The Dream Stealers

Yana, The Princess who Learned to Dream

In the heart of the Maple Forest, there was a tiny kingdom. It’s not that the castle or the inhabitants were small. On the contrary, they were all regular size, even taller were some, compared to the townsfolk who lived in the nearby villages.

The name of this kingdom was “WorkVille”, and it lived up to its name. The people of WorkVille earned their reputation as hard workers. Every day, from morning till night, all they did was work.

The King and Queen of this castle, were, as you might have guessed, hard workers.

As soon as they got up in the morning, right after a quick breakfast, they would tend their chores of keeping the castle neat and clean.

This gave a great example to the butlers, maids, gardeners, and all those who worked in the castle. Even the entertainers, including the Jester, had duties to fulfil when they weren’t entertaining.

Now and then, the Jester would complain, “ Your majesty, I’m an entertainer...so I do my work while I’m entertaining!”

The king would reply, “when you are not intriguing, you are hunching around inference. It is much better to work than it is to think. Do not waste your useful time thinking about something- when you can do it physically in person!”

The Jester knew he had a point. So, in his spare time, he stopped thinking and traded his thoughts for manual labour.

Then, one day, something extraordinary happened. The Queen, who was middle-aged finally conceived and gave birth to a baby girl.

The royal parents named her their daughter, Princess Yana. She was a gorgeous girl and an enormous life. As the years went by she grew into a beautiful princess. She was not only gorgeous to look at but the hardest working princess in all the kingdoms of the Maple Forest.

When word got out the other princesses would talk among themselves.

During lunch, at a nearby royal palace, while a group of princesses were dining together, one princess said, “ have you heard the latest news on that hard-working “Yana”!...she got down and scrubbed the kitchen floor.

The other princesses were horrified. One very privileged princess said, “you mean she got down on her hands and knees- with a scrub brush?”

The other important princess smiled and said, “Yup...and she did it just because she let a little splash from her coffee cup hit the floor”

The other princesses looked horrified at this remark.

Finally, they all just shook their heads in disbelief...one even murmured....” hard work, that’s something I could never do”

The others nodded in agreement.

Back at the castle princess Yana was sitting in her room, quietly thinking. She kept this to herself. She was careful not to mention that she spent some of her time thinking. Especially, around her parents. Her father was a constant worker. He expected that trait from everyone in his employ, even his daughter.

Yana’s mother was more forgiving. She even indicated that once in a while it was ok to think. She told her daughter,

“Long ago, when I was immature, I used to speculate a lot. Occasionally I would steady dream!”

Yana, interrupted her mother, “Dream? What is that, I never heeded that utterance before?”

The Queen smirked, “Dreaming, my child, is when you yearn for something. When you yearn for love and camaraderie. To dream is to hope for a bright future.”

Princess Yana looked puzzled. “Then why are there no utopians in our sovereignty? Now that I have learned of this privilege I shall become a dreamer!”

With that said, she jumped up and began to dance around in circles!

Soon, word got out that Princess Yana had become an idealist. At first,  all the workers were shocked. Then,  as the thought began to sink in...they too began to dream.

Even the King, who had been such a staunch hireling, capitulated. “Maybe, there is something to this aspiring...I may endeavour it for myself.”

And he did...for the first time in his life, he had a tiny smile on his face.

His joy had spread to the whole kingdom. Soon, everyone began to dream. They found wishes that they had suppressed. They felt the freedom they had never known. Most of all, they felt the meaning of true respect ...as it is at the core of the wishful dream.

That night there was a banquet at the royal castle. Everyone in the kingdom was invited. The king emitted a declaration...”All work is important..but so is the right to dream.

Therefore, work hard, but also make time for what you care about and desire.”

He even told the jester he was right when he argued...there is more to life beside hard work.

That night at the ball everyone danced and were happy!

Crouched in the rafters above the ballroom were a tribe of magic elves..these were “The Dream Stealers”

They were the ones that had stolen the dreams of the King, his family, and all those in this kingdom.

They were furious. Now that everyone knew how to dream it would be so much harder to try to steal their dreams, again.

Kooko, the leader of the elves, said with a sneer on his face, “So, they think they can have their wishes fulfilled in their dreams...we shall see about that?”

He and his band of “dream snatchers” crept back to their hidden hideout in the forest to plan their move on getting the dreams they so much desired to be their own...

P.S. part two of this fairytale to be in my book will be available later this year.

Also, thanks to Yana for inspiring me to write this story.

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