Wednesday, 26 December 2012

James Gilliband of Washgookawilly



James Gilliband was born in the month of lights and good wishes. King Solomon, Queen Candace, and Prince Berthold attended the naming ceremony. It was the royal hairdresser Gilliband’s wish that King Solomon named his child. King Solomon gladly did it. The king held the baby up in his arms and everyone cheered raucously. He named the child James. The whole city celebrated James Gilliband’s naming ceremony. Hairdresser Gilliband was never so happy in his life than he was now.

James Gilliband’s childhood days were filled with fun. With his father being a royal hairdresser, he didn’t have anything to worry about. He had everything he wanted: toys, good friends, good education. He was a happy child, no doubt. He was full of fun. All his friends loved him. But there was one thing they often complained: he couldn’t keep secrets. ‘I hate secrets,’ he said to his friends once, ‘Why should one have secrets? One should always be open and honest. And he was only seven years old when he said this.

James Gilliband never cared about his father’s profession. He was floating around in his own world – playing pranks on everybody, swimming in the lake, stealing apples from an orchard, getting chased by the plantation owner, giggling, laughing, telling stories to his friends and entertaining them. But everything changed when he was eight years old. King Solomon died in a battle. Although it didn’t make any difference to James Gilliband, he couldn’t look at his father’s unhappy face. A few days later he walked into his father’s shop and said, ‘May I try?’

His father laughed. James Gilliband smiled. He was happy his father was all right. ‘May I try?’ he asked again, extending his hand.

‘All right. You can try on me,’ his father said, gave him the comb and the scissors, and sat on a chair.

Excited, James Gilliband went shroof-shroof with the comb and the scissors. And when he was done, his father’s head looked like a chopped coconut. Both father and son laughed, holding their tummies. It was James’s first experience as a hairstylist, and he loved it with all of his heart. He was too young to make decisions for his life, but he somehow knew in his heart of hearts that he wanted to become a hairstylist like his father. Since then he went and sat in his father’s shop, observing and learning the art.

One day he asked his father if he could go with him to the palace to watch him trim the prince’s and the king’s hair. His father said no without even giving it due consideration. James was surprised and angry. He kept pestering his father with the same request for the next couple of weeks. His father neither agreed nor gave any reason for his stubbornness. As the days passed by, James stopped asking his father to take him to the palace. His father heaved a sigh of relief. After all, keeping a royal secret was no small thing. Someday James will understand, he thought.

As James grew up he became more and more skilled at hairstyling. People started taking notice of him now. If middle-aged men wanted Gilliband Sr. to trim their hair, all the young ones wanted James to give them the looks they desired.

Everything was going smoothly when tragedy struck. On a fateful day, James’s father passed away. James Gilliband had never known sadness until then. His misery only grew with each passing day. ‘You will make a great hairstylist one day, my son. I am proud of you,’ his father had told him a few days before his death.

James’s responsibilities had grown, but he was still the same playful boy at heart. Several days later, when James Gilliband had least expected it, a messenger from the palace came calling for him: the king wants to see you. James was obviously surprised. But then, had he known that a long time back his father had been called by the king in a similar fashion, James would have been more than surprised.

James went to the palace fearlessly. The king welcomed him with a smile. James bowed before the king. The king took James inside his private chamber where only a select few were admitted. And then James found out the secret. The secret his father had taken to his grave. He finally understood why his father never took him to the palace.

What was the royal secret after all? Why Gilliband Sr. never took his only son to the palace? And now that James Gilliband knows the secret, will he be able to keep it safe in his heart? Read The Story of King Berthold to unlock the secret.

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