By Sydney _______________________
Once upon a time, life a young boy in a village. Namely Daniel. He was diligent and smart. He enjoyed learning and helped his parents on the field, plant and harvest vegetables before bring it to the local market. But something went wrong before everything is changed since that day.
One day came a landlord to their cottage, he brought his two guards which can scarying whoever try to resist him. Everyone hide in their houses but the landlord didn't come for them they come for Daniel's family.
The door bang three times, Daniel's father hesitated before opened the door in trembling hand. He ordered his wife to lock the room and hide the children.
"Mr. Bryant! Where is your promise? You promised to give me all the money from the harvest next week. And now I came." The landlord's voice hit Daniel's father nerves.
Mr. Bryant bend his head. "My lord, yes. I would give you the money but my son just went to school this year. I paid for his school fees and his school needs, I have no more money, my lord."
The landlord's heart didn't melt easily, he just wanted his money. "Well it's not my business, Mr. Bryant. I need my money now otherwise.."
Mr. Bryant folds his hands and bowed his head while trembling. "Please, my lord. I will pay you double in the next season. Give me a time."
"Give you a time, you said?!" The landlord came closer and forced Me. Bryant to look at him by gripping his neck. "You stole my money! You promised to give it to me in a week then now you asked me for more promises?.." The landlord spated on his face before pushed him on the ground. "You think I'll believe such a disrespectful peasant like you?! The money should be returned for another week. Otherwise.. I'll kick you out from your house and take away back my land. Don't break my patience." He said before walked away from the cottage to his horse.
Meanwhile the guards clunched their firsts before kicking and hitting Me. Bryant first and left him alone after he couldn't get up anymore.
In the finally quiet cottage, Daniel ran out from the hidden room, his heart pounding as he saw his father lying on the ground. Blood trickled from his lips, his body bruised and trembling. His mother rushed after him, pulling Daniel close, while his three younger siblings stood in the doorway with tears streaming down their faces.
“Father!” Daniel cried, kneeling beside him. “Why do you let them do this to us? Why don’t you fight back?”
Mr. Bryant coughed, his voice weak but firm. “Because, my son, sometimes patience is the only weapon we have. The landlord owns the land. If we resist, we will lose everything, our home, our field, our bread.”
“But this is our land!” Daniel shouted, his fists clenched. “Grandfather worked this soil. You worked it. Why should we give our harvest to a greedy man who never touched the dirt with his own hands?”
His mother placed a trembling hand on his shoulder. “Daniel, listen to your father. We must endure. It is the only way we can survive.”
Daniel’s eyes burned with anger. “No! Survive by bowing our heads? Survive by letting him take everything from us? That is not living.”
That night, Daniel couldn’t sleep. He stared at the ceiling, listening to his siblings’ soft breaths. His father’s words replayed in his head, but so did the cruel laugh of the landlord. His heart raged like fire. He whispered to himself, “I will not let him steal what belongs to us.”
---
The next morning, Daniel left the cottage before dawn. He marched straight to the village hall, where the local government kept its records. He demanded an audience with the officials.
“The landlord takes our harvest,” Daniel said boldly, standing in front of men twice his age. “He has no right. This land belongs to my family.”
The officials exchanged glances. One of them sighed heavily and replied, “Child, you are mistaken. The papers show that the land belongs to the landlord. Your family is only tenants. You owe him the harvest, and if you resist, he may lawfully remove you.”
Daniel’s face turned pale. His chest felt hollow. “So… all this time… Father knew?”
The official nodded. “Yes. And you should be grateful he allows you to stay.”
Daniel stormed out, rage blinding his reason. If the law stood with the landlord, then Daniel would fight with his own hands.
___
That evening, he went to the landlord’s grand estate. The guards laughed when they saw him.
“What do you want, boy? More beating?” one sneered.
“I want the truth,” Daniel shouted. “Why do you call this land yours when it was worked by my family for generations?”
The landlord appeared at the gate, smirking. “Because your family signed the contract long ago. Peasants don’t own. They serve. That is the truth.”
Daniel’s blood boiled. He grabbed a stick lying nearby and smashed the landlord’s wooden fence. He flung mud and manure from a cart right at the gates, shouting, “If you want to treat us like dirt, then dirt is what you’ll have!”
The guards seized him, beating him down until he spat blood. Still, Daniel shouted with all his breath, “This is not the end!”
___
Bruised and broken, Daniel stumbled into the forest, seeking the only person he thought could help him, an old hermit known as Mbah Suro, a man of wisdom and mystery.
Mbah looked at him with calm, knowing eyes. “You burn with anger, child. But fire consumes not only the enemy, it consumes the vessel that holds it.”
“I don’t care!” Daniel spat. “He destroyed my father, stole our land, shamed us. I want him to suffer!”
Mbah reached into a wooden box and pulled out a tiny seed glowing faintly gold. “Then take this. It is the Seed of Truth. Plant it with your hands, water it with your sweat, and it will grow overnight. Its leaves will reveal the rot hidden inside men’s hearts. But remember, truth spares no one. Not even you.”
Daniel seized the seed without hesitation. “If it shows his corruption, then I’ll use it.”
---
The next day, Daniel planted it in secret. By morning, a tall tree stood in the field, its branches heavy with golden fruit and shimmering leaves. Daniel’s jaw dropped in awe. He picked one fruit, hiding it away, then plucked several leaves. He dried them, crushed them into fine powder, and placed them in a small pouch.
That evening, he marched again to the landlord’s mansion, where a grand feast was underway. Laughter and music filled the air as torches lit the courtyard. Daniel strode into the middle of the crowd.
“You again?” the landlord growled. “Throw him out!”
The guards moved forward, but Daniel stood firm. “Not until you face the truth.” He shoved one guard aside and flung the powder into the air. A golden mist swirled above them before settling on both Daniel and the landlord.
Gasps filled the air. The landlord’s face twisted, his handsome mask melting away into a grotesque, rotten visage. His teeth blackened, his skin oozed sores, his eyes burned with greed and cruelty made visible. The guests screamed, backing away in horror.
But then, a second gasp rose from the crowd. Daniel looked down at his reflection in a pool of spilled wine and froze. His own face, too, had changed. His eyes were hard and cruel, his mouth twisted with rage, his skin pale with bitterness. He had become as ugly as the man he despised.
“No… this can’t be,” Daniel whispered.
Mbah’s words echoed in his mind: Truth spares no one.
The crowd stared at both of them landlord and boy, two figures twisted by their own sins.
Daniel dropped to his knees, trembling. Tears streamed down his cheeks. “I… I was wrong. I only thought of revenge. I let hate consume me. I forgot my heart.”
The golden mist slowly faded, and with it, the illusions of ugliness. The landlord’s guests still looked shaken, whispering among themselves. The landlord, pale and trembling, turned away from Daniel without a word. His power was broken, not by fists, but by the truth laid bare.
Daniel stood, weak but freed inside. He walked home to his family, who embraced him despite his wounds. For the first time, he realized: justice was not about vengeance, but about holding truth in one’s heart.
And so, the golden tree remained in the field, its leaves a reminder to all who passed: truth could not be hidden forever.
_____THE END_____
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