This Night’s Tale

The little prince was cute, spirited, full of vinegar! Adorable, funny, brilliant, the queen’s little man. Old beyond his years and much loved, he believed that it was his job to take care of his little brothers and mother. He took it to heart. It was who he was.

Well, that was who he was before. Now everything had changed.

He tried to be what he did best and sometimes he thought he succeeded. His mother’s eyes would light up and look at him the way she had before. Before the new king came into their lives, but the new king would always put a hand on her arm, turn off the lights in her eyes and shake his head sadly.

The prince was a show off, mouthy, a hellion, unkempt, belligerent, and jealous. These were some of the words the new king used. Nuisance, manipulator, a problem, were the others..

The little prince tried harder, but it always seemed to turn out wrong. The new king took over and his mother tried not to interfere. Everyone tried very hard and they were all miserable.

Finally he was banished. Oh that wasn’t what they called it, it was just what it felt like to him. The little prince was sent to a kingdom far far away where his father ruled. He missed his mother and his little brothers. He was an only child in the new kingdom and he was lonely. The people spoke a different language, and everything was different, even the food, but he tried to fit in.

Except that his records said he was a problem. No one quite knew what sort of problem, but they kept their eyes open. Each one ready to nip it in the bud the moment it appeared and each one finding a different problem they felt compelled to solve. Eventually he was banished once more.

This time he found himself in a tower back in his mother’s kingdom. Here he could see his little brothers and his mother. He could even see the not so new king, but he could not eat with them, or laugh with them, or live with them, and he was lonelier than ever.

Finally he got tired of being called a problem and he moved out on his own, determined to build his own castle, make his own family, find his own life and fill it from top to bottom with all the love that was stashed deep inside of him.

And he did.