Below is the final chapter in the advent-like story I've posted this month.
This was Chapter 1 from the first Sunday three weeks ago.
And this was Chapter 2 from two weeks ago.
And this was Chapter 3 from one week ago.
And then Chapter 4 from a couple of days ago.
Which takes us to Chapter 5...
Chapter 5
Back in the
palace, King Nascious and Prince Reed looked at each other a long time.
“We gotta bring
‘em back,” King Nascious said quietly.
“I agree.”
“And the price
is high,” added the King.
“I know. I’ll pay it,” said Prince Reed. “I love ‘em as much as you do.”
A tear escaped
King Nascious’ eye and rolled down his cheek.
“We said that
this might happen a long time ago,” Prince Reed added.
“Yes. Yes, we
did,” King Nascious agreed.
“When?” asked the Prince.
“Soon enough,” replied the King.
Many years
passed. Iain and Ofelia grew up and had
many children. They also died, just as King
Nascious had told them they would. They
never did return to the palace, but just like King Nascious had said, they
never forgot about it. They told their
children about the palace, and their children told their children.
They always
hoped they would find that wonderful life again. Oh, they had glimpses of it. Every time they played music or every time
they went swimming on a glorious summer day, they would remember, but it was
never quite the same…never quite as good as when they had been living in the
palace. They made homes for themselves,
but no home ever felt like their first home.
And one day,
after a very long time, King Nascious came to Prince Reed and said, “It’s
time.”
“I’m still
ready,” Prince Reed replied.
“You know you’ll
have to leave this way of life and become one of them, right?”
“I know,” Prince
Reed said. “I’m ok with that. They are worth it.”
And so Prince
Reed also left the palace and joined the world outside of the palace – the
world where Iain and Ofelia lived after they had left. Prince Reed even became a baby, raised by one
of Ofelia’s great-great-great-granddaughters, too many greats to count at this
point in the story. He had a different
name then, because he didn’t want people to see him as a prince. He wanted everyone to know him like a friend,
like a brother. So his name was Broman
in their world.
King Nascious
was so happy that Broman had become a baby that the King put a special, bright
star in the sky to show everyone where they could find little Broman, because
most everyone loves to meet new babies and hold them and coo over them and
listen to them laugh. Babies are just
such a great way for people to start!
The King even had a large, bright choir appear from the sky break out in
song for some of the people to hear that Broman had been born!
Broman grew up
and he met up with Slick from time to time.
Not as friends, you understand, but they would meet up and talk, because
Slick didn’t want Broman to ever bring Iain and Ofelia back to the palace, back
home. Slick would try to trick Broman
just like he’d tricked Iain and Ofelia so long ago, but Broman knew every one
of Slick’s tricks, so he didn’t fall for them.
Slick even went so far as to trap Broman and have him arrested!
Slick told the
police to beat up Broman, and so they did.
Slick told the judges that Broman was bad, but the judges couldn’t prove
it. Slick got a bunch of people so upset
that they started to demand that Broman be killed. People made up lies about him, and even his
friends couldn’t stop what was happening.
Slick was so happy to see all of his tricks working this time! He was really going to win, he just knew it!
If Broman was
like you or like me, he would have fought back.
He would have told lies about the people who were telling lies about
him. He would have tried to point out
the lies and hire lawyers to tell everyone what was true.
But Broman
wasn’t like you or me in that way.
Broman was very sad about everything that was happening to him, but he
didn’t fight back like we would have. He
was very quiet and didn’t say hardly anything – at least not anything that
could have stopped Slick’s plan from working.
And sure enough,
Broman did die. A very cruel death, the
worst kind of death anyone could ever imagine, but that is a story for another
time.
But Broman
wasn’t just Broman. He was still Prince
Reed! And he still had King Nascious’
dream in mind. So while I know this is
very hard to believe, Broman actually came back to life! By doing so, he dealt that fatal blow to
Slick that King Nascious had said would happen so long ago.
Slick’s victory
was very short-lived.
And you know
what? King Nascious and Prince Reed’s
plan worked. Iain and Ofelia got to
return to the palace – to go back home!
Along with lots of other people!
The palace was big enough for everyone, and was more fun than ever since
lots and lots of people were there. And
lots of slides were in lots of closets for riding from room to room whenever
they wanted to write music or play basketball or go swimming or ice skating or enjoy
a bite to eat from the kitchen.
And this made
King Nascious and Prince Reed very, very happy, too. This was now the happiest day Iain and Ofelia
had ever known. It was the happiest day
ever.
The
End
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