Once upon a time there was an extraordinary man with extraordinary gifts. And people, not knowing what else to call him, dubbed him The Gift Man. Now The Gift Man is and was an extraordinarily nice person who loved to play with the kids of the neighborhood. He donated most of his time to local non profit organizations such as The Orphanage for Blind and Deaf Children and their Equally Blind and Deaf pets. When The Gift Man gets there, the children know, maybe they can sense the pressure difference or can smell him or something and rush to him because he is their nicest caretaker. Just because he was a nice guy and could do lots of things to make lots of money, he brought presents every time he went there. These gifts couldn’t be things enjoyable to the eyes so he had to find something they could either hear or smell or feel or even taste, the latter being their favorite.

One day he decided not to take anything for the kids and see what they would do, for he was starting to think that they just liked him because of his gifts. So he got there and they had their daily ritual. They came rushing to him expecting him to hand over his spectacular gifts, but he didn’t have any.

The children were upset and they all stormed away, well, most of them anyway. There was one that stayed, he was the smallest and the frailest, and basically the runt. He had an equally small and frail pet. No one knew what his pet was and no one cared what it was, all they knew was that it was the softest most friendly thing that they ever held. Anyway this one stayed behind to talk to The Gift Man.

“I don’t care if you bring gifts or not.” He said.

“You don’t?” The Gift Man asked puzzled.

“I don’t. Did you know that I have never gotten to enjoy your gifts? The others beat me up for whatever you give me. Really, the best gift you can give me is not giving us any gifts at all.” Said the runt.

“Hmm. Is this how all of you feel?” The Gift Man asked.

“Did I just tell you my life story for nothing? Those greedy bas***** are using you, all they want are the presents.” The runt said happy to get it out.

At this point The Gift Man was starting to get heated. He was so mad that he didn’t take time to ponder how he was having a verbal conversation with a blind and deaf child.

“So if all they want are the gifts…” Suddenly it all came together. The only reason anyone was nice to him was because they were using him, that’s why the town folk acted so nice when they learned he was going to live there. They had heard of the extraordinary things he could do, “Then they should be punished for being greedy, all of the people in this damn town.” He opened the door to leave, then stopped and turned on his heel to face the runt. He bent down so he was face to face with the small child, “You. You were the only one who didn’t try to use me. For that you get something that no-one else will get. You will get my skills, my strength, my power. But first I must do something with them before I hand them over.” With that he left the orphanage.

His plan, ever so simple, was to walk through every street and ignite every last building. Including the orphanage, which he would save for last. He would make everyone watch in horror as the poor blind, deaf children roasted. But, He had to save the runt.

So The Gift Man initiated his plan, taking pleasure in the cries of anguish that came from the houses whose residents were still inside. Finally having started all of the other houses on fire he set out for the orphanage. He opened the door and walked inside, then searched until he found the runt sleeping in the corner with his pet curled up next to him. He bent down next to the runt and placed a finger on both of his closed eyes, then he let all of his unknown power flow into the small child. He stopped just before all of his power left him so he would have enough to start the building on fire, yet so little that his power would fade after doing his last deed. The runt would be protected along with his pet but the rest will perish.

The Gift Man turned to walk towards the the middle of the building, the best place to start the blaze. But he was stopped by a familiar voice, one that he heard before but it was thin and frail then, now it was thick and strong. “You fool.” Said the voice, “You think the others used you, which they did, but they did not use you as greatly as I did.” The Gift Man turned to see that the voice was emanating from the corner that held the small child. “Did you not think it odd that you could talk to me? Was It not odd that I could hear you? Because after all, don’t I live in an orphanage for blind AND deaf children?”

The Gift Man felt a pang of regret. It was true, the others did use him. But this runt, ever so small and frail had outsmarted him. This outcast had made him think that the whole town used him, with the runt as the exception. But no, he was wrong. For all he knows, the runt could have been the only one that had used him and the rest of the town were genuine. And he had just burned all of their houses to the ground.

“Ha! You have just given me the power of God! And there is no way you are getting it back.” With his final words said, the runt snapped his fingers and The Gift Man bursted into flames, ending his epic saga as The Gift Man.