The fourth episode, wherein Daniel puts a new twist on an old classic, and writes what might be his best story yet, while proceeding to say “and so” far too many times.
Inspired by the phrase, “Duck Tape. If the women don’t find you handsome, they will at least find you handy.”
STORY
Once upon a time there was a boy who, by most accounts, was rather ugly and completely alone. He was born with a face only a mother could have a shot at loving, and everyone else seemed to have given it up as hopeless as soon as they saw him. His family still loved, if not his face, at least the boy himself, and they supported him as best they could. But they also tended to be very blunt with this support.
“You are not attractive to look at son” his father would tell him. “You do not have many friends, probably because you are so ugly. But if you keep trying, one day, you will find the thing that makes you special, and then you will have, maybe, at least one friend.”
“You are so lucky son,” his mother would add. “Many people can coast by on their looks, without ever having to learn the value of hard work. But you, you will be appreciative of what it means to apply yourself in order to succeed. And some day, down the road, a nice, maybe still young, woman, will appreciate that about you too.”
To an outside observer, it might have been clear that these were less than uplifting pieces of counsel. But the boy knew that they were well intentioned. He could tell that his family loved him, even if they often expressed their feelings in a way that hurt his. Even so, the boy struggled not to take the constant reminder that he was ugly and alone to heart.
The boys father was a wealthy business man, the owner of the 3rd largest Duck Tape company in the world (which was still quite large), and aside from receiving misguided advice, the boy lived quite comfortably with his family. The boy was the oldest of the children, and one day, it was presumed, would inherit his father’s role as head of the Duck Tape empire. He would follows in his father’s footsteps, and his grandfather’s footsteps, and his great grandfather’s footsteps (and so on, back to the invention of Duck Tape itself) as the latest to run the Duck Tape company, and become the face of Duck Tape for a generation. This greatly troubled the boy, as thanks to the continual pep talks from his parents, and his ability to look in the mirror, he knew that his face was not one that would sell a lot of Duck Tape.
“I can’t be the president! I’ll let everyone down! I must run away, so that I won’t become the ugliest face the company has ever had.”
And one day, the boy did just that. He ran away. He wasn’t trying to go anywhere in particular, just away, so that he wouldn’t disappoint anyone. He didn’t make it very far before he began to hear his father’s words in his head: “Duck Tape, this is your destiny, my son. It is this that will get you friends, a wife, everything you could ever want, so that you will not be alone, although you may still be ugly. Your friends will see that you can run a business, and this will impress them. If the women don’t find you handsome, they will at least find you handy. Every president of a duck tape company is very handy. I am very handy, and so you will be, too, one day when you are president. What more could you want?”
The boy had heard these words many times before, and could hear them now exactly as his father would have said them. Every time his father gave this speech, the boy knew that the meaning behind it was true, and this time was no exception. His family cared about him, and wanted him to succeed. It was as if his father were standing right there, telling him not to run away.
It was then that the boy realized that someone was, in fact, standing right beside him. It wasn’t his father, whose words he had just heard so clearly; it was a girl. The boy thought he recognized her from his school, but he couldn’t be sure. As he turned to face her, she began to speak.
“You don’t have to run away, you know. I thought you might run away, so I followed you. I’d go with you, if you wanted to run, but you don’t have to.
I’ve been watching you, did you know that? You’re pretty famous. “The ugly Duck Tape kid.” Everyone calls you that. Everyone knows you’re going to be the president some day. Is that why you think you have to run away? Like you’re going to ruin everything if you don’t? But who cares if you’re ugly? People say that all the time, but I never see them tell you how great you are.
I think you’re great. I think you’re great because you still see the good in people even when they say mean things. You always hear what they’re trying to say, and you don’t let it get to you when it doesn’t quite come out right. You see what’s underneath the surface. And I wanted you to know that when I look at you, I don’t see the surface either. I see someone who is nice, and who will make a great leader of any company, especially a Duck Tape company. I just wanted to tell you that, in case you were running away.”
The boy looked confused for a second, but just a second, before he smiled. Then he took the girl’s hand, and walked her home. The girl was right, he thought. Sometimes beauty is hiding, and you have to look before you find it. But other times, something beautiful, or someone, like Abigail Swan, finds you.
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