By Ryan Middleton
Once upon a time, there was a planet that always smiled, and Patricia was the Queen of it.
Every morning, she would rise, and if the Sun wasn't shining, she would shine her bright smile at it until it shone.
If the birds weren't singing, she would sing so beautifully until they sang.
If the flowers didn't bloom, she would whisper to them until they bloomed.
If someone didn't have a smile on their face, Queen Patricia would share one of hers.
One day, she met a surly old curmudgeon, the Old Grinch. Tried as she might, she could not get him to smile. Day after day, week after week, she tried to no avail. Months, even years, went by with no success.
"How could anyone be so dour?" she wondered. She thought about giving up on him and began feeling a growing sadness. As time passed, her passion for smiling waned. The Sun started rising later and later in the day. The birds started squawking instead of singing. The flowers began fading. More and more people stopped smiling. Even the curmudgeon grew grumpier.
Queen Patricia said to herself, "This must not be! I cannot let this happen! I am the Queen of Smiles!" So, she thought out a plan. She sent out notes to every citizen of the planet. She did not know them all personally, but she told each of them something special about themselves, about how each one matters to everyone else. She sent them her love, admiration, and gratitude for every contribution they made, great or small, to the planet's well-being. She also asked them to send out similar notes to whomever they could.
Things started to change slowly, and as time went on, the momentum grew. Soon, people were smiling again. The flowers were blooming again. The birds were singing again. Even the Sun was up before daybreak.
One day, there was a knock at Queen Patricia's door. She opened it, and there was the curmudgeon---smiling! Although puzzled, Queen Patricia couldn't help but smile. Curious, she asked him what made him change.
"All my life, I was bitter and hateful. I felt all the smiling faces were just a facade. People just pretending to be nice. It was all just a fake, a put-on. Nobody could really be that happy, I felt. There was nothing to be happy about. Colored flowers were nothing to me. Bird singing was just a bunch of noise to me. The Sun was always hot and gave me a sunburn.
"I wanted it to all stop. Eventually, it did. People started frowning. The flowers withered, the birds chortled horribly, The clouds made everything gray and dismal. And I only felt worse. It really started to bother me that the world I asked for was really happening. I prayed to the powers that be to end the misery I wrought. I doubted that would ever happen, but I hoped against hope.
"Then, one day, I got your note. Somehow, you seemed to sense my desire to turn things around. You, the Queen of Smiles, thought I was a wonderful contributor to the well-being of this planet. What I did, I do not know. But I knew I had to make it come true. I labored day and night for weeks, composing and sending notes to everyone I knew. It mattered not how much or how little I liked anyone; I told each of them how I felt they made their wonderful contributions. Before I knew it, acquaintances became friends, and enemies became closest of friends. It gave me more joy than I could possibly have imagined.
"I felt I needed to personally share this wonderful news with you and thank you for believing in me."
Queen Patricia, of course, was overwhelmed and speechless. "You are so welcome, good sir. Would you please come in and have a cup of tea?"
The End
No comments:
Post a Comment