The King & The Advisor

Photo Courtesy: CelebMix.com

This story is a result of a challenge I did earlier. It's a children's story that can teach even the oldest of timers. And I feel that if you acknowledge the power of perspective in your life, it can really do wonders for you.

I want to resume on the Youth and Us series after this and if you don't know what that is, hit the "home" option on you're screen to find out. 

If you're the kind of person who can't find the right guy/gal, don't feel fulfilled by your job, have to pretend like you're Ok all the time or don't have strong meaningful friendships and relationships, then this is the series for you. And where we are going next, you gonna want to have read the first two. 

Otherwise without further a do, here's the story of the King & his Advisor. Break a leg yo 😄

"Once upon a time there lived a great king who ruled a big land with lots of people and houses. The King lived in a beautiful palace by the ocean and his kingdom rose around it. 

The kingdom was next to a big scary dark forest made of fat and ugly Baobab and other trees that were said to hide monsters and beautiful animals. Some even say that during the full moon, the trees would move around the forest and even talk to each other. 

The elders tell stories of how once the monsters attacked their village and they all ran into the palace and were protected by its big fort walls. And that the monsters till this day await anyone who goes to the dark forest alone at night to eat them.

The king had a best friend who always was there for him. This friend helped the king rule the kingdom with fairness, kindness, honesty and justice. His name was the Advisor.

Advisor and the King grew up together and we're best friends since their childhood. One day when they were playing swords together, the palace doors flew open and the bravest and strongest men in the kingdom walked in. 

Each of these men was chosen by their village elders to join a special group of men who went into the dark forest for many days to fetch food like meat and fruits for their people. They were known as the Royal Guard.

Everyone in the village loved them because they were brave and not scared of the forest. People would gather around them and hear their scary stories of monsters and dragons, and all of the beautiful animals and plants that lit up in wonderful colors. 

After the stories the King and Advisor would pick up sticks and play pretend of fighting monsters and ogres in the forest. And they wished that one day, they would also go out into the forest and fight monsters and bring food to the people. 

Finally when they were older, they joined the strong men. They were so happy and loved going out with the strong men to bring food and fruits. They saw plants that close their leaves when touched, some that light up in the night like street lamps, leaves that caught fire when they fell, birds that would scream instead of chirp and animals that grew flowers on their backs.

The King's favourite were the floating cottellas that looked like bright jellyfish swimming. They were so many and they only appeared at night around the biggest tree in the forest. Sometimes the ocean water would rise and reach the tree and glowing fish would come out and start moving in bright blue circles around the tree. Everytime he saw them, he felt happy and relaxed. 

However, ever since the king and his friend joined the hunting group, they have never seen any monsters or ogres before. But that was about to change. 

One day, the strong men were leaving for their trip to fetch more food for the kingdom. The king and the advisor decided to join them in their journey. But this time, things were different.

After they entered the forest, the sun suddenly hid behind dark rainy clouds and the trees started dancing from side to side to the wind that blew on them strongly, making scary sounds as if they cried. 

The forest became dark like night and the plants did not light up like street lamps. Suddenly, it was quiet. Too quiet. And it started feeling extremely cold and silent. Then, scary noises started running around them making everyone a little scared. 

Everyone took out their swords as one of the strong men lighted a fire torch to see in the darkness. When the torch was ready, the man lifted it up for everyone to see properly and to their surprise, a monster stood right next to them. 

It's mouth was open with sharp teeth, feet with long claws and a fat tail with spikes on it. It hit the man with the torch down and roared like thunder to the other men.

The king took his sword and run towards the monster to fight it. He picked up the torch and swung it left and right together with the sword. The monster tried to fight back but the fire frightened it away. It then roared in defeat but before running away, swung it's sharp tail and hit the king on his hand. 

The king was in pain and the strong men rushed him back to the kingdom to be treated. But the damage was too great. And the King could no longer use his hand like before. 

He was so sad and disappointed in himself. His friend the Advisor came to visit him in the treatment room in his palace and saw how sad the king was.

 The advisor told his best friend that it was part of God's plan that his hand would not be healed well enough but because the king was still very sad, he told his friend to leave and never help him rule the kingdom again.

The Advisor was saddened by this but he said that this was also part of God's plan. And he left.

Years passed since the accident and the King got much better with using his other hand in most activities. He even started going out with the strong men again. He was faring well.

One day, he got a message from the neighboring kingdom to go visit them for an important meeting. The trip to the other kingdom would take a week's journey on horseback. And since they would be passing near the dark forest, the king asked the strong men to go with him and hunt for food for their journey.

When the time for the journey came, the sun hid behind dark rainy clouds again and the trees started to swing side by side to the wind that blew on them strongly, making them cry again.

The King got afraid for sometime but because the meeting was of great importance, he decided to go on with the journey. 

As they prepared to enter the dark forest, suddenly, shouting was heard all over inside it. Everyone froze for a second and thought people were  in trouble. The King drew out his sword once again. The other men joined him as well and made circles around him for protection. 

Suddenly, one of the men shouted and then magically disappeared into the forest. And then another. Then another. Nobody could see what was happening and who was taking the strong men. 

The King swung his sword frantically to the left, then to the right and then to the left again until finally, the shouting stopped. The king was shocked when he realized he was the only one left. Everyone else was gone.

He held tight to his sword looking around to see if he saw anything. Then, a short man with big eyes, pointed teeth and a long tongue stepped out from the bushes. Other short men started appearing and before long, he was completely surrounded. 

One of them, who wore a big ring sawn with dry grass like the shape of a crown, stepped forward from them and stood Infront of the king. 

Sweat dripped from the King's face as the short man moved close to him. He begun sniffing the King. And then sniffed his good hand, and then his hurt hand. He looked back at the King deep in his eyes and suddenly let out a loud shout with his large eyes popped out even more in anger. The rest of the short men also started shouting at the King and that is when he knew it was all over, so he shut his eyes closed, and waited for the worst.

And then, there was silence...The king opened his eyes and the short men were all gone. 

He got on his horse and quickly rode back to his palace and went straight to his old friend's house, the Advisor, near the mangrove trees at the shore of the ocean. He told him all that had happened.

After listening to the King, his friend explained to him that those short men were the evil witchdoctors from the South hills of Atita, and they were the enemies of many kingdoms and villages around the Indian Ocean shore. 

The Advisor continued to explain that the King was spared only because these enemies only took people who were not hurt in any way in regard to their bodies.

After hearing this, the king was so happy and pleased that he got hurt on his hand otherwise, he would have also been taken by the witchdoctors.

Suddenly, the Advisor started to laugh and laugh. The king was confused and asked why he was doing so. The Advisor explained to the King with a wide smile on his face that, if the king had not hurt his hand, he would have not sent him away. And if he was not sent away then they would have been together when the witchdoctors attacked and the Advisor would also have been caught.

So by sending him away, the King had actually saved the life of the Advisor. They both laughed in joy and the King said that truly, it was all in God's plan. 

Since that day, whatever good or bad happened to the King and his people, he knew that it was all in God's plan and that God always wants the best for His servants. Even when everything seems to be going the wrong way, it is indeed, all for the best of them.

           The End