Once upon a time there lived a king named Jeff Skilling. He wasn’t the King (which is somebody else) but he was a king, and he was a good king. He ruled over the kingdom of Enron, and had much influence in the nearby lands.
Mr. Skilling did not inherit his kingdom. He built it. He used his imagination and his ability to lead, and he built a whole kingdom. It was beautiful! The most beautiful tower shone blue in the sky.
His kingdom got bigger and bigger. And one day, Mr. Skilling decided that he had spent so much time building his kingdom that he had neglected other important thingsl, like his family. So Mr. Skilling turned over the kingdom to someone else.
Then for reasons that had nothing to do with leadership, all the neighboring lands decided to stop trading with the kingdom. And the kingdom quickly went broke.
With Enron in ruins, the authorties came for him, certain he had done something wrong!
Mr. Skilling tried to defend himself. He went to court and tried to explain what had happened.
But nobody would listen. Not only the justice league, but the whole town closed their ears to his pleas.
Mr. Skilling went to prison, where he is today.
So just remember kids, next time you get the big idea to build a company, or do something useful that will help people and provide jobs, don’t become too big a success or you’ll end up in prison.
The End
[For other Enron fairytales, please see:
Miss Sheila's Golden Glasses:An Enron Fairytale
Mr. Fastow's Barges: An Enron Fairytale
]
But, Cara, you didn’t finish the fairytale:
And from the East, aboard a beautiful barge, came a Warrior-Princess, fair and feisty.
“I shall battle the government vultures,” she declared, “And my words shall be my sword.”
From that day forward, she has battled the buzzards, and all who have read her words have been enlightened.
And the Warrior-Princess knows in her heart that the vultures can be beaten, that they will be beaten, and that one day a new kingdom will be created.
(Sorry, no pictures).
And she’ll win what she wants most, right? That’s how fairytales end – with the Warrior Princess and King getting what they want even more than the kingdom: each other.