“Anyone who was ill was either put to death or he or she was prohibited to step foot into the kingdom. The king’s great grandparents made this law so he did not want to change it, even though he was sad about being separated from his wife.”
Abandoned
Once there was a king named Rusty. His kingdom, Forland, had been robbed by seven robbers and by now he had grown greedy because his kingdom was poor. The royal treasury in his kingdom was almost empty.
Over the years he began to grow cunning and his ministers and courtiers started to talk about leaving the castle. Forland was a small kingdom that did not have many people or houses. It was a kingdom right off the coast of Europe.
One day the queen grew ill. Nobody had any knowledge about diseases in this kingdom because there was nobody to train them. So with no money at all, the kingdom had a law that when a human was ill that person had no right to have anything to do with Forland. Anyone who was ill was either put to death or he or she was prohibited to step foot into the kingdom. The king’s great grandparents made this law so he did not want to change it, even though he was sad about being separated from his wife.
The queen had a high position so she was left out, abandoned, from the kingdom. When anyone in the royal court was ill he or she had twenty days and if that person could survive he or she was permitted in the kingdom not as a part of the royal family. So the queen was left condemned to die.
I.
It had been two days since the queen had left and Rusty could not handle having the queen out for so long. He missed seeing her jewelry and talking with her and he could not call her back because that would be fighting with tradition.
The one thing he could do was ask his courtiers to leave the kingdom with his note, paper, and pencil. He said, “Go to the jungle, find my wife, give her this note and ask her to reply on this paper.”
This was the note:
Dear Queen, October 21 1956
It has been two days since you left. We all really miss you. You’ve been a great queen. I hope you are beginning to feel better. I really miss you!
Please wait outside the kingdom because when you are permitted to step into the kingdom I will know where to find you. Please write back saying what you have been doing over the last two days.
LOVE,
RUSTY
P.S. Oh, and remember, let my guards see you so you can read this note!
Back in the forest the queen was feeling super-ill, walking toward a mysterious-looking, huge city.
II.
The guards had just left Forland and were searching all over the forest while the queen was in the mysterious city. One guard caught sight of the queen’s footprint. They followed the footprint until they found the mysterious city. When they looked at it, it was crowded with lots of business. Whereas when the queen looked at it, it was lonely and huge.
The queen was lying uncomfortably in a hospital in the mysterious city while the guards were searching all around it. They followed her footprints, until it led them in front of the hospital.
They went into the hospital where the queen was and asked the person at the counter if she had seen the queen. She said she had and she lead them to the room she was in. The guard showed the queen the letter and asked her to write back. At the end, her letter looked like this:
1995 October 25th
Dear King,
The guards took four days to find me but now I only have fourteen days left. I will wait outside of Forland until I’m permitted to step back in.
Love,
Queen
III.
The queen couldn’t go back to the kingdom yet because she had surgery for her unknown illness. All night she was lying in the hospital thinking about her surgery. After the surgery she realized it took five hours and then she was in the recovery room for the rest. The day after the surgery she started making her way up the hill until she saw a large tree that was never there before. The tree started talking. She had never seen a tree that talked.
The tree said: “Before you make it back to your kingdom, you will have to complete multiple tasks. You will have to go back into the deep part of the forest and find another tree that will give you a list of things to do.”
“Will I get a break for the night?” she asked.
“Yes. For three days you’ll be trying to find the tree. It lives almost in a different country- miles and miles away. After you make it to the other tree and he gives you a list of twelve things to do and you complete those twelve things, you will get a lot of money that you will have to pay back to the other tree. Otherwise there will be consequences.”
“Fine, I’ll do that….”
She began her journey to the forest.
IV.
The dawn broke and dusk passed. The queen continued her journey south. Now it had been eight days since she left her kingdom. Twelve more days to go before she could go back to Forland. She had seven more hours of traveling before she got to the tree.
She was tired, hungry, and thirsty. The first tree did say that the second tree the queen was going to would provide her with shade to rest, food to eat, and water to quench her thirst. She wanted to take a break but she was determined to get to the tree. When she got to the tree, it gave her a list of twelve things to do. The list looked like this:
“How will I finish everything in twelve days?” the queen asked.
“You have eight days to finish everything,” the tree said, “and then if you complete everything you will be given a box and we will call your guards.”
The queen began to ask, “Why will you call the guards?” but the tree disappeared.
V.
The next morning was the ninth day. The queen was fully recovered and she began on her first task: Go twenty miles south until you hit the border of Forland and our neighboring country. She thought, That’s going to take a long time. She began on her journey.
Surprisingly, she saw a huge, rose gold bird that stopped right in front of her and grabbed her.
“Let go of me!” the queen reproved.
“My name is Shiva,” the bird replied, “and the tree has ordered me to take you to the border of our country.”
The queen went on the bird’s back and the twenty miles was a two-hour ride on his back. After the journey was over, the queen said, “Thank you,” and met seven trees.
VI.
She thought this was her second step: At the border you’ll meet seven more trees that will tell you what to do for number two.
“For step two, you will have to take a seven hour trip to the queen of the neighboring kingdom,” the trees said. “Her name is Swira and she is very friendly. You will have to tell her that the seven robbers are in the desert. After you tell her, come back.”
She began her journey south to the castle. The same bird picked her up and this time. It was a seven hour ride to the neighboring kingdom’s castle.
At the castle door, the guard recognized the queen and said, “You are the abandoned queen of Forland who came to tell the queen where seven robbers are.”
The queen asked, “How did you know?”
The guard replied, “One of the trees you met on your journey told me about you.”
The queen asked, “Can I come inside?”
The guard said, “Yes.”
She went inside and told the queen, “The seven robbers are hiding behind a log in the desert.”
Swira replied, “Thank you,” and she left the castle. She went back to the seven trees and she didn’t see them so she went to sleep.
VII.
The next morning was a bright windy day. She took out the list of things to do and went to number three. She remembered to tell the seven trees she had come back. She thought the seven trees knew that because they still weren’t there. The queen looked at number three and it said: Start making your way back until you reach your mysterious city again. She had to make her way back to the mysterious city. That was just a two-hour journey. She walked north until she met the first tree she saw.
“Why do I only get six more days to complete nine more tasks?” she asked.
“The tasks won’t take so long,” the tree said, “Shiva is supposed to help you. Now get to the mysterious city.” She did as she was told.
When she got to the mysterious city she took out the list again and she remembered step 4: In the city, go back to the hospital and pay the lady at the counter our bills for becoming trees. She went back to the hospital and gave the lady at the counter $20.
VIII.
She finished step 4 so she took out her list again and looked at step 5: Make your way back to the hill. She walked out of the mysterious city and made her way back to the hill that lead her into the mysterious city. She remembered that step 6 was: Go back to your kingdom and wait there. She went back and waited right in front of her kingdom door.
Dusk came and dawn broke. She was tired so she went to bed and thought that the seven trees would meet her in the morning. She had five more days to complete the rest of the task. The next day she met the seven trees right outside the kingdom. She remembered that she was going to turn into a tree. Step 7 was that: All of the trees will meet you and you will become a tree.
“It will take at least three minutes for you to become a tree,” the trees said, “So you can’t talk while you’re becoming a tree.”
Before she could say anything, the trees had already started transforming her. The process started by a cloud coming over her head then a raindrop falling on her head. After the raindrop fell on her head there was a bubble that came all around her. When all four sides of the bubble were touching her at the same time she turned into a tree. As a tree, she was big and she had gold bark and green soil that always traveled under her. She was rather uncomfortable as a tree.
IX.
She decided not to do any more tasks for two days so on the last day she could finish the final five tasks. Then she thought maybe she should just finish the tasks and get them over with so she could see what the box was for.
Step 8 was: Find a place to plant yourself. She walked for two hours until she found a place near the bracken where she could plant herself. Step 9 was to: Grow roots. She knew that any plant had roots before it sprouted so she skipped that step. Step 10 was to: Grow branches. She already had branches. She thought step 9 and 10 were trying to fool her and waste her time. She thought it would hurt to unplant herself. Even though she found being a tree rather uncomfortable, she knew she had to stay as a tree for two or three more hours. She thought she should just wait until the next day to unplant herself.
Dusk passed again and it was the fifth day of having to do tasks and the fourteenth day of being abandoned from her kingdom. She had to unplant herself now. She knew she couldn’t talk during the process and it would take five minutes again so she tried breaking her roots and it took five minutes for her to unplant herself. Breaking her roots hurt her legs a lot because she had to break her roots off of her leg, and her legs were connected to her roots.
Hopping around the forest uncomfortably was one of the most dreadful parts of her twenty days, but she knew outside of her kingdom she would become a human again.
She went all the way to her kingdom when she found the seven trees as robbers. They were trying to make themselves trees again so she thought she could arrest them later for stealing jewels from her kingdom. She recognized the robbers. She was still going to arrest them later. Then Rusty might let her be the queen again so she waited until they were trees again and she started jumping towards the kingdom door.
At the door the trees said, “There’s no talking during becoming a human again, and it will take less than one minute.”
The trees started the process before she knew she was a human again. She had five more days until she could go to the kingdom again. She had finished all 12 tasks and now the trees would give the guards the box.
X.
The trees had disguised themselves as guards to get into Forland. The queen knew she recognized the human versions of them. She remembered that in the clan of the seven robbers they had four males who were always wearing the same color clothing even though the color changed. All of their faces looked wrinkled. They looked like they were wearing masks and they looked avarous. The females looked younger than the males and they looked like the males’ daughters who didn’t want to rob anybody. They asked the queen not to look at them but the queen knew they were turning into robbers then putting on costumes to look like guards. After ten minutes they looked like seven guards with a metal box that looked old. The paint was peeling off, there were cracks, and parts were missing.
“The king will receive this box,” said one of the robbers, “and it has something magical about it.”
Four of the guards climbed over the fence and three stayed with the queen.
“I know all seven of you are robbers,” said the queen. “You three are the females who don’t want to rob anybody and the four who went over the fence are your dads who are actually robbers.”
One of the daughters asked, “How did you know?”
“Today I saw you in your human versions before you turned me back into a human. It doesn’t matter if your dads want you to rob other people. You don’t have to. All three of you are grown adults who can live by themselves who can make their own choices. Nobody can control what you have to do. I knew I recognized you when I saw you in your human version. I knew you looked like the seven robbers who robbed my kingdom before it became poor.”
The daughter said, “In the box there is a magical bracelet that will make today the twentieth day of you being abandoned. Everybody will forget about how you became ill, for a few weeks you’ll be part of the royal family again, and all three of us will pay you for the twelve tasks you did. Our family should pay you more than 1,200 dollars. The tasks that they made you do were so they could make their own money.”
In the kingdom, Rusty had just received the magical box and the robbers had just left the castle when their daughters ran away. The queen was hiding behind a bush so the robbers didn’t think the queen drove their daughters away. The king had just taken out his bracelet and just pressed the red button that made him and his guard think that today was the twentieth day of the queen being abandoned. The robbers had just come out of the kingdom and they knew the king recognized them.
XI.
The king was overjoyed. He and his guards had just opened the kingdom door to let the queen in.
“The four people who just came in the kingdom were actually robbers. The robbers who stole our gold before I grew ill who made our kingdom poor.”
Once the queen entered the kingdom it started raining diamonds. The queen knew this was from the robbers’ daughters. The king sent the guards out to find the robbers and arrest them. The kingdom became rich again. Over the years, the queen gave birth to newborn children and they married princes and princesses that made Forland a bigger and happier place. Rusty was not greedy and cunning anymore.
The End of the Queen’s Story
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