Once upon a time, there was a village called Tusseltoff. The village was medieval and really normal looking for the time, what made them stand out was that the whole village was obsessed with the creation of metal tools and weapons. Many people were blacksmiths and competed to be the absolute best smith. Phil Carson was not the best blacksmith in Tusseltoff, but he did well in other tasks, not that it mattered much to anyone else. Phil was about the average height and weight but just did not have the skills or strengths that generally everyone did have. There were not many like Phil but enough people around to keep him company sometimes. But, one of the best and up and coming smiths in all of the village was none other than Johnny Wolf. He was only slightly older than Phil but complete opposites. Phil would always think about how much of a jerk Johnny is. The upcoming axe making and throwing contest would be the perfect chance for Phil to show how much he had learned so far. The day came, it seems like almost the whole town is here Phil thought. Phil was getting into his place for the competition to start and Jonny stepped up to the place next to him.
“You’re going down kid,” Johnny yelled over. Phil faced away and tried not to say anything. Before anyone knew it, the competition was under way. Everyone was finishing up making their weapons when Phil says, “oh no,” under his breath.
Then eventually the judge call’s “Time!” Everyone took their tools to the inspection booth so all tools could be strength tested. Phil’s weapon is up next, and he has a nervous feeling. The judge tries to cut a log and his tool actually passed the strength test which was the most surprising to him. Everyone moved to the throwing range for the throwing contest. There were only two targets, so people paired up. Phil did not have a partner, the Judge pointed, “what about that guy?”
“I can’t partner with that guy, I just won’t do it bro,” Phil explained.
“Well that’s too bad, be a real man, you just need to stand next to him and throw your axe,” replied the judge. Phil walks over to Johnny and they stood together, totally silent.
“You two are up!” the judge calls as they both walk up with axes in hand to the targets. “You only get one throw and you got to hit that center,” he told them. Phil and Johnny stood in front of their targets and threw their axes. The crowd cheers as Johnny hits the center of his target. Fa-thud! Phil however hit the target in two places. When Phil was making the axe, he had accidently cracked it but did not tell the judges. The bystanders looked over and gasp. Phil had created the only failed weapon. He now is placed dead last. Phil turns around and look at everyone. Without saying another word, he took his bag and walked home. Phil did not dare leave his house for days. He had a hard time sleeping, he embarrassed himself in front of the whole village.
Phil finally returned to work; he was just a shop cashier, who would want to bother him at work anyway. As Phil started his shift, Johnny walked in. Phil cringed as Johnny stepped forward.
“Hey idiot, I’m the new manager here,” Johnny announced.
“Why the hell should I care?” replied Phil.
“You should care about how I don’t think idiots should have jobs, and speaking of that, your fired!” Johnny yelled. Johnny thought he might cry.
“You can’t just come in here and do that. You’ve never even worked here before!” Phil yelled back. They were both heated now.
“I’m the most popular person in this town, you saw last week. You are just a dumb child” Johnny exclaimed. Phil started to cry. Phil grabbed his bag, and just walked away. There was no stopping him. Phil walked home, opened the door and slumped down onto his bed. He laid there for who knows how long. He heard knocks at the door at different points, Phil did not care if they were friends or Johnny wanting to humiliate him again. Phil did not care. He contemplated revenge, but that could never work. He just laid there for a while longer and eventually drifted off to sleep.
When Phil awoke, he cried some more. His room was dark, he was alone. It was like Johnny was following him or life was just out to get him. He had never really met Johnny before. It was like they just hated each other from looking at each other. Phil thought it was all over, like there was no point. Like he should just sit in the darkness forever. He eventually dosed off again to sleep.
Phil Carson woke once again, but not in the darkness. It felt light, like all the strain and pressure was lifted off of him. He looked around. Not to see his room but a giant almost kingdom on the clouds. It was as bright as the star. The air on him felt cool and had the taste of snow. Phil had his mind blown. He could see so many people though, he thought he could see billions of people, but none looked familiar to him. He stepped towards the town of people, and one person stuck out to him. It was his father. Phil could not belive what was going on. His father had passed away four years ago. His father stepped towards him and gestured to come closer.
“Am I dreaming?” Phil asked.
“You could be. Come, follow me to my place,” replied his dad. Phil followed his father to a house that looked similar to the one his father used to live in.
“Take a seat son,” Mr. Carson told him. Phil took a seat at the table with his father.
“What is going on, where am I?” Phil demanded.
“I’m not quite sure where you are son, has something caused you to come here?” Mr. Carson replied.
“I’ve had a bad couple of weeks to say the least. I’ve really been down in the dumps because I really hate this guy and I want to get revenge on him, but at the same time I feel like that’s just not the right thing to do,” Phil explained.
Mr. Carson responded, “Sounds like a pretty common problem to me. I dealt with those situations many times in my life. What I did was, and I think you should try is to just be kind to the…”
“You what! I can’t do that, you don’t understand, this guy is crazy!” Phil exclaimed. Phil still felt very lost in his emotions.
“Just be nice. He would have no reason to ever fight you if you gave him kindness.” Mr. Carson explained.
“I Don’t know about this dad. He’s seems like a closed-minded idiot,” Phil responded.
“Well you are already off to a bad start then. You just need to be calm and try to be respectful. Just do it,” Mr. Carson noted. Phil looked around; everything was starting to fade away. He was waking up he thought.
“Goodbye Son!” Mr. Carson exclaimed. The background was gone it was just the chairs and Mr. Carson left.
“Goodbye,” Phil blubbered. Everything went black for a moment and then stayed that way.
It was now the morning. Just a crack of light peering through the windows. Phil certainly felt better, like he had gotten a second wind. Phil was ready to face Johnny. Whatever he saw that night changed him. Phil did not know if it really happened or not but that did not matter.
Phil requested and was allowed back to work by the shop owner. Phil walked in and there was Johnny.
“Welcome back,” Johnny spoke sarcastically.
“Hello there, how are you today sir?” asked Phil.
“Um, I’m okay, I think. Why the hell do you care anyways?” Johnny fired back.
“Just making sure you are alright I guess,” Phil responded as he started to go to work. These gentle interactions happened multiple times over the next week. Over time there was less tension between the two of them. One day Johnny approached Phil at the end of their shifts.
“Hey, you seem like an okay guy and I was wondering if you wanted help in axe making?” asked Johnny.
“That sounds great, maybe this weekend you can tell me how you forge such strong weapons,” Phil replied.
“Okay, sounds like a plan,” Johnny spoke almost excitedly. A couple day passed, and they met at the Tusseltoff community forge to work together. Phil was impressed by what Johnny knew and how experienced he seemed.
“Where did you learn?” Phil asked very curiously.
“My father taught me; whose father taught him. I really do miss that guy,” Johnny replied back. The two of them worked with each other for a few months. They even collaborated on building a collection of weapons. When it came to the competition, they were friendlier and more evenly matched.
“I guess being friendly is an actual strategy to get what you desire,” Phil explained.
“That is right, that is right,” responded Johnny.