This was my entry to @mariannewest and @latino.romano’s 5 Minute Freewrite: Monday Prompt: dye pot. You can see the details here.
The Dyeing Pot
Once upon a time, there was a little donkey named Chucho. He lived with his mom, Chucha, and his dad, Chuchú. They were a nice, honest, hard-working family, but they were very poor. They were so poor that they had never bought new clothes. Whatever ragged garments they had Chucha would dye and mend every now and then to make them look presentable.
Chucho always helped his mom do her work. He was fascinated by her dye pot. It was a magical thing for him to see his old fainted clothes boil inside the pot and come out enliven again. Of course, most kids in his village could tell the difference between new and dyed, and they would make fun of Chucho anyway.
Chucho was a very shy donkey. He was smart, sensitive, and just wanted to be liked by everyone. However, everyone around him seemed to have a different idea of what it meant to be cool or likeable. Thus, Chucho had a hard time making friends.
He spent most of his time alone.
One day, Chucho’s dad had a wonderful job opportunity. He would finally make enough money to stop being dirt poor. The only problem was they had to move to a faraway land where hard-working donkeys like Chuchú were in short supply.
Chucha was very excited. She would finally stop carrying loads and loads of dirty laundry to wash for people who never appreciated her fine work.
Chucho, on the other hand, had mixed feelings. He wanted his father to do well and he was excited about seeing this new land of opportunity, but he was scared about the kinds of kids he would find there.
The decision was taken, anyways, and Chucho and his family moved to the new land. They got to live in a small pretty rented house, and Chucho got immediately enrolled in a new school.
Chuchú started working immediately. He had to work so hard, they hardly saw him or he them. When he left, they were still sleeping; by the time he was back, Chucho and his mom had just fallen asleep.
At least they were eating well and were able to buy new clothes for everyone. Chucha, however, had taken her dye pot, just in case.
At school, Chucho faced a curious change of scene. There were all kinds of kids. All races, all colors, but they behaved similarly to his old no-friends back home. They also made fun of those that did not fit in. There were parcels that belonged to certain groups, activities that only certain groups could do or afford, and so on.
Chucho noticed that most animals in this land had intense colors, like white, black, red, yellow, green, or blue. He was all boringly brown. Chucho felt that their rejection had to do with his color. In one class, Chucho heard the teacher talk about how lucky they were because they were in this land of opportunities where people were forged in a melting pot that made them all the same, despite their individual differences.
Chucho had an idea. He remembered that his mother had brought her dye pot with her and he decided to experiment with all the pigments his mother had stored in the kitchen. He would change his color!
One afternoon, while his father was at work and his mother was shopping at a nearby mall, Chucho put the pot on the stove, mixed all the colors he had at hand and dived himself in the colorful promise of a better self; one that would finally make him popular and loved.
Thanks for stopping by and reading .
The drawing is mine. Here's the process
I took as a model my favorite donkey
And just gave him a different look
Make sure you visit the Freewrite House!!!
I love your drawing of Chucho You have talent, also this was a good story.
Thank you very much. I love drawing, but it does not always come easy.
A nice entry, @hlezama,
Interesting tale, suitable for all readers,specially childrens would be benifitted from this story as they have plenty to learn from it.Looks a evening storytelling set, huh ha.
Thanks. If parents are not too touchy, I guess it can be read to children. These days we are gfetting all kinds of censorship with certain topics and even words.
The story came out spontaneously (I did not think too much about audience or structure). I may edit it in the near future.
No,no, dont need to worry,this story is good and has the capacity to pass in all sorts of censorship. You have spontaneity in your writng style, which is a hallmark for any author.I noticed some of the good parts in your write,
Keep this up,and have a nice day.You look jolly and happy,thats a sign of a good man,you are indeed that.
God Bless you,friend. 🙂
Haha. Thanks for the assessment and for the comment about my picture.
I guess I was happy back then (2005 aprox).