Articles by the Team @ Owl Readers Club

Jimmy was a very hot tempered boy and he would say and do things to hurt people in times of anger, though he was always apologetic and remorseful after the tirade. To teach him a lesson, Jimmy’s father told him to hammer a nail into the wooden fence of their backyard every time he feels angry instead of taking it out on others. Days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months. By the end of that year, the fence was filled with nails. Jimmy’s father instructed Jimmy to remove all the nails, and Jimmy did so, one by one, until eventually all that was left on the wooden fence were holes.

“So you see, son,” Jimmy’s father said. “You may have removed the nails but the holes remain, and that is the damage you would have done if you have allowed your temper to affect others.”

It’s hard to imagine a world without Internet. However, if you are a child of the 70s or earlier, you might remember a time when grandma’s wisdom was passed down through word of mouth and very often stories get twisted along the way as each teller embellishes it with his or her own variation. Storytelling was a common occurrence on rediffusion and at community centres with old men regaling tales by kerosene lamps. It was the YouTube of your grandpa’s generation.