The Little Country Cottage
The cottage was a small thing, perched between a mossy hill and a stone wall covered in luscious green ivy in the Ardennes Forest. It was home to a modest young couple. For many years, they lived happily in their little cottage, bearing in mind, it was all the couple could afford. They realized at young ages that they would likely never know what it was to travel to faraway places or to stay in lavish lodgings, but here, in their little country cottage, life with each other, as simple and ordinary as it was, was enough.
The couple continued in that attitude until one summer’s day, when a wealthy and polite old man named Greg Meriwether appeared in their forest. Upon first impression, his dress was luxurious and words flattering. He expressed how beautiful he thought their little country cottage was. “In fact,” he said, “it is just the quaint little thing I am looking for.” After a very short while, he proceeded to enquire about their everyday life. He took quite an interest in their favorite pastimes and how often they received visitors.
Just as his enquiries seemed to cease, he wondered aloud if he might be so bold as to make one last enquiry. “An offer really,” he said. He proposed all his worldly possessions in exchange for their little country cottage. For he was seeking a place to retire. “You see,” he said, “I have traveled to faraway places and stayed in lavish lodgings, and nothing seems greater to me, than to settle here.” At first, the couple was inclined to refuse his offer. In perceiving this, he made them promise that they would at least ponder the offer. As the days passed, the idea of living in luxury was one they gradually became fond of.
One cool, autumn day, the couple had found themselves decided. They wrote Greg Meriwether to enquire whether the offer was still available. He happily and hastily replied ‘yes,’ and the offer was settled, the deal done. From that point on, each day was another opportunity for the couple to relish their newfound fortune. The more they bought, the more they wanted. The fortune seemed to be never ending, as did their greed and unhappiness. Their wants consumed them, and they watched as their fortune dwindled. With this, they desired nothing more than to return to their little country cottage where they were once satisfied and happy.
After all their faraway travels, and lavish lodgings, they found Greg Meriwether passed on and their little country cottage unchanged. Its mossy hill and ivy-covered stone wall, had not changed, only those who once lived inside had. The couple bought the cottage with the last bit of money they had and sought to live as if they never left. Although, of this one thing they were now certain, all they ever wanted, they already had in their little country cottage.