Poet and Commentator Andre Codrescu brings us a modern adaptation of an old Romanian fairy tale. Set in modern New Orleans, it is a cautionary tale about a wish for eternal youth. A young couple tries desperately to have a child. Finally when they were about to give up, a supernatural method brings them a baby, but at a cost...they must promise him that he'll never grow old. When the child, nicknamed Almond Joy, turns 18, he sets out on a quest for what his parents can't deliver. He winds up in the Valley of Christmas, but this paradise of eternal youth bores him and he hits the road. But when he arrives in New Orleans, there is nothing there. His home is covered with dust and Almond Joy has become an old man.
Copyright 1996 NPR
