Faith, Hope, Love, and Dumpster Fires

I've got them all…and MS

Any semblance between characters in this story and real persons, living or dead, is not coincidental. When real people act like assholes, the story basically writes itself. Just saying.

Once upon a time, in a kingdom not so far away, there lived a royal family. This family was far different than other royals. The leader of this family, the king, was not given the title based on heredity, as is often the case. Instead, this king earned the title from his peers, after many years of hard work and dedication. He ruled with confidence, compassion, and generosity, and turned a small village into a bustling kingdom with an incredible economy. He was greatly respected by those within his kingdom as well as those from much farther away.

Once they were old enough, the king shared the responsibilities of governing the kingdom with his sons, the princes. The three working together were a powerhouse of incredible strength and triumph. The kingdom flourished under their rule, and it grew for many years at an almost unstoppable rate. People came from far away to learn their practices so they too, could rule so successfully.

As the king grew older, he found he was ready for life beyond the palace walls. He wanted to spend time on his land, travel to other places, and see new things. He decided the princes would now take over the kingdom. Those that knew the princes closely were keenly aware of the differences in their personalities and leadership styles. All the years the king ruled, he acted as a buffer for them, calming tensions and cooling tempers. The king’s future absence began to create fear among those in the kingdom. Who would be there to bring peace when war was being waged from within? How would the kingdom continue to flourish when its leaders couldn’t see eye to eye? Both intelligent and hard-working, qualities one lacked were present in the other. It should have been a perfect combination for a thriving future full of prosperity.

Over the years, the princes had built a group of trusted and reliable subjects to assist each of them in their royal duties. Though the designated members of these groups worked with everyone for the collective good of the kingdom, they were most loyal to the prince they worked closest with. One prince demonstrated great strength and compassion to his subjects, while one ruled with an iron fist and felt threatened because of his insecurities. Stronger in his rule and wiser in his decisions, the kind prince began to feel the animosity growing from his brother, as did his own subjects. Conversations turned into battles, gatherings turned into power struggles and tempers flared as never before. Greed and jealousy reared its ugly head and the unstable prince wanted more. More power. More control. More of everything. And he decided to find a way to make it happen.

As time moved on, the insecure prince surrounded himself with subjects trained in the dark arts. Witches began feeding him information and helped him appear fit to rule, drunk in their own quest for power and praise. They took the prince’s fear and jealousy and helped him grow into a monster that was too large to tame. He began to hate his brother and was convinced the kingdom would be better off without him. Led by an evil and manipulative shrew trained in witchcraft, they waged war on the brother.

A kingdom that was once a beacon of success, expertise, and comradery was now filled with bitterness, treachery, and backstabbing. The structure was crumbling, and the future was uncertain. The evil prince wanted control, but many knew he didn’t stand a chance on his own, and the kingdom would fall under his rule. Armed with his unholy and foul sidekicks, the prince sought help from a kingdom far away. Far enough away that they were unaware of the battles being fought and who stood for good or who sided with evil. Far enough away that they only saw the past success of the kingdom and couldn’t comprehend the loss of character and nobility with the exit of the trusted king and the strong prince. They joined forces with the evil prince and assisted in his takeover. What remained of a once prosperous and magnificent kingdom now seemed to be in ruins.

The prince chose to leave the kingdom behind and live a life free of the darkness that had consumed his brother and his subjects. Some of the prince’s subjects followed him into the unknown, escaping the betrayal and deception. The unknown held possibility and happiness. Those that remained knew they would be a target for elimination; however, they hunkered down, hoping to be invisible and anxiously waiting for peace and prosperity to return.

The unstable prince soon became king and his thirst for power could not be quenched. His evil followers fed that desire and encouraged the belief that eradicating all subjects loyal to his brother was vital for the kingdom’s survival. Hate had consumed the new king and he was willing to do anything necessary to please those who supplied him with the strength and knowledge to rule the kingdom, so permission was granted to eliminate anyone not willing to stand with him in the past. Careful consideration had to be taken to present the king as a leader and not the enemy, so his witches carried out the plan on his behalf. Although important to the success of the kingdom, loyal, trusted, and hard-working individuals were subjected to continued embarrassment and mistreatment. Some fought to stay, to show their worth, and to remain in the kingdom, but to no avail. There was no altering of the plan. Soon, anyone loyal to the former prince was gone and the new king presented himself as he always had. As a trusting, caring, and capable leader. When you live a lie long enough, apparently you start to believe it yourself.

Couldn’t have said it better myself, Ben.

7 thoughts on “Once Upon A Time…

    1. It definitely is not. But I’m happy to be on the other end of all this and am so much better. It was a heck of a year, that is for sure.

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