Week 3 Storytelling: The 50 Year Food Coma

It was the time just after the Pilgrims had landed on North American soil. Many families were toiling as they built their log cabins, using one large tree after another. The Onais family's construction went a lot quicker than the other families. The father of the family, Charlie, was a strong and burly man nearly twice the size of every other father in the town. Charlie was so big that his appetite was rarely ever truly satisfied. He would hunt from dusk to dawn trying to get as much food as possible.

When winter came, food continually became harder and harder to find for the people of the new town. People began to get sick and morale began to drop, which made things worse. A nearby Native American tribe, who new the laws of the land, saw the withering town. There was a long debate as to whether they should help the starving people out. Finally, the tribe decided that it was the right thing to do, and that their God's would be pleased by their good deeds.

One morning as the sun shone brightly, reflecting beautifully off of the fresh snow and icicles, the Pilgrims of the town saw a caravan of Native Americans coming down from a trail that led into the forest. At first the townspeople were wary about their intentions; however, once the people smelled the wonderful aroma produced from the massive amounts of slow cooked meats, and husk after husk of corn they had in their arms, there was no longer anxious feelings towards these new guests. As the chief of the tribe came into the town square, he was welcomed with open arms by everyone.

Charlie, who was the strongest of the town, was asked to help gather all the tables in the town and put them together like one large table. He made quick work of this job, and soon the entire town square was filled with a long and windy table that would be filled with the mounds of food.

Charlie had never seen so much food in his life. His face lit up, and a smile similar to that of a child's first taste of ice cream came upon his face. As soon as he understood that it was acceptable for him to start eating, he did so quite vigorously. He ate more food in a shorter time than any winner of Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest could ever have dreamed of. By the end of the grand meal, his belly had swollen to such an enormous size that he resembled a pot-bellied pig.

(Two Pot-Bellied Pigs Sleeping: Wikipedia)

He struggled to get up, and told his wife that it was a perfect time for a nap. So he wondered about the town looking for a comfortable heap of hay to lie upon. Eventually, he came across a house that had been long abandoned due to the death of the family that once lived there. This house had a large bail of hay and he knew this would be a wonderful spot to stop and nap. He was soon asleep dreaming of the wondrous food he had just engorged, just like younger kids who dream of sugar-plums the night before Christmas.

Unfortunately for his family, Charlie had not told his wife or kids where he would be taking his nap. After Charlie did not come home for an entire week, she became frantic with worries of where he might be (his hunting trips often took multiple days). She was worried he was lost in the woods somewhere and rustled up a search party that only thought to search the woods, and not the town itself. After multiple weeks went by Charlie's wife gave up hope on ever finding her wonderful husband. Each year on Thanksgiving, Charlie's wife would mourn her husband instead of joining in the festivities celebrating the first grand feast.

After 50 years had passed, the abandoned house that held the sleeping charlie was scheduled to be torn down because of the damage the years had done to it. Charlie was awoken by a team of people that were checking the place out to make sure there was no one in it before it was torn down. These men were astounded to find a man fast asleep on top of the hay.

Awoken from his deep slumber Charlie was startled to find that his massive belly had withered away into a flat stomach. Still groggy he began to walk towards his house, not realizing all of the changes around him. He eventually reached his house expecting to find his wife and kids playing in the living room; However, what he saw as he walked through the door confused him. He saw an old  women lying in bed with two middle aged people tending to her. As the rust on the gears in his mind began to clear, he realized that this was his family. His kids were as old as he was, and his wife....his beloved wife had become so frail. Tears came to his eyes immediately at the thought about the trouble he must have caused his family, and the memories that had missed.

He took off running, his mind not knowing what else to do. After miles of running he came to realize how cold it was and decided to stop in to take a breather. As he was in the cave, he decided that he did not want to see a reminder of the life he had missed out every day. He thought to himself, if I go back to sleep, maybe more time will pass and I can start another life for my own. As he drifted off to sleep peace came over him; however, he would not wake up in this world ever again.

Author's Note: I decided to write about the The Sleep of One Hundred Years. I changed up the the story from being about the destruction of Jerusalem to being about Thanksgiving. The main reason for this decision was that I started writing this story just after have a large lunch. About fifteen minutes into writing it I became really sleepy and thought that a "food coma" would be a perfect explanation for sleeping for fifty years. In the original story Rabbi Onais, so worried about the destruction of Jerusalem, decided to rest and for 100 years he slept. Upon awakening he realized he was an old man in a very strange place that he did not know. He decided that the only way he could find peace again would be to sleep again, so his prayers were answered and that is what he did.

Bibliography:
Story Title: The Sleep of 100 Years
Book Title: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends
Book Author: Gertrude Landa
Year: 1919
Websource: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/jewish-fairy-tales-sleep-of-one-hundred.html