The Unseen Kingdom
It was the age of knights and dragons. And there was a great
hall. And in this great hall there was a little girl sleeping in a cradle. She
was unaware of the multitude of nobles and musicians surrounding her in the
great hall. She was unaware that one day she would become Queen and rule over
every province and village in the land. She was sleeping. And like all those
who had come from far and wide to catch a glimpse of their new princess, she
was unaware of the visitors from an unseen kingdom known as the realm of the
faeries.
It was the custom. Whenever a child was born, the people
would invite the faeries into their homes. In turn, the faeries would offer
gifts to the child. Giving is the nature of a faerie. On this day, three
faeries had received the invitation.
The first approached the princess confidently and
immediately selected her gift of the highest quality.
“Dear princess, I offer the gift of life. May your energy
seem boundless and your enthusiasm unyielding. May your imagination soar to the
heights that only the faeries can see. Let colors radiate for you with vibrancy
no one has ever dreamed before. And may this gift bring you delight. Pure,
untarnished delight.”
Not to be outdone, the second faerie offered the most powerful
gift she had.
“Sweet princess, I offer the gift of love. May your
compassion seem tireless and your kindness unending. May your heart overflow
with a desire to cherish the beauty in the world around you. May you share the
passions of others through the empathy of the faeries. And may this gift bring
you bliss. Genuine, unhindered bliss.”
The third faerie hesitated. What blessing could follow the
gift of love? But in that moment of doubt a shadow entered the great hall. This
was a dark faerie. A cruel, seething, vengeful spirit, whose presence could
only mean that the time for celebration was at an end.
The origin of the dark faeries is one of the more curious
mysteries surrounding the unseen kingdom. Some believe that all things have a
balance. Where there is good there must be evil, for every blessing a curse,
and this balance will exist through the entire life span of time. Some have
suggested that a dark faerie is merely a faerie who has been forgotten, or more
accurately, one who is aware that she has been forgotten. For those who believe
the myth that faeries were born from the first laugh it stands to reason that
dark faeries were born from the first tear. But whatever their origin, anyone
who has had their heart broken knows the cold touch of a dark faerie.
“How now? Could it be that my invitation to this, the
happiest of gatherings has been lost?”
“You've not received an invitation because you are not
welcome in this place.”
“I see. No invitation have I received, and yet, I seem to
have arrived. Perhaps I never needed such a thing after all.”
“Please leave the princess alone. She's innocent and has
done nothing to anger you.”
“I hold no qualms against your precious princess. I have
come merely to bestow my blessing upon her. I offer it freely. Giving is the
nature of a faerie, and I WILL offer my gift. Just as you have offered yours.”
To those who have tasted the bitterness of disillusionment,
there are few things more pleasurable than the disillusionment of others. So
you can imagine the dark faerie's disappointment to find that the princess had
already been cursed. You see, a faerie's blessing is always offered with the
very best of intentions, but not always leading to the best of results. The
gift of life for example, imagination unbound. Heights she could never reach.
Colors she could never see. Desires she could never fulfill. The princess would
know boredom. And stagnation. In knowing how it felt to have life, she would
know how it felt to be without it. And the gift of love? Love is a choice. We
aren't born knowing how to love, we have to learn it. And we learn how to love
because of fear. And fear is learned through pain. So, to be blessed with the
empathy of the faeries, the princess could look forward to a lifetime of agony.
Unwilling to relent, the dark faerie considered this
carefully before pronouncing her verdict.
“Child, your life will be one of misery, and only death will
come to your rescue. But you need not suffer alone. I offer you the gift of
absolution. Freedom from the restraint of meaningless indifferent existence to
which ordinary mortals bind themselves. In your lifetime, for however long you
can bear it, your pain will be known. Your grief will be heard. You will be
remembered. Let these sheep see what you see.”
And then the shadow was gone.
The last faerie, the one who had not yet given a gift, was
almost out of the great hall before the other two were able to catch her.
Moments later she was shoved up against the side of the cradle and informed
that she had the rest of her existence to unmake this folly.
She stood there for a long time, hoping for some flash of
inspiration to strike her. But none came. Finally, she decided to begin her
blessing, trusting that the gift would find itself.
“Little princess….I’m sorry. I don't know what to do. I
can't take a gift away from you. What could I possibly have that you need?”
At that moment, the princess awakened. And her eyes opened.
And she saw a funny little woman with a sweet face, wings, and a soft voice
watching over her.
And she laughed.
No comments:
Post a Comment