A non-cliche fairy tale

Once upon a time there was a Prince named Francis, in a kingdom far, far away. Now this isn’t your average, cliché fairy-tale. This isn’t a tale of true love’s first kiss or dragons or witches. This young prince was about ten years of age and was having the grandest fun any boy could ever have. Abusing the guards and butlers, riding his favorite horse every day, and going to his favorite place in the whole wide world he had named ‘Mother’s clearing’ to honor his late mother. HE would escape the harsh rules of the castle and go to a little river in which have a tall hill for cloud-gazing and woods for exploring. ‘Mother’s clearing’ was his own secret forever, and he made sure to keep it that way. He tended to the flowers and pulled the weeds; he built a bridge over the river, and made sure to hide his secret with trees, leaves, and bushes.

            In the young princes’ clearing he had learned many things such as; which berries were poisonous, architecture, astronomy, swordsmanship from hunting and defeating beasts. The young prince grew up little by little, for he no longer fooled with guards and butlers, but kept to himself; he wasn’t interested in neither ruling over the land or find a bride. For he was already king of the clearing in which he loved so dearly, he gave up his young teenage days, but was still a fine young man, perhaps finer than most.

            It was on one day, that it was princes’ twentieth birthday, a fine noble, and brother of the new King, a fine solider, thinker, and gentle-heartened man. He went to his clearing where he had seen a beautiful young maiden bathing in the river, embarrassed he turned away and waited for her sweet singing to stop. When it had he introduced himself timidly, from the lack of interacting with girls, and stuttered often. She said to have been a princess of a small, far away land in which she ran away, because she was being forced to marry a man she did not love. She said it was then she stumbled upon the beautiful ‘sanctuary’ and decided to bask in its glory and explore it. He told her that of when he found this place when he was little and had cared for it, and named it after his late mother. They both shared stories of their lives, tragedies, comedies, hopes, and dreams.

            Now, this story really isn’t a cliché story about true love’s first kiss, but it really is about love whether it is for a girl, boy, or a garden. For the prince and princess had gotten married and lived in the clearing  for the rest of their days. They had children that mended the garden and their children, and so on and so forth. You ask me how I know this; it is because on my twentieth birthday it will be my clearing, my responsibility and duty to love, cherish, and tend as my great-great- great grandfather and grandmother had taught to do so.