2020 UBN Heritage Awards

Eldaro is participating in the UBN Heritage Awards again this year! We received three strong entries. Below you can read through the three different stories.

THE SCALES OF JUSTICE

Written by An-Aël Cassaert

Once upon a time there lived a little boy named Timothy. Timothy was born in a beautiful village in Eldaro. The country of wealth, peace and prosperity. The council of Elders is what keeps the country running smoothly. Things weren't always easy for Timothy's family. Everyone had to work hard so that their mouths could be filled.

One day Timothy had to babysit his younger brother Jef because their mother and father were going to the capital. They had left at sunrise for a long trip to the capital, but assured Timothy that they would be back before dark. It was a warm day and Timothy decided to do a lot of fun things together with his little brother. They played games together, went for a walk and fed the chickens. The day flew by and the sun was setting however, there was still no sign of the parents yet. Timothy and Jef started to get hungry, but there was nothing to eat in the house. There was also no money to be found anywhere, so Timothy became desperate. He knew that Jef urgently needed to eat before bedtime, so he decided to go for a walk with Jef and look for food. Timothy hoped he would find some berries or fruit, but this didn't happen. It was getting very dark when they passed a large mansion. Timothy and Jef looked inside and saw the rich family having dinner together. The table was full of rich and delicious food, there was chicken, vegetables, fruit, pies and so on. Timothy knew for sure; this was his only chance to feed his little brother Jef. He then proceeded to crawl under the fence and he quickly slipped in through a side door. He couldn't believe his eyes; he saw the largest amount of food he had ever seen in his life. He quickly took everything he could and slipped back outside. Outside, the chef was smoking and saw Timothy running out of the kitchen. Not a moment later the chef had Timothy by his neck. This was going to have serious consequences.

The next day Timothy appeared before The council of Elders. The chef explained that he had seen Timothy and told them that Timothy was a thief. This didn’t look good for Timothy. After everything had been discussed, it was time for the decision of the scales of justice. If Timothy was lucky, he would be forgiven for everything. If he was not lucky, he knew there was going to be a terrible punishment. The moment had finally arrived and the scales of justice clearly showed that Timothy was a thief and needed to be punished. Timothy tried to convince the council by saying he only wanted to help his brother. Nothing changed. The council of Elders finally decided and announced Timothy's punishment. He had to go through the rest of his life as a babytroll, starting the next day. The curse was to come into effect at midnight. Timothy has been deeply unhappy all his life. Let this be a lesson to remember that stealing is never okay.

EDWARD AND THE ENT

Written by Eboni De Wandeler

Almost 900 years ago, there was an old man named Edward. He was the only one in town who reached his golden age. Seemingly immune to all diseases, he outlived his fellow villagers. They envied him, cast him out while all he wanted was to have a place where he belonged. Feeling lonelier than ever, he fled to the woods. Legend has it that while he was wandering through the forest, he ran into an Ent. Call them ancient shepherds of the forests, tree people or a sticks who grew a conscience. He was 14 feet tall, bark-like skin covered in moss, branches and roots as limbs and dark eyes that hold the secrets of time. They became companions and when the Ent lost a finger after a violent storm, he granted it to Edward who turned it into a cane.

After a while, Edward left the forest behind him and went on to find a new country which he named Eldaro. Years went by while our founding father Sir Edward Johnson built a community of elderly where peace and a close connection to nature were the foundation of their culture. Edward turned into a remarkable man. Wherever he went, a few feet or a few miles, he always took his walking cane with him. He was already 96 years old, but the man was more energetic than the children who visited. He would be skipping and frolicking all day without even pulling a muscle. If you looked closely, you could see that whenever he tapped his cane on his little toe, he suddenly was five years younger. The other people in town didn’t really care about it but the children were up to no good.

One day, a young lad stole the walking cane and took it home to his little brother. He held the cane up in the air and tapped it on the kid’s little toe. Some say the kid disappeared into thin air, others claim that his mother gave birth to him a year later and some believe that the cane transformed into a magic carpet, scooped the boy up and disappeared into the sunset.

THE TALE OF THE BLIND COCKATRICE

Written by Isaura Van Hyfte

A long time ago, there was a handsome prince named Alex. He was so extremely handsome that all the women were at his feet. Unfortunately, he was blind, which was to his advantage. All the women felt sorry for the handsome prince. Those women did everything they could to help Alex get on with his life. That way they hoped to conquer his heart. Like a real casanova, Alex got used to all that attention very quickly. After a while Alex even started to turn it into a competition. The one who did the best job became his future princess.

Of course, there was one woman who didn't fall for his beautiful looks and could resist him. That was the miraculous Leyla. Leyla and Alex were once very good friends, but a quarrel between their families drove them apart. Alex found it very intriguing that she didn't pay him any attention and decided to invite her to his castle for a conversation to glue the cracks. He tried to seduce her, but unfortunately that didn't work. Leyla insisted. She said she never wanted to come near him again and forbade him to come near her. Leyla lived in the Forbidden Forest, so Prince Alex was never allowed to go there again. "It won't be your best day if you get there Alex", Leyla said. And with those words she left the castle.

Weeks went by, months went by, seasons went by. But Prince Alex couldn't keep his thoughts away from Leyla. He decided to visit the Forbidden Forest to apologize to Leyla. Accompanied by his butler, he took a mouthful of goodies with him to surprise her. Prince Alex had of course not thought of Leyla's last words. When he walked in the woods, he soon got distressed. He heard very scary and loud noises. Suddenly it was very quiet. Prince Alex stopped and looked around him. Suddenly a red vapor fell around him. Less than a moment later he felt his whole body change. Neither Prince Alex nor the butler knew what was happening. The butler was frightened, screamed and walked away. Alex had turned into a snake dragon. Alex was blind so he couldn't see what he looked like, but the butler's reaction said enough. Prince Alex, who in the meantime had turned into the blind cockatrice, immediately began to burst into tears. He wept and screamed so loudly that even Leyla had heard it. She went to take a look and saw him crying with the surprise basket next to him. She hadn't thought her spell was going to have such an effect and immediately felt sorry for him. They had a good conversation with each other and explained the years of quarrel. Leyla finally saw that Alex had a good side. She took Alex inside to comfort him.

She started to see if she could make an antidote, but after 9 months of trying, nothing turned out to work. Meanwhile, the bond between Leyla and Alex had become so good that they didn't want to leave each other's sides anymore. They fell in love with each other. Alex told Leyla that he didn't want to become normal anymore, that he didn't want all the women walking behind him again. He just wanted Leyla. That's why Leyla stopped looking for an antidote. And so, Leyla and the blind cockatrice lived happily ever after together.