Once Upon a time

a fairy tale

Once upon a time there lived two little princesses in two little castles (one to the east and one to the west) in a broad plain bordered by sparkling blue rivers. Both girls had perfect little ring-curls of blonde that framed their perfect heart shaped faces. Both girls had red pouty lips and sparkling blue eyes. Both girls, it seemed, were perfect and identical in every way.

Both girls believed in winged beings that lived in the skies above the fields of their domains. They would talk to their invisible friends, who would, in turn, send them mysterious signs which only they understood fully. If the girls were in danger, their winged companions would be there to help them out. Sometimes the help they gave was beautiful... like a vision of a shower of flowers. Sometimes it was terrible, like a lightning strike that killed the rude freeman's cow. But the little girls never doubted that whatever it was, their invisible winged beings were helping them out.

Then one day a prince came with his army and called both princesses to a hearing.

"I hear you both have invisible friends of the air, friends who aide you, comfort you, and defend you in times of need. Is this true?" the prince asked.

"Yes, it is." Both princesses replied.

"If your friends are invisible, how do you know they're there?" The prince asked.

"Oh, they aren't always invisible." The girls chimed in chorus. "Sometimes they make themselves seen. Sometimes they make themselves known by other things... things they do that can't be explained away."

"So what do you call your invisible winged friends?" the prince asked.

The girl from the west replied "Angels" at the same time the girl from the east replied "Fairies."

The prince looked at the princess from the west and smiled. "You will be my bride and rule over all the lands between the rivers."

The girl princess from the east was shocked. "You can't do that." She said. "Half of the land is mine!"

The prince looked at her with scorn. "You're crazy. Everyone knows there's no such thing as fairies. You are unfit to rule, and besides, I have a bigger army."

So the princess from the east was bound and thrown into a dungeon, but the kindly queen, formally the princess of the west, visited her every day to try to teach her that angels were real while fairies were just plain silly.