Household Fables

Table of Contents

Introduction

1) The Egg in the Refrigerator

2) The Dish Wonders about His Home

3) The Scissors that Lied

4) The Notebooks and the Desktop Computer

5) The Vacuum Cleaner and the Hair Dryer

6) The Thumbtacks and the Staplers

7) The Fire Alarm

The Penny and the Silver Dollar

9) A Tale of Two Dolls

10) The Spices

11) The Football

12) The Dog in the House

13) The Woman in the House

14) The Shoes

15) The Two Clocks

16) The Boots and the Sneakers

17) The Old Lady and the Blinds

18) The Stapler and the Hole Puncher

19) The Old Golf Club and the Hockey Stick

20) Toys in Council

21) The Beautiful Mirror

22) The Kitchen Knife and the Cheese

23) The Computer and the TV      

24) The Vegetable and the Flowers

25) The Corn and the Other Vegetables

26) The Flower and the Weed

27) The Portrait of the Mistress

28) The Humming Bird and the Orchid       

29) The Crayons and the Coloring Box

30) The Rake and the Leaves

30) The Fish in the Fish Bowl

31) The Worm and the Rain

32) The Worm and the Snail

Introduction

Hello I am simply known as the house by the members of my domain.  In general, our kind do not have names like your kind.  Oh of course we have an address but that’s not really a name is it?  I have existed for many years now and in my realm I have seen many events happen and from these events I have created stories with lessons that you might find useful.  My master has lived in me for so many years he has learned how to communicate with me and has been kind enough to write down the stories of my domain so that other masters and mistresses may be amused or learn from my experience. 

 

1) The Egg in the Refrigerator

 

The egg in the refrigerator was very unhappy.  The refrigerator was so cold and dark.  One by one his egg brothers were taken out of the refrigerator and he thought, “They are so lucky!  The refrigerator told the egg that he should be happy with his situation  but the egg didn’t see how that was possible.  They are going out of the cold refrigerator into the warm world filled with light.”  Finally the egg was all alone.  The egg thought, “Surely my turn is next.  I can’t wait”.  The door of the refrigerator opened and the egg saw the light and was so happy.  The egg was cracked against the side of the frying pan and thrown in.  The just before hitting the frying pan the egg wished he had appreciated his life in the refrigerator.

 

“A cold world is better than a cruel one”

 

2) The Dish Wonders about His Home

 

The dish was moved back and forth from the cupboard in the kitchen to the table in the living room.  The dish didn’t mind since the move was a bit of an adventure but after awhile the dish wondered if his home was the table or the cupboard.  The table was much older and therefore wiser than any of the dishes and the dish decided to ask the table.  The table pondered the question and said, “The master leaves home to work and comes back home to rest.  I have heard him say as much at the table and he is the wisest of all so what he says must be true.  When you are on the table you are working and when you are in the cupboard you are resting so your home must be the cupboard”

The cupboard was even older than the table and was therefore considered even wiser than the table.  The cupboard told the dish, “I have been here since the beginning.  The table you have asked the question of is the seventh I have known.  I have even seen masters and mistresses come and go.  I have seen dishes without number come and go.  Your stay in my cupboard is brief and in truth you have no home”

The dish felt very sad after hearing the words of the cupboard and decided the table must be right not the cupboard and felt much better.  The dish fell to the floor shortly afterwards and was smashed into a thousand pieces.

 

“A greater truth is not always a happier truth”.

 

3) The Scissors that Lied

 

As is often the case in many houses, the office appliances and the kitchen appliances hated each other.  The office appliances wished the master would be with them always and would become angry when he spent time in the kitchen cooking.  The kitchen appliances in turn would be angry when the master spent time in the office. 

 

Sometimes the master needed to cut something open like a bag of frozen peas and take the scissors from the office to the kitchen and sometimes forget to bring the scissors back to the office for a day or two.  When the scissors was in the kitchen the kitchen objects would ask him if he belonged to the office or the kitchen.  The scissors would answer “I am loyal to the kitchen” in his clicking voice.  When returning from the kitchen the office objects would ask them what he talked to the kitchen objects about and he answered “I told them I was proud to be an office object and that office objects were far superior to kitchen objects”. 

 

One day the master brought a ham and cheese sandwich to the office on a plate.  The plate snubbed the office objects in general all except the scissors to which she said “hello” to in a friendly manner.  The scissors tried to ignore the plate but finally said hello back.  The office objects asked the plate why she was so friendly to the scissors and she said “Oh don’t you know the scissors is one of us?”  The office objects were shocked at this evidence of betrayal and told the plate that the scissors told them that he belonged to the office not the kitchen.  The plate was returned to the kitchen after the sandwich was finished and told the other kitchen objects about what she had discovered.  In the future the office objects and the kitchen objects refused to talk to the scissors and the scissors were very lonely indeed.

 

“Those who practice deceit must expect to be shunned.”

 

4) The Notebook and the Desktop Computer

 

There are two types of personal computers.  A notebook computer is small and portable and designed for the master to take with him.  The desktop computer is much larger and designed to stay put on the desk of the master.

 

The notebook computer told his computer brother the desktop about his latest trip with the master.  She said “Paris is an incredible city”.  The master took me to this wonderful café.  The café was like one in the US but different.  I easily connected to the wireless connection even though I was in foreign country. The coffee smelt different than the coffee in the US.  The desktop computer was so jealous.  He had never ever been outside the study in the master’s house.

 

The master was moving to a new house.  All the objects in the house were excited.  Most of them had only known the house they lived in.  The desktop computer was especially excited.  Now he would have a trip just like the notebook computer.  It wouldn’t be Paris but it would be something! 

 

The moving van was dark. The ride was terrible.  Every bump made the desktop cringe with fear.  The desktop knew he was more delicate than the other objects in the van.  “My poor little circuits.” , He thought.  What about my monitor.  I am not built for travel at all.  The sofa thought the trip was great.  The sofa bounced up and down and laughed and laughed but the desktop feared every bump of the ride.  Normally the desktop looked down on the sofa for not being very smart but during the ride the desktop wished he was built as sturdily as the sofa.  Finally they arrived in the new office in the new home.  The desktop hoped the master never moved again because he decided there and then he hated travel no matter what the notebook said.

 

“There is no place like home”

 

5) The Vacuum Cleaner and the Hair Dryer

 

The hair dryer loved drying the hair of the mistress.  She loved the way the hair bended to her hot air.  She loved the way the mistress expertly moved her.  Most of all she loved the loud sound she made when drying hair.  The hair dryer was very proud of being the loudest object in the house.  One day the mistress bought a new vacuum cleaner.  The old one had been small and humble.  The new one was gigantic and roared and roared when the mistress used the vacuum cleaner to clean the carpet.  The vacuum cleaner roared over and over again in the special language only other house objects knew “I am the loudest in the house”.  

 

The next time the mistress used the hair dryer the hair dryer yelled as loud as she could “I am the loudest one in the house and louder than any stupid vacuum cleaner”.  This contest went on and on.  The mistress complained to the master that the hair dryer was much too loud and must be broken.  The hair dryer found itself in the garbage can the very next day.

 

“Nobody likes a loud mouth”

 

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