There was an old man with no hair and a wisp of a beard. The village didn't like him. Nothing did.

The children threw stones.

The dogs barked and bit.

Newer folk never saw him.

No one liked him.

Words have power, but not many realise, just how much.

There was an old man with a wisp of a beard, and things that weren't people-shaped liked him.

He was happy. The carnivores sent meat, omnivores sent honey, herbivores sent medical plants, and birds placed flowers. Trees dropped branches and thorns parted.

There was an old man with a wisp of a beard, and he was happy not being liked by any 'one'.