The Pied Piper

The sleepy town of Franchville is suffering under a terrible infestation of rats that devour food and disturb everyone's sleep. The Mayor and the town council are desperate for a solution after cats, poison, and other ratcatchers fail to help. Their hope arrives in the form of the Piper, a tall stranger with a colorful coat who offers to rid them of the pests for fifty pounds. The townsfolk reluctantly agree to his terms as soon as he clears the town of every last rat by leading them into the sea. However, once the job is done, the Mayor and council decide they do not want to pay the promised reward. They try to lowball him with a smaller amount and then shamefully ignore his demands for fair payment. The Piper warns them that he knows other tunes, but the Mayor mocks him and turns away in anger. In response, the Piper plays a joyful, magical melody that draws all the town's children out of their homes. The delighted children follow him down the streets and into the deep green forest with unending glee. The adults watch in horror as the Piper leads them deeper into the woods until they disappear from sight. No one sees the children or the mysterious stranger again, leaving the town silent and regretful. The once noisy town is now quiet, but not in the way anyone had hoped for. The story ends with the elders realizing too late that their greed has led to an irreversible loss.