Author's Note: First of all, I'd like to thank anyone who has graced this story with their presence. My deepest thanks. Secondly, I rather dislike my summary and my title. If you happen to come up with any better suggestions, drop me a line. I'll be sure to give you credit if you come up with something I like. Thanks, and enjoy!
Prologue, Part I
Once upon a time, in a kingdom not so very far from here, there lived a very selfish prince. This prince was greedy, uncouth, snobbish, and ungrateful in every possible manner to everyone from his subjects to his royal parents, the king and queen. There wasn't a single person in the entire land that could get through to him. Anyone who tried to tell him to be kinder, or be more polite, or at least to pretend he appreciated anything, was rudely escorted from the prince's chambers by his obedient and subservient bodyguard.
As the prince grew, so did his unthankful and loveless attitude. But what also grew with the prince's rotten attitude was his loneliness. He was so unkind to those around him that early on he found himself with no friends, and hardly anyone would say a kind word to him. Although the prince began to realize why it was that no one liked him, instead of causing him to change his ways, it only fueled his resentment. By the time he was ten years old, he was seen to no one but a few servants who severely wished they could be doing something other that waiting on the sullen prince.
The prince was so lonely that he began to wish he could run away somewhere else where people would like him. He would often ride through the countryside to try to clear his head. Sometimes he dreamt that he would meet someone nice who didn't know he was the selfish prince, and then he could have somebody to be friends with. He wished and dreamed, but it never happened. Each time he encountered someone his own age, they always told him he was being bossy, or was mean, or didn't play by the rules. The prince soon gave up, thinking he must be cursed to be friendless forever.
One day, after wandering especially far from home, he happened upon a lake. The lake was so achingly beautiful, and the prince was so tired from his ride, which had taken the better part of the day, that he decided he would stop by the lake to rest. There wasn't a village or hamlet for miles.
It wasn't long, however, until the prince discovered that while a lake can appear beautiful, it is not always comfortable. Mosquitoes were biting him everywhere, his boots were muddy, and the setting sun glared off the water right into his eyes. He began to spin around, swatting at the mosquitoes and cursing loudly at them, but only managed to slip and fall in the mud. The prince was so enraged that he began to curse everyone and everything he knew, from his parents and the royal subjects at court, to the children who wouldn't play with him, right down to the very lake on whose shores he was now sprawled. He screamed it out to the ends of the earth, flailing his arms in the mud and kicking his feet in the puddles. He screamed so loudly, he spooked away all the birds on the lake. He screamed so loudly, the crickets stopped chirping. He screamed so loudly that the frogs stopped croaking. And most importantly, he screamed so loudly, his horse took off at a gallop back to the castle, leaving the wet and grumpy prince on the lake to face the coming night. Alone.