Chapter 2
The Circle of Life

Several years passed. Princess Peach Toadstool was no longer a baby, but had grown into a beautiful little girl. She woke up early one morning and went to find her father. He had promised that he would take her up on the balcony and show her the whole kingdom. She could hardly wait!

She ran through the halls to her parents' bedroom. She climbed up onto the bed and started jumping up and down shouting, "Daddy! Daddy! Wake up! You promised!"

King Toadstool remained asleep, and Peach was getting tired of jumping. So, she decided to try and practice floating in midair. All members of the royal family were capable of levitation; however, only the females could float after falling from a high place as well as after jumping. The males could only float after jumping. Levitation required a lot of patience and concentration to master, which were two things that the young princess didn't have a lot of. When she jumped, she managed to float for maybe half a second, and then fell on top of her father. He woke up.

"Daddy! You promised to show me the kingdom today!" the little princess whined.

"Ok, ok, I'm awake," the king yawned, "go on, I'll be there in a minute."

"Yippee!" Peach shouted. So she ran from her parents' room, through the halls, and stopped at the balcony to wait for her dad.

A few minutes later, King Toadstool walked out onto the balcony and picked up his daughter so she could see over the edge. "Look, Peach, everything the light touches is our kingdom. One day, the sun will set on my time as king, and will rise with you as the new queen."

"And this will all be mine?" Peach asked.

"Everything the light touches." King Toadstool answered.

"Wow!" Peach exclaimed. "What about that shadowy place?"

"That's beyond our borders. You must never go there, Peach." King Toadstool warned.

"How come?" she asked.

"I can't explain," the king replied.

They left the castle soon afterward and walked around the castle grounds.

"You see, Peach," King Toadstool said, "every creature in this kingdom is connected in some way. From the slowly crawling snail, to the fast galloping yoshis."

"But dad, don't we tame the wild yoshis?" Peach asked, seeming very confused.

"Yes, but you're missing the point," King Toadstool explained, "When we die, our bodies become the soil which the berry bushes grow in, and the yoshis eat those berries. Therefore, we are all connected in the great Circle of Life."

"Good morning, sir!" Toad called out as he approached the king. "I'm ready to give the morning report!"

"Fire away!" King Toadstool said. And with that, Toad began giving the extremely boring morning report.

Princess Peach decided to practice floating again, but she kept falling flat on her face.

"What are you doing?" King Toadstool asked.

"I'm trying to float, but it's not working," Peach explained, feeling very disappointed and quite sore.

"Let me give you some pointers," King Toadstool said. He was getting very bored with Toad's report as well. "After you jump, you need to concentrate really hard."

"I'll try," said the little princess, and she jumped into the air, floated for a few seconds, but lost her balance and fell, knocking Toad to the ground.

King Toadstool laughed and complimented his daughter on her effort. As Toad got up, a Monty Mole popped up and said, "Toad, sir, I have news from the underground," and he gave Toad the news.

Monty Mole's news shocked Toad, who got up quickly, addressed the king and shouted, "Sir! There are koopas in the Mushroom Kingdom!"

King Toadstool stopped laughing. He turned to his daughter and said, "Peach, I need you to go home right now. Toad will escort you."

"Why can't I come?" she asked.

"It's too dangerous. Go home with Toad." and with that, the king mounted his yoshi and rode off.

"Your father's right you know," Toad said, "go on home, I think your little friend is supposed to visit today." So, Peach turned around and headed back to the castle.