Once, a wizened old man would hide in the roots of an equally gnarled, though much older, tree.
Passers-by would either ignore him (or perhaps miss him entirely), treat him with disdain (often very rudely) or seek to help him (offering food or alternative (warmer, drier) shelter).
He would ignore the first sort (or miss them in turn), curse the second and reward the third, bidding them not to tell of what he had done.
In this way the wizard sought to rule, in the short term, by fear and, in the long term, by the survival of the kindest.
Passers-by would either ignore him (or perhaps miss him entirely), treat him with disdain (often very rudely) or seek to help him (offering food or alternative (warmer, drier) shelter).
He would ignore the first sort (or miss them in turn), curse the second and reward the third, bidding them not to tell of what he had done.
In this way the wizard sought to rule, in the short term, by fear and, in the long term, by the survival of the kindest.
Written for 100 Word Challenge #408 on Velvet Verbosity; the prompt was the word Once.
The title ultimately comes from Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, though I thought I would instead use a full line from the poem he took it from (partly as a way of reading it for the first time). This was also very much inspired by one of the other stories written from this prompt - Number Two on the list below is also very good).
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