A Far Off Kingdom By The Sea
Fantasy for reading to kids
By John D, Boyden
Contact at: jdb_educator@msn.com
Once upon a time, a long, long, time ago in a far off Kingdom by the sea, there were a prince and princess who went for a walk in the forest. The forest was a deep, dark forest with lots of creepy, crawly, things that could bite.
As Prince Danny and Princess Karen walked into the woods, they both heard a scary howl that sounded like a big beast in a lot of pain.
They looked at each other and nodded, looking just a little scared. Both agreed to go and find out what was wrong.
Would you have done that? Some people I know would have run home and hid under the covers of their bed!
They walked carefully and quietly toward the painful screams. Soon they saw a huge black bear with a shiny, silver nose snarling, yelling, growling and… whimpering…all from pain. The reason why became all to clear. The bear's left leg, especially his left foot to the top of his ankle, was caught in a giant steel trap. Blood flowed from the poor beast's ankle, all over his foot. His howling made the hair of the children stand almost straight up.
What would you do?
These two brave princes of the realm, a realm is their land, moved quickly. They ran toward the big dangerous bear. Would he bite? Would he attack with those huge claws that could rip, destroy, cripple, kill, or even just hurt a lot? Our heroes gave all that not even a thought as they each set their feet on the sides of a bear trap. The bear went silent…watching. Using their swords, feet, and hands-along with a lot of effort- they finally released the trap and freed the bear. The bear lifted his foot and turned toward the children.
Suddenly… the bear's huge black body began to shimmer. The huge body began to change shape. The bear looked like a picture cut out of a magazine. Then it looked like an outline drawing rippling like a pool of water when you throw a stone in it. Then it changed again and looked dangerous, scary, more like a stormy cloud, dark, and moving all over in itself. Then yet came another -the final- change, as the body began to take on a more…human form.
The royal prince and princess could not believe their eyes.
It was! No, it couldn't be that! It was! Standing tall and very well known before the two princes was… the King! Their father looked down upon them. He smiled. He looked proud and pleased. As he gazed down on his two children, he spoke. "I am proud of you both," he said with a smile, "You have proved to me that you will take care of far more than people in our Kingdom. You have proved that you will care for all of our creatures in the forest." The king looked very serious and very happy at the same time. He smiled down on his children. "It is clear you will one day rule our kingdom well."
"King Daddy" squealed the children as they jumped up on him, hugging him a bunch.
