PalmerFairyTale5

There was once a young man that was in need of money for his family to live on. They needed food, shelter, and the other necessities of life. Unfortunately, the young man was uneducated. The only job available for him was in the local coal mines. This job was horrible. It was unsafe, difficult, and it did not pay much. He was going to have to make due with this job, however, as his family had to eat. The young man worked in the dreadful coal mines for many years. He never complained, and always got his job done. His wages barely paid for his family's well being, but that was all he could do. One day, however, the no longer young man was too ill to go into work. He had a terrible cough, trouble breathing, and low stamina. He had contracted the terrible black lung. Over the years, he inhaled so much coal dust that it built up inside of his lungs so much that he was having a hard time functioning. Without his meager pay from his mining job, the man was not able to support his family. His condition was only worse, when one day an old, sickly man came to their house seeking shelter. Being the good hearted people they were, the man's family took the sickly elder into their home and offered him whatever they could, albeit it wasn't much. The sickly elder stayed with the family for many days, until he was well enough to move on. The man's health kept getting worse as the elder's was getting better each day. On the elder's last day at the man's house, he gave the family magical apples that, when consumed, would cure any ailment, including black lung, to repay them for their kindness. The elder also revealed that he was, infact, never sickly at all and was just testing them to see if they were worthy of his help. The family thanked the elder for his help, and rushed to feed the apples to the man. The elder told them to tell the man that he could come and work for him whenever he wanted to get him out of the terrible coal mines. The man accepted his new job, and went to work the next day. The working conditions and pay was much better, and him and his family lived happily ever after.