I think we've all been there, haven't we? Just another short story.

A King's Sorrow

According to the calendar that King Julien made, it was Juliencember the 7th. But actually it was December 12th. And the picture at the top for that month was of himself laying on his stomach looking coquettishly over his shoulder before a roaring fire, that had stockings nailed upon the fireplace, and wearing a Santa hat. The ring tailed lemur never bothered with the conventional methods of keeping track of the months and days of the year.

On this particular day, Julien was sitting upon his throne gazing listlessly around him at his kingdom. Nothing seemed to interest him today. Quite frankly, he was feeling rather depressed. He heaved a great sigh that caught the attention of his roommates, or subjects as he called them.

The fat gray one looked up with some surprise. It was a bit unusual to see the king in such a mood. It made Maurice a little worried, so he decided to find out what was troubling his monarch.

"Something wrong, Your Majesty? You haven't yelled at us all day."

The leader of the lemurs sighed heavily again before replying.

"Oh it is nothing Maurice. The troubles of the king are being too great for the lesser peoples."

Maurice merely raised an eyebrow at this.

"Uh-huh. Want to talk about it though?"

Julien's bottom lip quivered a bit before he answered in a half sob.

"Yes. I am wanting to talk about it. But my troubles are so great that I am not knowing if you will be understanding them."

"You won't know till you tell me."

Maurice waited patiently for his king to go on. The ring tailed lemur took a deep breath before continuing.

"I have been praying and praying to the Sky Spirits that they will tell the Santa Claus to bring me the presents that I am wanting this Christmas. But I do not know if Santa will. And I really want those particular presents that I am praying for! If I don't get them...If I don't..."

Julien trailed off and suddenly broke into tears. His sobbing would have been heartrending. At least if you didn't know what he was crying about. Maurice shook his head in exasperation. He should have figured that it would have been something like this.

"Your Majesty, I'm sure the Sky Spirits heard your prayers and will tell Santa about the presents you want. You'll get them; don't worry."

The lemur king stopped crying and looked at his chancellor. A moment of silence went by as Julien digested this. Suddenly he nodded his head.

"You know what Maurice, after hearing it I am thinking that you are right. The Sky Spirits love me. They'll tell Santa to give me the presents I am wanting so very much."

Julien smiled exuberantly and jumped down from his throne.

"Yes! It is all becoming so clear to me now. Thank you Maurice. Come! We must celebrate by shaking our booties. Shake them to honor the Sky Spirits! Yes!"

And with that he ran off to push play on the boom box. Loud music filled the air, and Maurice merely shook his head in exasperation again as he went to join his king in dance.

Merry Christmas! Please review.