There once was a handsome
Prince who lived in a castle near the woods. Eager to find a wife, he pondered
for half of his life. He searches high and low for a mate, but heavens know
what would come of his fate. One of the Prince’s handlers tells him of the
ancient sea, but the Prince scoffs at him and replies, “That could never be.
Fairy tales, folklores, all of them silly stories.” Yet the handler is adamant
of his claims, telling The Prince, “that’s where his true love could be.” The
Prince is skeptical, thinking all of this would be a spectacle, though he
obliges. He sails across the ancient seas to a nearby beach, far beyond his
reach. Resting upon the beach, he chants to the moon:
O’, where O’, where, will
my love, be
To now I seek through the
enchanted seas!
The Prince falls into a
slumber, but a sudden sound wakes him up in wonder. A Maiden comes by, her hair
streaked in white.
The Prince says, “Please come
to me, my queen.”
But, the maiden says, “No
stay away from me.”
The Prince pleads, “You’re
all that I need.”
The Maiden replied, “Oh
please, you don’t even know me.”
The Maiden runs away. The
prince follows.
The Maiden says, “What is
your wanting?”
The Prince replies, “It’s
your soul that’s haunting.”
The Maiden still runs away,
but the Prince, still enchanted by her beauty, follows.
The Maiden relents. “Okay,
but you must keep my secret.”
The Prince obliges. “Whatever
it is, I’ll keep it.”
The Maiden is reluctant;
however, she smiles. “Stay with me till sunlight and I’ll love you, forever and
always.”
The Prince holds her in his
arms. “Whatever your secret is, I’ll keep it.”
The Maiden tells him, “Only
if you’ll dream it.”
So, they lay together from
dusk till dawn where they dream of dreams far beyond.
The Maiden whispers to the
Prince, “Keep me forever and always.”
The Prince says to her, “I’ll
keep you days upon days.”
The ray of sunlight rises,
the Maiden wakes up in a crisis. “Oh I must go, you can’t keep me here.”
The Prince says, “Why not,
it’s safe to keep you near.”
“You don’t understand,” the
Maiden says. “The sun will dry up the sand.”
“My heart is what will
ascend, for it is my love that will bring you back to me,” The Prince says.
The Maiden replied, “Just
pray and I’ll be all you need.”
The Maiden rushes up to the
sun, whatever path she’ll take shall be done. The Prince looks on, helplessly,
hoping that this could not be.
The Maiden stops. Her heart
quickens. She spins around, wishing the pain will not fill in.
The Prince rushes to her aid,
crying to himself that the deed was not made. But then his eyes spark up in
wonder, like lightning meets thunder.
The Maiden rises yet not a
woman, but a child. She says, “I must go into the enchanted waters of rebirth,
so I can fulfill the magic of mirth. If you love me, you’ll wait. For that’s
all I can take. I will always love you, my dear prince.”
And as the woman-child swims
off to the enchanted sea, the Prince waited for his Maiden in the castle ever
since.
The moral of the story: True
love comes to those who wait…
