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THE BIRTH of CYRUS COAL Cyrus Coal was born in 1901 to a middle-class farm couple. Although they were never wealthy, their farm was lush and kept them living comfortably. On the day Cyrus was born, every one of the farm's crops died, leaving nothing but barren land as far as the eye could see. Mr. Coal, a sensible man, assumed it was nothing more than a bit of bad luck, and went about re-planting his crops. Nothing grew. The townspeople tried to tell the Coals that it was their child who was keeping the crops from growing, but the couple refused to believe something so preposterous. They turned their backs on the town, and became hermits on their wasteland of a farm. Mr. Coal took odd jobs in the next town over, just trying to earn enough to keep food on his family's table. Mrs. Coal stayed home to care for her son, who spent many hours tormenting the townspeople by stealing and ruining their businesses. Everywhere he went bad luck followed him. Not only did he cause trouble himself, but bad things began to happen every time he went to town. Businesses burned to the ground by mysterious fires. Townspeople became gravely ill, and began to drop like flies. Soon the peaceful town became a hollowed out ghost town. The Coals began to believe everything the townspeople told them about their son. They had no choice but to stay where they were, and keep Cyrus away from all people, for fear that harm would be brought upon them.
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