As evening was setting, in the kingdom of Corona, all was peaceful. Many were going through their nightly routines. Mothers putting their children to sleep, late workers closing up for the day, others cleaning the dishes from dinner that had been left out. All was peaceful, but a sadness was setting in.
Five days from now, would be the birthday of the lost princess. A little more than eleven years ago, the Queen became very ill. She was almost due to have a child, but she was in no state to perform that task. She was bed ridden and in a constant pain. Even the greatest doctors and healers were un-able to make a remedy to heal the Queen. If something didn't happen soon, they feared the Queen, and her un-born child, wouldn't make it.
They needed a miracle
The King had heard of a magic, flower, that possessed the power to heal the sick, and injured. The legend stated that one, single drop of sunlight fell from the heavens and grew from the soil in to a beautiful, golden, Lily. The whole Kingdom went out, in search of said flower.
For centuries, the magic flower had been hoarded by a wicked old woman. She used the flower to keep her body physically young, but her mind was ancient, and she knew of many secrets and legends that proved to be true. She hid the flower and used it only for herself.
One fateful night, the woman had used it, singing the special song that emits the flowers power. She didn't really need it right now, and she did not waste, but she had seen the villagers and knights searching for her flower. She meant to use it, then leave it hidden, unused for as long as possible, as not to give it away, and wait for the Queen to either heal on her own, or for the people of the kingdom to lose hope and end the search. Instead, right as she ended the song, she hear shouts. She turned and saw lights of the lanterns the villagers. Quickly she covered the flower and made a hasty retreat. She hid and looked out to it.
Her breath caught in her throat. She had knocked the basket, that covered the flower, off when she had been in a rush.
"We found it! We found it!" were the shouts of the villagers. They uprooted it, and immediately took it back to the Queen. A remedy was made from the flowers petals.
The kingdomers were not wasteful, however, they planted the roots in the castles garden, but the plant died. The flower only grew once.
A healthy baby girl was born, with beautiful golden hair. In celebration of her birth, the King and Queen launched a flying lantern in to the night sky. For that one moment, everything was perfect.
And then that moment ended. The old woman, desperate and frantic, broke in to the castle, stole the child, and just like that, gone. She had meant to just take a lock of hair. That seemed much more practical and easy to hide, than a flower, but when she cut the hair, the power was lost and the lock turned brunette, including the strands, that still lead to her scalp.
The kingdom searched and searched, but could not find the princess. Deep within the forest, in a hidden tower, the woman raised the girl as her own.
As long as she didn't cut her hair she had found her new magic flower, and this time, she was determined to keep it hidden.
The walls of the tower could not keep everything hidden, however.
Each year on her birthday, the kingdom released thousands of lanterns in to the night sky, in hope that one day, their lost princess would return.
Now, as evening was setting, everything was becoming hushed.
Everything except for an almost-eleven-year-old girl in her tower.
"Yah! Yah!" she exclaimed galloping about.
She wore a bucket on her head, a towel tied around her neck. She ran around the table, straddling a broomstick. A perfect knight-riding-a-horse costume, if she did say so herself.
She made the sound of a horse whinnying. "The brave prince rode up, on his trusty steed! 'Don't worry, Pascal, I'll save you!'" the girl called out to her friend, who sat up on a shelf.
This friend was no ordinary friend. This friend just so happened to be a chameleon.
"The knight jumped off his horse," she said dropping the broom, "and scaled up the mountain! If he slipped, he would be sure to meet his doom!" she yelled as she climbed the stairs, that wrapped around the side of the room. "He was just a few feet away when. . . !" She turned her head, eyes wide, "Oh no! A dragon!" She stared, horrified, at the floor below, where the imaginary dragon stood. "The dragon breathed scorching hot fire! If it were to touch him, it would melt off all of his armor and burn him to a crisp! Just then -" she paused. She looked at her window. She swore she saw something move.
She thought of all of the possibilities that could have caught her eye. She thought about all of the things her mother had told her about. Monsters? Men with pointy teeth? She shook her head. Thinking more rationally, she decided it must have been a bird.
The only thing was, it didn't look like a bird. It looked more like it was shining, like it emitted a light.
Slowly she climbed down the stairs and picked up her broom. She crept to the window, holding it out in a defensive stance. She came up to the window and looked out.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
Below, above the pond and grass, floated many blinking lights. They drifted smoothly about, making beautiful designs. Fireflies.
One must have strayed all the way up to her window. That explanation didn't seem quite right either, for the light she had seen was bigger, but it was good enough for her. She smiled and watched them.
"The world outside can't be so bad, if they have pretty fireflies," she said to her chameleon friend who followed her to the window. "I wonder what it's like out there," she stared wistfully.
She heard a noise above her, slightly to the right. A sound of something flying through the air. Not of a bird, there were no 'flaps' of the wings. It was more of the sound of something being thrown through the air. Like a frisbee, or a rock.
She tensed up and turned her head, so she was looking up. Nothing.
For a moment, she wished her mother were here. Mother never put up with nonsense, so she would have put the girls head straight. She would have insisted it were her imagination, or it really was a bird, and the girl would believe her.
At the moment, her mother was on a journey. She had to pick something up, and buy her a birthday present. She had said it would take about four-days-time. She would get back just in time to celebrate her birthday.
The girl shook her head again and the moment passed.
"Well, Pascal, I guess we should go to bed." She looked over at the chameleon. He nodded in response.
She climbed the stairs, hair trailing behind her. She went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth.
Once she was done she looked in the mirror. The blond-haired green-eyed girl stared back in the reflection.
She smiled and slugged over to her bed. She climbed under the covers. Her bare legs feeling the smooth sheets. She soon fell asleep and dreamt of gallant knights and strange floating lights.
Around midnight a small thump woke her up. She was a very light sleeper and the noise was so quiet, she was surprised it woke even her. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she looked up.
She gasped and froze. Above her, on the ceiling was a boy! He was staring down on her!
Instinctively, she lifted the covers over her head. Slowly she brought them down. He was gone.
She layed there, heart still racing from adrenaline. She stared at the spot where he had just been. Maybe it was just a dream. It had happened so quickly. She didn't know, but now she was alert and she wouldn't be able to sleep now.
She reached to her bedside table to the candlestick and lit it. She climbed out of bed and opened the curtain to the stairs and walked down. She got to the bottom and set the candle on the table. Then she some more candles so it wasn't so dark and shadowed everywhere.
She sat at the table and sighed. Pascal climbed up and sat next to her folded hands on the table. He looked up at her, droopy eyed, cocking his head, as if asking "What's wrong? Why are you up so late?"
She sighed again and held him in her hands. "Oh, Pascal. I just had a crazy dream and now I can't sleep,"
He tilted his head and made a chirping noise. He was Asking, "Would you like to tell me about it?"
She shook her head, "No, I don't remember the dream," she lied, "it just woke me up and now I can't sleep."
He nodded in understanding.
"Maybe a story will help me sleep," she said, "are you in the mood for one?"
Pascal nodded, slowly. He was about to fall asleep, story or not.
She put out a few candles to dim the room more and help Pascal sleep. Then, she walked to her window.
The night sky was not dark. It was not black and didn't have a nightly feel. It felt alive.
The stars above reflected on the pond below and everything had a glow. It was beautiful. The light breeze brushed her face. She stared up at the stars, then at the pond. Fireflies no longer lingered and everything was still, except for the rustling trees. A cricket was chirping somewhere.
She could sit here all night and just stare. She figured she could spend the rest of her life here. Everything was so beautiful, so perfect, it was as if you held still long enough, and didn't make a sound long enough, you would blend in with nature and every secret would be answered.
Finally, she broke the silence, "On most evenings, such as this, all of the children on earth would be sleeping and dreaming. Most would be tucked away, safe and sound, in their warm beds, and kissed on their temple by their mother. Most children would have entered a dream land, where everything was perfect, and they could do anything,"
She began the story as a book would. She hated to begin stories with "Once upon a time," because that hinted that the story took place in the past. It was so vague, it just bothered her to the point where she couldn't bear to hear it, let alone say it.
She continued on, "Yes, this is what most children did. It was routine and necessary. However, on this particular evening, a boy was, also, in a dream, yet he did not sleep. He was warm and cozy, but he was not wrapped in a blanket on a warm bed. He was soaring above the clouds, almost mocking the other children, for they did not live their dreams. They lived in the real world, while the boy never left his dream. His fantastic dream, full of adventure. He didn't wake right at the best part of the dream. He went right on through and knew what came next. The boy soared and dipped, in and out of the clouds. He laughed a wild laugh and his chest was full of joy. A wild grin spread across his face. He went on fantastic journeys no other child could ever dream of having. He was forever a child and nothing could change that, unless he chose to live in the real world. He would never chose to do that, though. He loved to hear new stories, so he visited the real world often. He would sit on roof tops and listened to children telling stories to one another. He loved to imagine he was in each story, and each child was telling the story about him, because he was special, and shouldn't every child know about him? The best part of the dream was the knowledge of never waking up, never growing up, never turning to a man,"
She paused, the breeze seemed to stop. The cricket was silent. The whole world held its breath, listening to the girls story.
"The boy always felt a pain when he came to the real world. He didn't know what it was, but it hurt every time."
She paused yawning. She turned her back to the window and stared at her home. She decided she was tired enough to go to bed. Besides, she didn't know where she was going with the story and nobody was listening, so it didn't matter. She scooped up Pascal and blew out the last of the candles.
She picked up her own candlestick and carried it back to her room.
She didn't really need it, though. There was a bright glow that lit her way. Wait, bright glow?
This glow was different from the one of the moon. This one was yellow, and bright, like the sun.
She froze. The glow was still behind her, but she could tell it was moving.
Then a voice spoke out, "Don't go yet! You haven't finished the story!"