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The Story

I want to tell you a story. But you mustn’t tell anyone else. For if anyone knew that I was retelling it… well let’s just say my very life would be in grave danger. This is a story about two young children. A brother and sister named Robert and Amy, respectively. It is about a great adventure. One that took them, as well as their unsuspecting Aunt, into a world they had never imagined. It took them to a place where dreams not only came true, but were fulfilled many times over.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let us start at the beginning. The story begins in a small town, just outside the busy city of London. The rain had been falling for days and the children were locked inside with no hope of playing out in the sunshine at all. Robert and Amy climbed onto the sofa seat by the window and peered outside. The glass was foggy and Robert was constantly rubbing it with his sleeve to clear it off.

“You’re breathing too heavily.” He said to Amy. “Knock it off, will you!”

“The glass is in front of your face. You knock it off!” She replied.

“That is quite enough children!” The voice of their Aunt Mary warned them from the other room.

They had come into their Aunt’s care just a few months earlier. There was no one left to watch them once their grandparents had passed on. So they had to pack their things and set out on a voyage to their only remaining relative. Mary was a woman of a young age, but she seemed nice enough to them at the time. So they had decided to not be to particularly awful to her.

Robert and Amy had grown accustomed to playing inside the last few weeks, and had come up with many games in which to spend the hours of their day. They loved exploring, but in the past they had lived in houses with secret doors. Their grandparent’s house had been fantastic, with all sorts of little nooks and crannies in which to find. Aunt Mary’s two bedroom apartment left much to be desired. Within a few minutes they had surveyed every inch of it (even the closets).

It was already after dinner and they heard their Aunt getting ready for bed. The children sighed and resigned themselves to their room. Another day was over. They hadn’t gotten to do anything today.

As they changed into their pajama’s and crawled into their beds, their Aunt came into the room to say goodnight. This was actually their favorite time of day. Mary pulled a small wooden chair in between their two beds and sat down.

“What story are you going to tell tonight, Auntie?” Amy asked curiously. She dearly loved her Aunt’s stories. Some were about dragons and royalty. And yet others were about soldiers in battle. They always proved to be rather exciting.

Mary smiled and leaned back in the chair. “I do believe it is Robert’s turn to choose this time.”

Robert sat quietly while the two girls stared at him. He really didn’t know what to say. In all honesty he didn’t really give two schillings what the story was about. He had been in a sour mood ever since the rain had started. Even though he loved his Aunt he was not in any mood to hear a story. But he didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, so he simply told Amy to choose. Amy was rather delighted and immediately requested to hear a story about a Prince. Robert turned over in his bed so he was facing the wall. He was only half listening when his Aunt started to speak.

“Once there was a Prince, who ruled over the most beautiful kingdom ever known. But he was a sad Prince, because he had never had anyone to love. He had no mother or father, brothers or sisters.”

“Oh dear!” Amy exclaimed.

Mary smiled at the little girl’s enthusiasm and continued on. “He was a very lonely Prince. His only company was his pet wolf, named Jorath. The young Prince would spend his days wandering through the forests of his kingdom with his animal friend, hunting with his bow and arrow. Every day was like all the rest. Until one day when everything changed.”

“The Prince was sitting by a tree when he felt a cold wind blow over him. It was so cold that it shook his entire body. He knew immediately that there was danger lurking in his kingdom. Armed with this bow he set out deeper into the wilderness to combat whatever evil that was threatening him. But what the Prince did not know was that this was a trap set by an evil witch. She was the most evil witch that had ever lived and what she wanted most was to rule the Prince’s kingdom as her own. Once the woman came into the Prince’s sight he noticed that she was very beautiful. But there was no doubting that she was purely of evil.”

“She told the Prince that she knew all about him. She knew all about the loneliness he felt from the solitude at his home in the castle. How he felt abandoned and uncared for. None of his loyal subjects seemed to care anything about him, except that they wanted his money and help when times were rough. But most of all she knew about the deep ache he had in his heart. It was the ache that could only be eased by the love of another person.”

“The Prince was slowly letting down all his defenses, and the witch noticed this. She told him that she could see his future. And there was no bride in sight for him. He would never marry, and he would remain alone for the rest of his life. Of course, the Prince was upset by this. Wasn’t there anything the witch could do to help? But of course, the witch told him. Only, her help would come with a price. In exchange for her bringing him a woman for him to marry, he must make a promise. He must promise to never leave the forest until his bride came to get him. He must let the witch rule over his kingdom during this time. Of course the witch never intended to actually allow a woman to enter the woods, but she did not tell him this.”

“After the beautiful witch stated her terms there was the sound of a crow’s cry that echoed through the valley. The Prince hesitated as if on the precipice of something he knew he should not do. But in the end his loneliness settled it for him, and he agreed to her terms. Suddenly dark clouds covered the sky and lightening was crashing everywhere. That was when the witch, not trusting the Prince, placed upon him a terrible curse. He could never leave the forest without his true love. She took away his hunger, took away his need for sleep, and took away his very soul. He would now be cursed to walk the forest alone, unable to enjoy even the simple pleasures of life. And he would never age.”

Mary noticed that Amy’s eyes were now closed and she was sound asleep. She smiled and kissed her young niece on the forehead, pulling the blanket over the girl. She turned out the light beside their bed and was startled when she heard Robert’s voice in the dark. “I feel sorry for the Prince.”

Mary walked over and sat on the edge of his bed. He turned over to face her. “I would imagine it would be awful having to live like that.”

Robert nodded his head. “Auntie… why is it that you have never married?”

She smiled at his question. “I assure you Bobby that I am still young enough. But I suppose it is because I have just never found my Prince to sweep me off my feet.”

Robert seemed to ponder this and Mary kissed his forehead and whispered him goodnight. When she got to the door he spoke lightly, not wanting to wake his sister. “I will pray tonight that you do, Auntie. “

Mary smiled and blew him a kiss before she closed the door behind her. Robert rolled around on his bed unable to get comfortable. He kept thinking about how much he had in common with Prince. Robert didn’t have many friends (having to move a lot didn’t help matters) and he had always thought that wolves were incredible animals. He was just sure that the Prince would be his friend if he had ever met him.

But all the thinking made Robert’s eyes feel heavy and before he knew it he was falling asleep during his prayers. But it wasn’t before he prayed for his Aunt to find her special Prince.

Robert didn’t know it, but something special happened once the three souls in the tiny apartment drifted off to sleep. It is an occurrence that cannot be explained or reasoned by anyone.

For when Robert opened his eyes the next day he was faced with a most spectacular sight. Instead of seeing the surroundings of his bedroom he was lying on the greenest grass he had ever seen. He saw Amy lying on the ground, still asleep in her pajamas.

The sky was dark with clouds, but everything around them seemed bright and alive. He cast a look around and saw they were in the woods. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. There was no sign of his Aunt anywhere, and this caused him a feeling of panic.

He heard movement beside him and saw Amy sit up while she rubbed the sleep away from her eyes. “Bobby…. Where are we?”