One for the bedtime...

Once there was a little girl, who grew up to be a witch. She lived in the middle of the forest all alone, and talked to the forest and its silence. The animals and the plants did not disturb her often, but would once in a while greet her with a quick hop or a slight sound.

The witch had a childhood friend, who grew up to be the young prince of that country. Once, when she was sitting by the riverside, the young prince met her, and walked over to talk to her. For he was not afraid of her, indeed he loved her and knew that his love would keep him safe.

The witch greeted him cordially and introduced him to the forest. She talked, for a long time, about how the trees dance during the rains and how the animals keep the beat. She told him, about Life and Death who peacefully co-exist in the forest. she told him about the small ferns, and pointed out the colors of silence and sound of colors. She shared her joy in the beauty of the forest with him, for he was her friend.

But the prince did not listen to the witch's words. He heard her voice, which was clear as the deep pool about which she was talking about, and saw the stars of the night sky in her eyes and the bloom of the wild rose in her lips.

'I gift you my love.'

us said the prince said to the witch. She smiled, and accepted it, for the forest had taught her to accept the offerings of others with humility.

'Come with me to the village.' He said to her.

She smiled like a wild flower, and went to the home of her childhood, which she now remembered as the broken shreds of a fragile dream.

The prince and the witch reached the village. And with a shock, the witch realized why she had ran away into the forest. The village had a thousand eyes and ears, which reported to the million tongues who always directed the villages on how to eat, walk and think.

'I cannot do this.' The witch said to the prince, her eyes wide with fear.

'I love you.' He reminded her.

The prince took the witch to his castle. The witch was happy to see the stones and tried to talk to them. But the stones were all dead. The rain raged in the night, and the witch tried to talk to the rain. But the rain poured down busily like a whore whose time is up, and refused to even acknowledge her. She tried to make peace with the eyes, ears and tongues; but they alienated her.

Days and months passed. The witch was feeling more and more unhappy. But her eyes continued to shine, for they now reflected the diamonds which were in abundance in the castle. Her cheeks were powered and lips painted, and she looked every bit as beautiful as she looked when she was in the forest.

'Let me go back to the forest for a while.' She pleaded with the prince. 'Let me dance in the green moss as light as the sea, and be happy. Let me sit in the sun and listen to the silence, and find peace deep within.'

The prince was frightened of the forest, and did not want her to go back. He ordered the servants to follow her everywhere, and never to let her alone.

The witch knew what the prince was thinking ( for she could read his eyes and eyes never lie), and became sadder.

'For a week?' She asked him.

The prince refused her again. Then the witch cried, and she asked for a day. Her teardrops were eagerly looked at by the prince, for rumor had it that in a neighboring village there was a girl whose tears turned to pearls.

But no, the witches tears turned to a small fragment of the forest pool, with the reflection of a bit of the sky and the trees. The witch stepped into her tear, and went back to the forest.

The prince was now angry. 'The ungrateful wench! After I loved her so much!' he thought, and called upon all the hunters and woodcutters to the castle.

'Cut down all the plants!' he said to the woodcutters 'And burn them all so that not even a seedling is spared!'

'Kill all the animals and birds!' he said to the hunters ' Do not spare even an egg!'

'Once the forest is no more, she will definitely have to come back.' He thought with glee.

The hunters and the woodcutters set forth. A few of the village plants and animals, who have not forgotten the language of the forest, grieved, and requested the wind to warn their kin. The wind went to the witch, and whispered about the forest's fate.

The witch went to the edge of the village, where the hunters and woodcutters were assembled. The prince was there, and he smiled in happiness when he saw her.

'She is back.' He thought. 'We will have beautiful children. She will be my fair Queen and the whole world will hear of her voice which tinkle like gold goins and her lips which shine like rubies.'

The witch, with one stroke of her hand turned sword, beheaded the prince and went back into her forest.

Moral of the day:

For Princes & Princesses : Don't think that love is a finite definition which means the same to everyone. It is injurious to health.

For Warlocks and Witches: Do not indulge the Princes and Princesses. Sometimes it is better not to change a person and give up.

For me, you and everyone else: To which group do you belong to?