Famous In The Keep

Famous In The Keep

A Short Fable by Nick Ramsey (C) 2015

"There's our hero" Sinda called out as she stirred her stew with that giant wooden spoon that she'd stirred a thousand stews with over the years, "how are ya, Bendegan?" Bendegan smiled and looked around the keep at all his friends and neighbors staring at him waiting for a reply. 

"I'm quite alright, thank ya loves." He said as he tilted his head forward  and waved randomly. The road back from The Desparos had been a long one and he had not had much time at the after party for rest; lots of rest and relaxation were necessary for an old dwarf wizard. 

Sinda stirred the stew in the kettle. "Celebration dinner will be ready in an hour or so. It's a dinner in your honor, ya know."she announced. Bendegan did his best to look excited but all this was more than he wanted to deal with at the moment. Really and truly he just wanted to go inside his cottage and sleep for a few days. As he continued to walk towards his homestead a man that he'd never seen before with suspenders, a mustache, and smoking an elderberry pipe came strolling up to him. 

"So you defeated that Grawch guy, eh?" He asked. 

"Yes. Yes I did." Bendegan assured him.  The man looked nervous all of a sudden. 

"Listen, I have a problem with a guy in Vinow. I owe him some money. Think ya can vanish 'em for me?"

Bendegan looked up at the man who was as serious as it gets. Finally he answered him "I'm sorry, I don't have any spells of that nature." He walked right past the man and a few other people who tried to talk to him. 

Soon a woman caught him. "I heard you seen a furry cumber beast. What are they like?" Bendegan smirked and walked away from her in a great haste. 

Finally, he reached the cottage where people had set baskets of apples and letters of thanks in front of his door. Oh, boy he thought as he carried the things inside and sat them on his dining table. He lit his elderberry pipe and sat at his favorite window watching the scene unfold outside. Everyone was making a fuss for him setting tables, shucking corn, pouring brew, bringing out the cheese wheels, yet before he left Pan's Keep no one really noticed him. Now I'm bluddy famous he marveled. When he finished his pipe he stood up and stared at his comfy bed but realized that he had no time for sleep; the celebration dinner was soon. He changed clothes and washed his face deciding that he would have a proper bath the following day. 

The dinner started right on time and he sat at the head of the overly long picnic table, specially built for the event. Everyone at the keep was there. Sinda, Dree, Heygo, and about sixty people that he'd never seen before. 

"Speech" a stranger yelled out before Bendegan could swallow his first bite of stew. Reluctantly, Bendegan stood up. "Can't see ya" a woman yelled and, reluctantly, Bendegan climbed up on a chair and began to speak. 

"Thank you for this lovely feast. I don't know all of you but the way things seem to be going I am sure I will get to know most of you in a snap." 

"Is that it?" Another woman barked. 

Bendegan stood back up, still tired from the journey and said "well, my dear I travelled on foot from here to The other side of the world, almost drowned in quicksand, came to blows with a cumber beast, defeated an evil wizard, and then walked all the way back. I'm old and I'm tired and all I want to do is eat this stew and go to bed." Then he sat back down and tried to take another bite when the strange man with the mustache chimed in "not much of a storyteller is he?" The whole table began to laugh and beat their hands against the table which spilled Bendegan's stew all over the table. At that point he'd had enough. He wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin and laid it on the table and the group went quiet staring at him. 

"Thank you all for a lovely time." He said and walked away. Sinda ran after him and tried to stop him. "Bendegan come back - they're awfully sorry - no one here's ever met a hero." 

Bendegan smiled through his teeth. "I'm not a hero,my dear. I'm just someone who did something when no one else would. Forgive me if I'm grumpy. I'm just very tired." He left to go back to his cottage as Sinda went back to the dinner. 

The next day Bendegan woke up late in the afternoon finally refreshed. He had a bath, made a quick breakfast of apple flacks and then read a few chapters of one of his books How To Build A Birdhouse. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a note and red ribbon under his door. He opened it and it read:

We are very sorry. We realize that a hero needs his rest and his space.  When you are welcoming visitors just hang the red ribbon on your door. Thank you for saving our world. - The Keep

Bendegan smiled a big smile. It's true, he was tired yesterday but maybe he shouldn't have been such a grump. He'd had a grand adventure and everyone here just wanted to hear about it. He ran out of his front door and hung the ribbon right away. His friends and neighbors started to walk towards his cottage smiling the whole way and Bendegan readied his pipe. He had a few stories to tell. 

(C) 2015 Nick Ramsey