THE REST OF THE TALE

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And the princess rode off to the castle with the prince. They were married and lived at the castle happily. They strolled through the garden blossoms and danced among the wild flowers; they marveled at the sunsets and ran to meet the rainbows in the sky. They laughed at the court jester and sang with the ladies and knights of the court. They sat around the fire at night dreaming of what they would do to make the world a better and more beautiful, kinder and more gentle place when they became queen and king of the land.

The princess was in the garden one beautiful day when a tiny lady in a sparkling dress appeared to her. "Princess," she said, and her voice was like little bells jingling lightly, "You may have the wish of your heart. You must not take this lightly, for as with every wish there is a price to pay; I cannot tell you the price, but I will tell you that it will be well worth the reward. The princess asked for a day to think it over.
She did not mention it to the prince for he was very busy. The next day the princess was in her garden tending the flowers when the tiny lady appeared. "Have you decided on your wish young princess?”


"My wish is to have 7 healthy beautiful children who love each other and make the world a happier more gentle place." For, you see, the princess knew that seven has been a magical, special number since the creation of the world.
"Your wish shall be granted; please remember as you pay the price that it will be well worth it in the end."


The tiny woman went away. The princess did not see her again for a long time, but she thought of her many times during the rest of her life.


Then one day the king and queen died and the young prince was not appointed to the king. Instead, one of his cousins was made king and banished the young prince and his bride into the wilderness without a penny of their own. They wandered in the wilderness for many months, looking for a place to live where there would be a job for the prince and a cottage for the young princess, for you see, by then she was ready to have a baby.

The prince was an industrious and talented young man so he was able to get a job working in a small town where he made enough money to buy food for himself and his wife. Soon the baby was born and as the baby grew, it ate more and more food, and by
that time there was a second baby. The young prince, older now, had to take an extra job in the town, while the princess had to stay at home, taking care of the two babies, and that was not easy, because she was going to have a third baby soon.

The prince and princess did not look as young and beautiful as they had looked riding off to the castle on that white horse, but they were still in love, they thought. They did not see each
other often and when they did the things they had to talk about were nothing to do with sunsets and rainbows, but they talked about the problems the children were having and the lack of money and clothes, and the small cottage was not big enough for the growing family.


The prince would say, "You want me to work 24 hours a day and night times too? When all you want to do is dance and raise flowers."
And the princess would stamp her foot and tell him if he hadn't messed up at the castle they would still be there and be king and Queen, so she claimed all their problems were really his fault.


They spent so much of their time arguing about who was at fault, they could not solve any of their real problems. Arguing just made them worse. While they argued the children would close up their ears with pillows so they couldn't hear or run outside into the woods. It didn't really matter what they did, they could still hear the words in their heads because they had heard them so often since before they were born.


Two more children had been born, so now there were five. Some of the children thought the fighting and arguing must be their fault, and they felt very badly about it. They began to fight and argue and strike each other in anger. It grieved the
princess; this was not her wish. She was paying the price, but where were the 7 wonderful children who would be gentle and kind and make the world a better place to live?


One day after the prince had gone off to his first job early in the morning the princess gathered her children around her and said that they were going on an adventure. She told them to get their clothes that they could carry and their favorite toy, and climb into the cart. Off they all went, excited to be on an adventure. Night time came and still they traveled on. The children slept in the cart as much as the bumpy cold ride would allow them to. Finally the princess stopped at an empty cabin and built a fire. She put the children to bed. They stayed in the cabin, fishing for food and running and
playing in the chilly winter air, feeling like all would be well now. They danced among the wild flowers and marveled at the sunsets and ran towards the rainbows.


But the children missed the prince and his joking laughter and his rough housing that he did with them on the rare evenings he spent at home. Soon they were crying for him every day.


The princess loved her 5 children so very much that it hurt her so see them sad and lonely for their father, so she sent a message with a hunter to tell the prince where they were, and that if he would come join them they could be happy there in the
woods, leaving all their anger behind. The prince was happy to get the message and managed his affairs so he was soon able to join them at the cabin in the forest.


For weeks they danced together among the wild flowers and walked among the garden blossoms, they marveled at the sunsets and ran towards the rainbows, and soon, another baby was
born. The family grew restless and lonesome for their friends and the farm they had at their small cottage. They had all forgotten the anger and fighting and did not remember how bad they all felt there.

The princess was so happy in the forest, she did not want to return to the farm, but she loved her children and the prince so very much that she said she would go with them back to the cottage if they had all learned from the experience to be more loving and thoughtful to each other.
Once again the princess, now older and not so elegant and beautiful, packed the cart and carried her family through the forest back to the farm and the cottage.


There she walked with the children in the garden, and she watched as they danced among the wild flowers. She gladly listened to them tell her of the sunsets they saw and gaily watched them run toward the rainbows
A short time later the seventh child was born and the princess became very ill. She rejoiced in the birth of their beautiful baby girl, but feared that she would
not live to see the child grow up.

So each day the princess tried very hard to tell each of her children to be strong and happy. She told the stories that helped them to learn that they had many choices in their lives that they could choose to be gentle and happy and kind in spite of the things that might happen to them. When she thought they had learned these lessons well enough
to live them and teach them to the two smallest children, she went away. She wanted to take the children with her when she went away this time, but she knew she could not.

She did not have any money and she was so very weak and ill. She thought
she was dying, so she left her children with the prince, for him to care for and pay for and make a home for and she went away to rest, so that at times when she had the strength she could see the children and play with them and tell them how much she loved them. She wanted to get well and strong so she could walk with her children among the gardens, and dance with them in the wild flowers. She longed to marvel with them once more at the sunsets and run with them toward the rainbows, and to teach them once more to be kind and gentle.


The prince married again and the stepmother was very good and kind to the children. She took good care of the children when the princess could not be with them, and the princess was grateful that her children had two mothers to teach them kindness and love.

Through the years that followed she wrote letters when she was away and took the children on adventures and picnics when they were together. She walked with them in the sunsets, and marveled at the rainbows. She told them stories of the castle and the king and queen and the little cottage. Stories about the cabin in the forest. She tried to help them forget the loud unkind words spoken so long ago when they were so very small, and the bad feelings they had from them.

The baby girl did not remember the arguments or the forest for she had not yet been born. She did not remember that the princess had ever lived in their little cottage with them, but she loved to go on the adventures with the princess. She was a beautiful child, and happy and gentle and she loved to walk among the garden blossoms, and dance among the wild flowers. She marveled at the sunset and ran to meet the rainbows.

The princess watched her children grow up to be kind, loving and gentle people. making the world a kinder, more gentle place to live. The tiny lady came once again to the princess and said, "You have paid a high price."

The princess said, "But I have had my wish come true, and it has been well worth the price, and more." The children were grown, with children of their own when the princess died. The children knew she had gone to where the sunsets are, to rest forever among the rainbows, but she would be with them in the gardens to dance among the wild flowers, as they taught their own children to be gentle and loving. She had left with them this last request:

Decorate my grave not
with brackish plastic flowers
Mocking nature’s reality.
Rather, garnish your days
with acts of kindness
One to another, and
Scatter handsfull of wild flowers or
Garden blossoms upon me to
Remind you that
Loving acts and feelings
Must be repeated daily so that
Love can be eternal.