A Bedtime Story for Aisling

Once upon a time, in the lovely kingdom of Primavera, there lived a beautiful princess named Princess Angela. She was willowy and graceful, with long blonde hair and brown eyes and rosebud lips which smiled with kind light on her peaceful subjects. She loved ruling the kingdom of Primavera, because life there was very orderly and lovely.

The kingdom lived in perpetual springtime. Flowers bloomed, the weather stayed temperate and the world was filled with love and fresh prosperity. Princess Angela was very grateful for this. Springtime was very predictably lovely, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

The princess had intelligence to match her beauty. She spent much of the daytime reclined in the palace library, reading as many books as she possibly could.

One day, she came across an old mahogany book bound in gold. It was propped up behind the many shelves of pastel volumes, and its dark coloring intrigued her. She pulled it off the shelf and into her lap.

As she began to read, the book brought to mind images of things she had never thought to imagine before. A kingdom where the leaves turned red and gold and orange and the air was crisp and smelled of firewood began to form in her mind. The world the book described sounded fiery and beautiful.

She looked out the window and saw the pink, springtime blossoms of the cherry trees. She loved her world of everlasting spring. But she had never seen anything like the world described in the book. She had to know whether it was true or not.

Pushing her feet back into her white lace slippers, she picked up the mahogany book and left to visit her dear Sir Henry, a very kind and brilliant man.

Sir Henry had been her childhood friend and was now her springtime lover. He has grass green eyes and had hair of spun gold, and seemed to walk on the breath of spring itself. He was neither here nor there, yet whenever Princess Angela wanted him, he would come to her side.

Standing in the gazebo in the middle of the rose arbor in the palace gardens, the Princess stared out into the hazy pink afternoon. “Oh, my dearest Henry. Please come help me.”

Presently, the sound of hoofbeats cut the still air. Sir Henry rode onto the terrace on his milk white steed with the grandeur of the most chivalristic nobleman. The golden sun caught his smiling eyes and made the Princess’s heart skip a beat.

Dismounting, Sir Henry entered the gazebo and kissed his princess’s china hand in greeting. “Loveliest Angela. Why have you called me into the grace of your presence today? I will be delighted to assist you in any way I might.”

With a rose-petal blush upon her alabaster cheeks, Princess Angela produced the mahogany book from behind her back. “Darling Henry, can you help me to understand the kingdom this book describes? Is it true?”

When they landed upon the book in Angela’s hands, Sir Henry’s eyes took on the saddest light she had ever seen. There was the smallest smile on his lips. “Oh my love. I always feared this day was coming. I had hoped it would not come upon us, but I know you always seek beauty. And you have found it yet again.”

Angela blinked. “Whatever do you mean, Henry? What’s wrong?”

The sad smile was still upon his lips. “Nothing is wrong, my sweet. But spring must end now.”

Angela was stunned. Seeing the lost expression on her face, Sir Henry took her hand in his and ran a thumb over hers as he explained:

“The kingdom described in the book is this kingdom, many moons ago. The leaves changed color and fell off of the trees because it was Autumn. Autumn is a season, much like Spring is a season.”

He paused, looking down at their hands. “There are normally many seasons. Spring and Autumn are only two of them. The other two are called Winter and Summer. Winter brings silver air and white stars which fall from the heavens and bathe the earth in calm. Summer brings lemonade and clear blue skies and golden sunlight which gilds everything in precious bliss.”

“It all sounds lovely, Henry. Why do we only have spring?”

Henry met her eyes sadly. “Spring brings hope to people. Spring means new beginnings, love, life, and perpetual beauty. It means blossoms and fresh air and happiness. People loved these feelings. They wanted to keep them forever.” He looked back down at their joined hands. “So although Autumn brought bounty and winter brought anticipation and summer brought reward, the people also felt as though they brought negative things. Autumn brought a feeling of ending. Winter brought a feeling of hopelessness and summer brought empty promises. So they did away with them, and only kept spring because to them it meant perpetual happiness.”

Angela met his eyes again. “That's foolish, isn't it? People don't want something gorgeous because of the potential sadnesses attached to it.”

Henry nodded. “It is. But the kingdom wanted it at the time. So they brought my father.”

Angela looked up suddenly. “Your father?”

Again, Henry nodded. “My father was the baron of spring. As long as he stayed in the kingdom of Primavera, spring would be eternal. As time past, my father married the Lady Aster and she gave birth to me. Alas, my father had to leave to bring springtime to another kingdom. He brought my mother with him and left me here to continue his legacy.”

Angela shifted her gaze back down to their joined hands. She was beginning to understand. “I'm sorry Henry. But our kingdom needs seasons again. My people need to learn to love the beauty of change again, instead of fearing the hatred of it. As gorgeous as spring is, there's so much beauty just waiting to be found. If we stay in one endless loop, how are we to know what we have in store? What's familiar will always be comfortable. But there's so much else to see if we can only allow ourselves.”

Henry smiled upon her beautiful rosy face. “Of course, lovely Angela. I knew you would make the right decision for you and your people. But if spring leaves, I must leave too.”

Angela looked at his lovely eyes sadly, and wrapped her arms around him. “I shall miss you terribly, my Henry.” He stroked her long hair and gently smiled. “I will miss you too. But you will find a prince who will be there for you through all seasons. And I will always be with you in the breath of a spring breeze. Spring always comes back after winter chills the earth.”

Angela felt a single crystal tear slip from her eye and land on his shoulder. But she pulled back and smiled up at him.

“Good-bye, my Henry. See you in the spring.”

He gently placed a hand on her alabaster cheek. “Good-bye, lovely Angela. Go find all the beauty you possibly can.”

He leaned down and placed a final, gentle kiss on her rosebud lips. When Angela opened her eyes, she found that he was gone. He had turned into rose petals, which were being picked up by the breeze and going where spring was needed next.

She smiled. Leaving the gazebo and returning to the palace, she could already feel a change in the air. Summer was on the horizon. Laughing, she began to run. She had to tell her subjects about how beautiful change could be.

She couldn't wait to see how much beauty her kingdom had in store. Unknown beauty, yes, but she knew that whatever it was, it would be breathtaking.

“Thank you, Henry.” She whispered. And as she walked through the palace hall, she swore she could smell roses.