More Value than Gold

  Long ago, there was a town called, January Junction. It was originally ruled by the evil Cossack King, Kubla Kraus who taxed everyone down to their last coin! Now, the king had mysteriously disappeared, and the town was taken over by a new ruler named, Sir Ravenal Rightfellow and his wife, Lady Elisa.
  Some miles away, there was another town called, Lumberburg. It was a small town surrounded by woods so thick you wouldn't know there was a town there. It was here that Kubla Kraus landed in a river, ruining the laundry of a woman named, Stazi Smirnoff.
  Stazi was outraged at the terrible mess that was before her and ordered Kubla to help her wash it again! "Why should I, peasant?" the Cossack King protested. "Because as long as you're here, I'm in charge! Now get to work!" The Cossack King begrudgingly obeyed.
  After work, Stazi invited Kubla to have lunch with her. Kubla told Stazi how he ended up on her laundry pile, and she was enticed by the fact that he was a powerful king. So, she decided to make a deal with him. "I will take you in until you can get back home, and once you get your kingdom back, you can repay me with half of your fortune." Stazi offered.
  Kubla agreed to Stazi's terms and Stazi forced him to help make up the guest room. "Are you sure this was a good idea?" Kubla's ventriloquist dummy, Dommy asked him. "Honestly Dommy, I have no idea." Kubla said attempting to put on a fitted sheet.
  Kubla's stay ended up being longer than he and Stazi anticipated. A week after he arrived, Kubla got a fever and was bedridden for a week more. Kubla was very grateful for Stazi's care and offered to repair some parts of her home in exchange. "I've never heard of a king who could work with his hands" Stazi observed. "I'm not an ordinary king." Kubla said.
  Kubla turned out to be the best repair guy that Stazi could've asked for. He even started repairing other people's homes. But he never forgot his agreement with Stazi who had given him another reason to stay longer.
  Just like Kubla, Stazi was also a ventriloquist who had a dummy of her own. Seeing Kubla's ventriloquist skills (or lack thereof) prompted Stazi to help him. At first Kubla didn't like being told what to do, but there was something about the way Stazi did puppetry that helped him swallow his pride. "I never knew someone who loved dummies like I do." Kubla thought.
  One day, in late summer, Stazi received a letter from her family in Mountain Village. "My father is dying" Stazi told Kubla. "My sisters want me to help get ready for the funeral."
  Now Kubla was hoping to go ahead and return to January Junction before the cold hit, but he just couldn't leave Stazi alone in her time of need. So Kubla ended up joining her in Mountain Village.
  When they arrived, neither of them was welcomed with open arms. As it turned out, Stazi had left home after a fight with her family ended badly. The only reason that she was summoned back was her father wanted his family together one last time.
  Before he passed away, Stazi's father looked into the eyes of the Cossack King. "Your loved ones are worth more than all the gold in the world." he said. "Don't ever forget that."
  After her father was laid to rest, Stazi stayed for the reading of the will. Unfortunately, Stazi received nothing as the last time she and her father spoke, she said that she didn't need help from anyone. Kubla saw this as a sign to return to January Junction to get Stazi some gold.
  Mounting Stazi's horse, Kubla made his way back to the small town of January Junction. But the minute he got there, he was arrested and taken to Sir Ravenal for trial. "For your crimes against our people, I sentence you to fifty years in the castle dungeon." Sir Ravenal decreed.
  In the dismal dungeon, Kubla began serving his sentence with Dommy by his side. "Kubla you haven't spoken to me since we got here! What's the matter?" Dommy asked Kubla. "I miss her Dommy," Kubla told his friend, "I miss her pierogi, the sound of her voice, but most of all, I just miss Stazi."
  It was Christmas Eve when Kubla was called out of his cell to see Sir Ravenal once more. "My wife says that you have learned your lesson, so I will allow you your freedom on one condition, you can't return to January Junction." Kubla agreed to these terms and headed back to Lumberburg just as snow was beginning to fall.
  Upon his arrival, Kubla noticed that Stazi wasn't home. He waited for hours, but Stazi never came. Eventually, Kubla fell asleep but was quickly awakened following a terrible nightmare of Stazi getting lost in the snowstorm that had started during his vigil! Grabbing Dommy, he charged outside hoping that his nightmare wasn't true!
  Kubla searched through the dark woods until he found the snow drift from his dream. He kept digging until he found Stazi unconscious with her dummy close by. Kubla raised his fist in the air, "Jack Frost!" He shouted to the heavens, "What more will you take away from me?"
  Once he was back at Stazi's cottage, Kubla tried in vain to keep his beloved warm. All of a sudden, he saw someone in the fireplace, it was the spirit of Stazi's father! "I see you took my advice Kubla!" the old ghost said. "You rest yourself now, Stazi will be fine!"
  On Christmas morning, Stazi woke up to the smell of Kubla bringing her breakfast. As the two began eating, Stazi noticed he seemed very sad and didn't eat much himself. When she asked him what was wrong, Kubla told her what happened in January Junction, and how he remembered the agreement that he made with Stazi. "I will leave tonight since I can't honor our agreement" he told Stazi, "Thank you for your kindness, I will miss you."
  Heartbroken, Kubla began to cry. Stazi then knocked some sense into him and revealed that the reason she got lost was because she was headed to January Junction to bring Kubla back. "I missed everything about you!" she exclaimed. "I missed playing with the dummies with you, I missed you helping me with the chores, I even missed your snoring! Forget the old agreement, I need my Kubla more than I need gold!" Kubla's heart warmed up at this knowledge and feeling happier than he'd ever felt before, he took Stazi's hand and asked, "Will you be my New Year's bride?" "I will Kubla" Stazi said bringing Kubla into a lover's kiss.
  On New Year's Day, the whole town of Lumberburg gathered to the church to witness the wedding of Kubla and Stazi. Everyone agreed that there hadn't been a couple more perfectly matched. And it was said that even though they didn't live in a palace, Kubla and Stazi had the richest family in town.

The End.