Long Horn

Baby is the most adorable creature in the world. Baby can cry loudly in the middle of the night, pees at your lap while you’re holding him, poops wherever he wants and you still call him “what a cute little baby.”

Baby plays many roles in the society. For some people, having baby boy is more proudly than having a baby girl. Baby boy is believed as the heir of family name and a leader of the family. Baby boy is also believed as a great investment to gain wealthy and social status.

So when this baby boy comes to the world, this little family is very excited. The status of the family will rise.

This baby is born healthy. He has a beautiful smile and soft skin. But there is something unusual on his head. It’s like a horn stuck on his forehead. His parents look shocking. They think the baby is an evil.

“We can’t have him. He’s a devil. Look at his horn.” the father says. This night is a sad night for the baby. His father puts him in a blanket. It covers his body from head to his little feet. Then he grabs a basket near him and puts the baby in it. The baby is sleeping, not knowing what his father does to him. The father takes the basket to the river. He looks at the baby again, wonders if he’s making a mistake. But the horn on baby’s head covers his conscience. He is too afraid. He puts bowl filled with rice and an egg next to baby’s head. Then the basket is flowing away to the river.

The father doesn’t know that there is a girl following him from his house to the river. She is hiding behind big tree watching him flows a baby to the river. When the father leaves, she comes out. Under a moon light, she looks worried and afraid. She is trying to reach the basket but it’s too far from her hand. The basket flows through the river, getting far from the edge. The girl follows the basket from the edge of the river.

Whenever the baby’s crying, she sings to the basket”my baby brother, don’t worry. Your sister’s here. You’re not alone. If you’re hungry, eat the rice in the bowl.”

For couple days, she has followed the basket. The egg has broken and a chick comes out of it. The chick then becomes the baby’s friend.

One day, the basket is stuck in a branch of tree on the water. The girl reaches the basket. She gets the baby out of it and takes the bowl and the chicken with her.

They stay near the river. If they’re hungry, she cooks the rice or gets fruits in the forest.

As they’ve grown, the chicken has become a rooster. It’s a dashing rooster. It has large wings and great crest. Now they decide to go out from the forest, try to find a better luck in another land.

They walk through the forest to near village. When they get there, the guards of the gate don’t let them in. “You look weird. You got curse or something?” The guards look at the boy’s head.

“No, I just have unusual thing in my head. But it’s not a curse or anything. Please, let us pass.” the boy said.

“I see you have a rooster” the guard is checking the boy’s bag. A rooster’s head comes out from the bag. “It’s a nice rooster. I’ll let you pass if you can win the cockfighting” he gets his rooster and put it to the ground. “But if you lose, your rooster is mine and you are going to be my slave.” the guard gives his condition.

“Ok. If I win this bet, you’ll let us in” the boy gets his rooster out of his bag and put it to the ground. Other people are swarming to see the cockfighting. They also put their money on the rooster.

The roosters are face to face on the ground. When the guard gives mark, they start to fight. The boy’s rooster pecks the guard’s rooster. The blood comes out of rooster’s head. The guard looks unpleased with his rooster. The gamblers are shouting. The guard’s rooster is knockdown. The boy wins the bet. The guards let them pass and give the money from the bet.

When they arrive at another village, the same thing happens. The guards want to bet the rooster as their condition for entering the village. And if the boy wins, he’ll get the money from the bet. The boy put his rooster to the ground and the cockfight begins. The boy’s rooster attacks the guard’s rooster. It doesn’t give a change for the opponent to fight back. The boy’s rooster wins easily. So they enter the village with lots money in their pocket.

They rest at a drink place. A waiter takes their order. He looks at them and asks “I’ve never seen you before. Where are you from?”

“We come from a distance.” the boy said.

“What is that on your head?” the waiter looks amazed.

“It’s like a horn. I’ve got this since I was born” then the boy starts telling their story. The waiter listens well.

“I heard a story about devil’s kid when I was a boy.” the waiter said. ”There was a rumor about a boy born with a horn on his forehead. A midwife told me long time ago. But the parents deny that it was their boy. They said their son was died. This family was rich but now everything had gone. They’re just a poor old couple” the waiter ends his story. 

The boy is shock hearing the waiter’s story. It’s probably his life story.

“Where are they?” the boy asks curious.

“They live not far from here. Just follow the road, you’ll get there.” the waiter says.

They continue walking and follow the road just like the waiter said. At the end of the road, there is a house covers with high bushes. The roof is almost unrecognized. The house looks abandoned. It’s like nobody lives there. But there’s an old man comes out. The girl looks surprise. She remembers that face. It’s old but that the face of her father.

“Father... “the girl calls him.

The old man looks surprise seeing his daughter out side the door. And he looks more shock when he sees the boy next to her, a boy with a horn on his forehead. Suddenly his tears come out from his eyes. Terrible regrets fill his heart. He remembers what he did long time ago to his son.

“My son... I’m sorry” he holds the boy.

The boy is just standing there. His heart is cold with sad and anger. He doesn’t say anything, just staring the old man.

In children story book I red, the boy didn’t forgive his parents. He left them like they left him. The parents regretted until they died.

Now, to me, that doesn’t sound a good ending. I know what they did was terrible. Loving money and status more than their son is just mean. But fighting with parents just makes you more miserable, either you’re right or wrong. You know, people do mistakes all the time, sometime the mistake is worst and hard to forgive. But when they already regret it and ask for your forgiveness, you should forgive them, right? Do you know regret is a killer? Live with guilty feeling is really killing you slowly. It really does. So give your forgiveness. It’s a noble thing to do.

So, in this story, I like if the ending is like this: the boy forgives his father. They’re together again, forget the whole thing and start a new life. And this time, the rooster has company. They breed hen and start a chicken farm. But it’s not for cockfighting, only for eggs and meat.

Cockfighting is not a good way of making money. It looks easy and fun but it also brings many negative consequences. It tortures your rooster. You get sin for that and betting. You become lazy and your money will lose easily.