There once lived a family that never slept. They had red eyes that had popped out of their sockets with their eyeballs hanging on their faces. The family was always looking tired. They were afraid of sleeping. Every time they slept, dead people would haunt them. It was believed that their ancestors mistreated them. Therefore, a curse was placed on everyone in the family.
One day, as the parents were in the basement, the children went outside to explore. The neighbors, upon seeing the children, screamed in horror They had never seen such hideous people in their lifetime. Afraid, they called for a town meeting, and the family was banished from the town. They moved to a forest neighboring the town. In the forest, all the animals were afraid of them. It is known they were so hideous, that even the bears and lions couldn’t go near them.
They looked for the strongest tree and built their house on the tallest point of the tree. One day, a herbalist happened to be gathering his medicinal herbs in the forest when he came across the treehouse. He saw one of the children and was amazed at how much the eyes had popped out. The herbalist knew that the popped eyes could be used to make a concoction. Which would make all the old people in the town look younger. A potion that he knew would make him rich.
At night, he snuck into the treehouse in the hope of capturing one of them. He thought they were sleeping with their eyes open. When he was about to cut off their eyes, one of them yelled so loudly that the herbalist fell down scared. They all stood up with their creepy stare and tied him up. The herbalist made a deal with them to cure them of the curse if they spared his life. The family knew there was a catch to this deal as the herbalist was a known trickster, but they didn’t know what.
Despite all this, the family agreed to the deal anyway as they were hoping for a cure. The herbalist took out his little bag, mixed some concoction, and gave it to them. He took out a small clock as if to hypnotize the family and they fell asleep. He then took out his knife and cut all their eyes.
Unknown to the herbalist, cutting the eyes off the family transferred the curse to him. Although he was able to make the youthful potion that made him very rich. He was never able to sleep ever again. He took the curse to his grave. The family on the other hand slept for 1000 years.
Moral: Don’t do something until you have all the facts.
