(Editor's Note: This story is suitable only for children and dreamers.)
Once upon a time in the land of love and the kingdom of compassion lived the Princess of Chocolate and the Prince of Yogurt.
Besides their undying commitment to each other they shared many passions; for all incredibly beautiful wise children, all wonderful plants and diversity of animals; and the sky, water, and earth smells radiating out from the center of beginning.
They knew their hearts. They pulsated and called them to explore beyond, beyond the great beyond. This beginning was somewhere they knew existed, somewhere, somehow. They listened to their hearts.
“I can feel it,” said the Princess.
“What do you feel,” asked her Prince moving toward her and wanting to put his arms around her to comfort her in case she was afraid or needed a long hug, but he knew she was strong and happy in her heart so he started making cheese sandwiches with miracle whip on thick slices of freshly baked whole wheat bread from the finest grains in the land and waited for her voice.
“I feel where the ocean begins,” the Princess said with radiant deep brown eyes.
“Shall we go there?” asked the Prince as he sliced fresh apples from their abundant fertile garden which stretched as far as his radiant blue eyes could see.
The Princess stood next to the Prince and they felt the season’s spark and they looked into a new spring after a long wet winter. A monarch butterfly wearing long black, orange, green rust, chiffon, and vermilion draped robes like so many rose petals soared from their garden into a brilliant emerald blue sky filled with white cumulus clouds.
They had a huge lovely vegetable and herb garden illustrated with roses and rainbow kites of every imaginable color and many toys; stuffed animals like rabbits, bears, sheep, dolls, camels, snow leopards, tigers, robots, fire breathing dragons, Hopi Katsina earth spirits and spinning meditation prayer wheels from Tibet.
A lily pond in the distance floated with music played by every instrument as books written in every language spilled their wisdom like rain upon the garden.
“Yes,” answered the Princess dancing with joy. “Let’s have an adventure! Yes. Let’s find the beginning of the ocean.”
So, they packed up their lunches and supplies of extra crunchy peanut butter, strawberry jam, brown bread, juices, lots of bananas, milk, eggs, cheeses, tomatoes, pasta, rice, toothbrushes, mint-waxed mental floss, fragrant soaps, candles, extra jeans, sweaters —especially favorite ones embroidered with Celtic designs, their favorite hats, paintbrushes (just in case) a teddy bear named Kuma and their favorite poetry books.
They saddled up their horses, Wind & Lightning and traveled in all four directions at once following their guide, a beautiful golden eagle with a wing span that almost covered the sun and moon simultaneously.
They traveled on Wind & Lightning day after day and night after night and never became tired. They dreamed with their eyes open. They flowed, floated and followed their hearts until they reached the edge of the center.
One day, while swimming in the ocean of their love they dove below the surface of appearances where everything was beautifully plain and simple and pure on their adventure and they traveled very deep into warm gentle turquoise waters and discovered a secret spirit cave teeming and brimming and pulsating with the heartbeat of many magical sources of inspiration and beauty.
They laughed and explored all the wonderful hidden underworld ocean treasures and everything was very perfect, eerily silent and mysterious. They came to a moss covered door.
“Where is the key?” wondered the Princess.
“ A HA!” explained the Prince, “excellent question. Perhaps someone, or something will help us.”
Just then a silver backed sliver of a dolphin emerged from the shadows, circled them and released an old rusty key.
The door opened easily as breathing. They floated through a delightful maze of caves. Inside a huge cavern flooded with light they discovered floors, walls and ceilings filled with fantastic art from everywhere in the world. It all seemed to be arranged in a form of historical magical time circle.
The Princess and Prince floated into visual images of prehistoric art, magnificent cave paintings, ancient civilizations, into Greek and Roman Empires. They traced sculptures, floated around and through grand architectures past rising columns reaching into the sky. They admired and observed many fabulous paintings of, by and for people, places and things. They traced Asian Silk Routes finding delicate ornate tapestries and engraved ornamental jewels on fire.
They laughed and played and zoomed around like children discovering artists and living art. They met Giotto, Brugel, Bosch, Rodin, Matisse, Vermeer, Homer, Goya, Durer and new friends.
They were filled with beauty, light, form, texture, line, color, perspective, honor, clarity, charity, depth, substance, passion, dispair, lonliness, hopefulness, precision, whimsy, humor, anger, fear, kindness, intelligence, trust, forgiveness, happiness, love, genuine authentic real joy and courage.
“This is all so beautiful,” said the Prince.
“I am so happy,” said the Princess. “May we stay here together for a long time? I want us to see everything.”
“Yes, of course we can, my Princess."
“Yes,” they said.
The Princess and Prince were so happy to see everything together they cried tears of happiness and their tears created the beginning of the ocean.
(originally published as an e-book with ebooksonthe.net)