Bedtime Stories

Vocal Bed Time Story Submission

By James Alexander Palfi

I was lucky that I have two amazing parents. My Dad used to read to my sister and us up to the age of 13. There were a few stories and most of them series that my dad told us. One of the beauties of storytelling is that some stories it is better to tell them out loud.

My favourite story series that my father used to tell us was called Stupid Man. As the title suggested he was a man who was stupid but there was not a lot of back story to the character. It was more situations. The story had the same premise and that was that Stupid Man would always choose the worst option.

Segment One

Stupid Man was sitting at his home and there was a knock at the door. There was a salesman there with a trench coat and a red brimmed hat.

‘Good morning Mr Stupid I have a choice for you. The choice is between a red-hot poker or a million dollars.’

Another beauty of spoken form and fairy-tale is there isn’t that dissection of the story if it was in written format and especially if you were older. If you were reading this in a serious book or you analyzed it you would know this situation would not happen, that is another charm of this story.

Mr Stupid paused for a moment.

‘What are my options again?’

‘A red-hot poker and a million dollars.’

Again, he paused for a moment, at least a minute and then replied.

‘I’ll have the red-hot poker.’ The salesman got the red-hot poker and burnt him on the leg.

‘Will there be anything else Mr Stupid?’

‘No that is all.’ The salesman left Mr Stupid’s home and would return another day.

Segment Two

Stupid Man was at home and he was feeling mighty hungry. He had a pig which he did not know how to cook properly so he put it in the oven and put it on the wrong temperature. Later he could smell something burning and instead of putting some oven gloves on thought to himself I should investigate that smell. He sticks his head in the oven takes it out and then there is a knock on the door.

It is the salesman from the first segment. There is a fire extinguisher there which he uses on Mr Stupid. He tells Mr Stupid that he will be around the next day to continue their adventures.

This story in itself is funny but there is a tone that can be conveyed with a spoken form that’s sometimes harder to replicate in written form. The expressiveness of it, Mr Stupid’s priceless reactions, etc.

There was also the interactive component of the story. Dad would usually give two options and sometimes three. But people especially young children love stories and want to pick the most exciting/funny option. Like those goosebumps series books.

My sister also enjoyed the stories as well. Sometimes dad would tell the story to my sister. Other times just to me. Sometimes both and if we were misbehaved, we wouldn’t get a story read to us. This was one of the ways my sister and I were able to bond over these stories and still appreciate them decades later. We still have a great relationship.

There was never any real back story to Mr Stupid. Which in of itself is a writing technique. Stephen King uses it from time to time. By doing this he can focus more on the main character. Or a certain technique used in stories. Like magic how is the magic created in the first place.

Because there was not a lot of description it was easier to imagine. The character could be malleable to a host of other situations and scenarios. Looking back at it a spoken story can sometimes be so good and so memorable that you remember it more as an adult then books that you have read.

You can remember it both as a child and as an adult. You can see how much you have changed and stories like these allow you to appreciate stories more later then sadly if you were not told stories in the first place.

Sadly, with this modern era too few people are told stories by others, their parents or at all. That good stories told to us can make us better storytellers in the future. Whether creating stories or understanding them. In film, books, TV and real life.