back of your wagon ...and beat on two wigs with a big stick, to show the people that your wigs were just as durable as the more expensive ones."
The young man smiles, "Yours seems to be enduring quite well ..."
Prince Elder Esau is no longer amused, "I've had enough of this, what does selling wares have to do with saving my kingdom?"
The young man smiles, "You won't know what I have to offer to save your kingdom, until you first agree to allow me to sell wares."
Prince Elder Esau angrily interrupts, "That's insane ... I'm not going to allow the sale of those elixirs. If they are so medicinal, then give it to your sick cows. And I'm certainly not going to have someone standing outside my kingdom, beating on wigs, putting on that affordable hair act. I've heard enough for one day ...for a lifetime. You can leave before I wig out, and have your head for this ...or at least your hair."
The young man does not turn to leave, "Your kingdom is about to fall, and I don't believe you can afford to send me away. You haven't even heard my plan yet."
Prince Elder Esau realizes the young man is right ...he is desperate, and needs whatever help he can get, "Okay, be quick about it, and tell me your plan."
The young man happily explains, "It's my brother, Elder Johnny, who has the wares ...but he's too sick to sell them. They are very useful wares ...you can eat off them. They are vinyl platters with grooves ...so the food doesn't slip off so easy. Johnny is very proud of them. But, for you, he may even make some platinum or gold ones."
Prince Elder Esau is getting very impatient, "I wasn't asking about your plan for selling wares ...but, for saving the kingdom! I was asking for your plan to save the kingdom!"
The young man smiles again, "No, remember, I said you have to first agree to give me permission to sell my brother's wares. Imagine your Dad & Mom returning to see the kingdom is in shambles, and no longer theirs. And they will hear that it is all because you stubbornly refused to listen to the only one who had knowledge on how to save the kingdom. And you have to start being a little more polite to me also ...or I'm going to just leave, and sell the wares to all those who conquer you."
Prince Elder Esau grits his teeth, then sighs, "Okay, you can sell the wares here. There seems to have been a lot of slippage off our ungrooved platters lately anyway ...and it seems that the only ones happy in my kingdom the past couple days are the seagulls, and all those other scavenger birds. They pick up after our droppage, then leave their own."
The young man extends his hand for a handshake, "That's more like it ...it's a deal then."
Prince Elder Esau still has his doubts, but politely asks, "You never gave your name. I don't recall the Cash family having a second son ...what is your name?"
The young Cash lowers his head a bit, "It is not a very proud moment to have to divulge the fact of how poor my parents are. After they registered my brother as Elder Johnny, they could not afford to register me with a middle name. My name is very simply ...Kohl."
Prince Elder Esau nods, "Okay, I will call you ...Kohl."
Kohl does not hesitate, "And I will tell you how to quell the Women's Rebellion."
Prince Elder Esau is very eager to hear, "I'm listening."
Kohl explains, "Well, my selling the wares will help ...because the women like to buy things. Besides selling my brother's platters ...another idea came to me. Women like to play dress up when they are young, but then feel it is no longer mature as they get older, even though they still want to do it. So, I plan to come out with a variety of clothes to sell."
Prince Elder Esau nods, "Yes, I agree, that sounds reasonable ...but, why couldn't the women have just come out and simply said what they wanted or what was bothering them?"
Kohl laughs, "You have a lot to learn about the average woman, outside your royal ring. Almost all women will agree that they should never have to tell the men what they want ...they expect the men to know. And if something is bothering them, we men had better know why."
Prince Elder Esau asks, "Well, I haven't figured it out ...but, I guess that's why you came to me, because you have figured it out."
Kohl takes a quick breath, "The entire rebellion began with a simple misunderstanding, on one hand ...and my idea of selling clothing should adequately take care of the other problem. But, I guess it isn't simple unless you understand, so I'll explain. All you have to do is apologize to the one ...whom you had your knights confront. She was innocent ...yet, an innocent mistake on your part also. I'm sure she will forgive you ...since she is a relative of yours."
Prince Elder Esau interrupts, "I know you are doing your best to explain, but I think I'm getting more confused."
Kohl laughs again, "I guess I should explain how the problem began ...how it begins, or could with all women. It is often difficult to keep women straight, as they seldom use their last name. Of course it doesn't make much sense to us men, but women don't want to get attached to their last name, because then they'd get too fond of it ...and it just changes when they get married, so they prefer not to use it. So, it's harder to distinguish them ...and when you heard that it was Esther who started the rebellion, you mistakenly thought it was your relative, Esther Kin. But, actually, it was another Esther ...someone well-known in our kingdom to be very impulsive. You just have to know how to handle her ...and I'm speaking of Esther Jin."
Prince Elder Esau asks, "How do I handle her?"
Kohl smiles, "Simple ...just distract her. Let her play dress up. I've just started my clothing collection, but I think I have enough to take care of her. The best way to stop her from having fits, is to find something to fit her."
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