Anyone who has known me for more than five minutes is aware that Sunday evenings are my most favorite time of the week. In fact, those evenings are what give me the strength to get through the rest of the week.
I looked down at my precious daughter snuggled up against my side. Every time I see her I’m in awe that she was given to a person like me. We’d gotten off to a really rocky start for the first two years of her life. The consequences from those two years are the curse that I must bear for my maternal irresponsibility. I try hard not to remember those years of Lily’s life. Instead, I focus on the past five “good” years leading up to this exact moment.
“Momma, Nimby wants you to start the story.”
Chuckling, I dropped a quick kiss on her forehead. “He does, does he?”
“Yep!” She scrunched up her nose in that endearing way that always brings a smile to my lips.
“Do you want to hear the story too, Lil Lil?”
Lily nodded snuggling even closer to me…if that was possible.
I took a deep breath…
Once upon a time, there was a Princess and Queen that ruled over the rich kingdom of Rodillen. The Queen was wise and fair while the Princess was beautiful and kind. They were loved by their people and shared their wealth with everyone. It was one of the happiest kingdoms in the world.
Then one day a stranger appeared before them. He was a charming man from a far off land whose people needed a home. Through a silver tongue and wonderful stories, he charmed the Queen and Princess. They allowed him to stay as a member of their court and his people were allowed to share in Rodillen’s wealth. Everyone was happy and the new citizens soon became family. Then one day the charming man proposed to the Queen and they became husband and wife.
It was the night after the wedding that Rodillen fell into despair. The Queen and the Princess were locked in the dungeon by the charming man. Revealing himself to be the Thief King, he took over the wealth of Rodillen and let his loyal thieves take over the kingdom. The citizens became scared and poor as the thieves took everything for themselves. The Thief King claimed the greatest of prizes that his followers stole and amassed a fortune in his treasure rooms. News spread and Rodillen became known as the kingdom of thieves.
Ten years later, a halfling thief named Nimby slipped into Rodillen. He was a friendly little thief with curly hair on his head and thick fur on his feet. Always dancing and telling stories, Nimby made many friends in the kingdom. One day he was told about the Princess and the Queen who once ruled Rodillen. He realized that many citizens were unhappy and that something had to be done. Being a helpful and trouble-making thief, Nimby decided to have some fun with the Thief King. The next morning Nimby went to visit the Thief King in his castle full of riches.
“It is an honor to meet a thief as skilled as you,” Nimby said with a low bow.
“Thank you, my little halfling,” the Thief King replied. He glowed with pride and leaned down from his golden throne. “What brings you here?”
“I am a humble thief and wished to learn what makes you so powerful,” Nimby answered. He smiled humbly and kept his eyes on the Thief King’s feet. “How do you control so many thieves?”
“I am their leader, so they obey me,” the Thief King declared.
“Thieves are not loyal people, your majesty,” Nimby calmly said. “Are you not afraid that they will betray you?”
A soft snore interrupted me. Blinking, I glanced down at Lily whose steady breathing informed me that she was sound asleep. With a soft smile I gently extricated myself from my position of being her pillow. I covered her with a light blanket. I watched her sleep for a few precious moments wondering if she’d picked up on the subtle parallelisms between the fairy tale and our lives.
A big “Thank You” to Nimby (aka Charles) for writing this wonderful fairy tale that Vanilla will be telling Lily on their Sunday evenings together. Please make sure to go check out Charles’s blog
