THE
PRINCESS
By
BaddTeddy
This
is the stuff dreams are made of
and
what you about to read was my childhood dream...
Once
upon a time in a faraway land in a small kingdom, lived a king, a queen,
many villagers, and a few brave knights. One day a princess was born.
Although an ordinary child, there was something remarkably special about
her. When she smiled, everyone in the room smiled with her. Her smiles
were contagious. She was born a simple, loving child.
During
the princess's childhood the village came under repeated attack by fierce
dragons. The dragons were such evil and unhappy creatures that they
could not stand that the villagers were such happy people. The dragons
and the brave knights did battle again and again, until there were only
a few of each remaining. Their numbers so drastically reduced, neither
side could find the energy to bring an end to the other and so, in time,
it became a standoff.
When
she was four years old, an evil dragon tried to take the princess away
from her home. The dragon had scared the princess badly. For weeks she
cried alone in bed each night, but nobody could help her shake this
fear she had of dragons.
Finally, the king asked the court wizard if he might find a cure. The
wizard thought and thought, and finally came up with a wonderful idea.
He told the king that he was going to give the princess a teddy bear
to help her feel safe at night, and that he would endow this bear with
magic powers. This bear would be able to walk, talk and to hug. The
bear could hold the princess at night and ease her fears. The king was
ecstatic.
The
princess loved the little bear, and held him close and told him how
much she loved him. The bear seemed to move a little within her arms,
and all was well.
That
night the princess took the teddy to bed with her. She held the bear
close and loved it with all her might. For the first time in weeks,
she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She slept
soundly for a while and then woke up screaming once again. The teddy
bear reached around her, and held the princess in his fur-covered little
arms and said, "You have nothing to fear, I am here to protect
you, and I love you, Princess." The princess fell back to sleep
with a smile on her face and never had bad dreams again.
As
the years went by the princess grew, as princesses are apt to do, she
began to outgrow childish fears. Her need to hold the teddy bear decreased
and more and more often she left him sitting beside, instead of on the
bed. As her needs waned, so did the strength of her love. The teddy
bear became more and more sluggish. Finally, he could no longer talk
and was barely able to walk, but he never complained, for he loved the
princess.
Now, the teddy was a good sort, as teddies usually are. He was kind,
loving, and especially forgiving. He did not understand why his princess
had forsaken him and thought that maybe he had done something bad. He
did not know what this bad thing was, but eventually became consumed
with the idea that he was a bad teddy bear. He kept mumbling this word
over and over. Although not quite clearly spoken, he said it so many
times that soon he became known as BaddTeddy throughout the village.
Eventually, the princess outgrew BaddTeddy. As her love diminished,
so did BaddTeddy's magic. Finally, he became what the wizard had predicted,
a big lump of fur just like every other teddy bear in the land.
In time, the princess moved to a new and bigger room befitting a woman
of her stature. Her childhood toys and BaddTeddy were left behind. The
little teddy remembered and was sad, not for himself, but for the princess.
He had known her when she was full of the life, hope, love and energy
of childhood. Now she was happy as an adult but, like all other humans,
had lost something in growing up. He could never have found a way to
put it into words even if he could speak, but he shed many a tear while
thinking of how sad it was to watch her lose the innocence of childhood.
Many years passed
and Teddy was now locked in the princess's childhood bedroom gathering
dust, but still he loved her and remembered.
One day, a horrible thing happened. A giant dragon, over fifty feet
tall, came to the village. He spied the princess, remembered her from
long ago and stole her away to his cave many miles away.
There he kept her prisoner as he would keep a pet. In the meantime,
the king gathered together the entire village looking for someone to
save his daughter, but there were few knights left and most were past
their prime, for many had been killed during the dragon wars. The king
offered his kingdom and his daughter's hand in marriage to the one knight
who would save the princess. The few remaining knights then set out
with dreams in their heads of the king's offer, never to return. None
were a match for the mighty fire-breathing dragon.
The king
was left with no one to save his daughter. He would have tried himself,
had he not been so old and feeble. He went to the room of her childhood,
to remember and to cry for her, for he knew that his daughter was lost
forever. As he sat on her bed with tears flowing down his cheek, he
repeated over and over again that there was no one left to save his
daughter from the dragon. The king looked up and could not believe his
eyes. In the chair across the room, BaddTeddy was trying to rise. He
had lain there so long that even the king had forgotten about him. As
the king watched, the little bear fell out of the chair and began dragging
himself towards the door.
The king
said, "Little bear, friend of my daughter, where are you going?"
But the little bear could not speak, so he kept going. The king squatted
down in front of him and said again, "Where are you going, my little
friend?" Again, the bear could not speak, but the king saw the
most marvelous thing. There were tears streaming from BaddTeddy's eyes.
Remembering the tears in his own eyes, and the reason for them, the
king understood. He said, "Little bear, I know you love the princess
and you want to save her, but you are too small. Brave knights ten times
your size have tried and failed. How could you succeed where they have
failed? Don't you realize you will die?"
Since the little bear could not speak, he said nothing, but kept dragging
himself toward the door. The king, knowing the bear had no chance, felt
something begin to stir in his heart. He realized that this little bear
would die, but also that he was a very brave little bear. The king,
in a moment of kindness, made an offer to the little teddy: that he
could have his kingdom if he saved the princess. The bear shook his
head in a manner that the king interpreted as a dismissal of the reward.
The king asked, "Why then?" One look into the teddy's eyes
was enough for the king to understand. The king offered to at least
have a suit of armor made for him, but the teddy refused, indicating
he had no time to waste.
The king
brought over a beautiful sword, the hilt of which was covered with beautiful
rubies and other precious stones. The teddy just shook his head no.
The king was flabbergasted. To explain, the teddy tried to pick up the
sword and the king realized that BaddTeddy could not lift it. So the
king brought the teddy a small sword, the smallest in the land.
This,
the teddy took with him. The king asked if the bear would need a horse.
Teddy just stood there and the king realized that Teddy was too small
to ride a horse, much less get on and off. All of this made the king
say to the bear, "I love my daughter, and if there was a chance,
I would let you go, but you are too small and the dragon too big. Stay
here and be safe, no one will think less of you." In response,
the teddy dragged himself out the castle door.
Everyone expected him to stop at any moment, but he kept going. Closer
and closer he got to the dragon's cave. A few of the kinder souls began
telling him it was all right to turn back now, that he had proven his
bravery, but the little bear just kept moving towards the dragon's lair.
Finally,
he approached the valley. He could see the dragon in the distance. The
dragon had the princess grasped in one giant meaty claw.
As
they saw this, the villagers began to turn back, but BaddTeddy continued
advancing towards the dragon.
In
spite of their fears, the villagers turned and continued to follow the
little bear. As the little bear began to approach the giant dragon,
the dragon began to laugh, as did some of the villagers.
The dragon said, "Turn away, little bear. You are not even a snack,
and if you get too close, I will burn your fur." The little bear
continued walking towards the dragon, never hesitating for a second.
When she saw this, the princess, bless her soul, began begging the little
bear to turn around, prompting a few of the villagers to join in her
request, but the bear kept coming. The little bear came to a small stream,
one which any man or knight could have jumped across, but the little
bear had short legs and had to swim across. Climbing out on the other
side, looking like a wet towel, with his fur all soaked and hanging
straight down, he continued with determination. The dragon threatened
to burn the bear again, but the little bear kept on coming. Finally,
the dragon turned and blew fire on the little bear. The little bear
cringed, but did not run.
The dragon blew
flames until he had none left, at which point the princess began to
cry. The villagers, seeing nothing but flames and smoke, began to turn
back, thinking that the little bear had died foolishly. Then, suddenly,
someone cried out, "He is alive! The little bear is still alive!"
As the smoke cleared, they could all see that indeed BaddTeddy had survived.
His fur was scorched and smoking, but the fact that he had been forced
to swim across the stream had saved his life, because all the water
trapped in his fur had prevented the flames from setting him on fire.
They all cried for the little bear to come back home with them but,
fur scorched and smoking, the little bear began walking once more towards
the dragon.
They could not believe it. The little bear was going to attack. How
foolish could he be? The little bear approached the dragon. Barely reaching
the dragon's ankles, the bear kept coming. The dragon said, "Little
bear, run home, or I will send you flying," but the little bear
was not intimidated by these threats. The dragon kicked the little bear
with his giant dragon foot, sending him crashing through the trees.
Once more, the villagers turned away headed for town, and the princess
began to cry, while the dragon just laughed. Again, the villagers stopped
in surprise as they heard a noise coming from the trees ahead of them.
A few branches moved aside, and from the brambles emerged the little
teddy, his fur scorched, dragging one leg, one arm now hanging uselessly
by his side, but still alive.
The villagers rejoiced and the princess cried tears of happiness until
BaddTeddy started walking towards the dragon again. The villagers were
crying and begging the teddy to stop, "Please, no more." The
princess was crying once again. The dragon just laughed louder and called
him a dumb little bear. The teddy staggered towards the dragon. The
dragon threatened him once again. He said, "This time, I am going
to kick you twice as far." But the little bear kept coming, and
the dragon kicked him over a hundred yards.
The princess and
all the villagers were now in tears, but the dragon just laughed. Many
began to wonder at their own cowardice. How was it that a little teddy
bear had more courage than all of them put together? What had happened
to turn them into cowards? Then, the realization that the little teddy
was finally dead sank in and they began to walk the long road home once
again. Unbelievably, up ahead, a small lump of fur next to the road
began to stir. Could it be, was it possible? No, it could not be, but
the little teddy was still alive!
Everyone was amazed when they saw BaddTeddy trying to stand, there was
so much damage to his little body. It was amazing that he was still
alive at all. One of the villagers, a small boy, had to help him to
his feet, because with a hurt leg and a broken arm, the little teddy
could not find the leverage to stand. The villagers saw with relief
that the little teddy was facing away from the dragon. He had finally
come to his senses and they could all go home now. But the little teddy
turned, staggered and nearly fell but, once again, he faced the dragon.
Some of the villagers tried to stop him but couldn't. Finally, they
stood aside to let him pass. There were no more jeers and no one laughed.
Many cried in shame and regret. But the little teddy paid no attention
to their crying. He just kept walking ahead.
Nearly doubling over, the dragon continued to laugh aloud. This was
just too much fun. This little bear was the most fun that he'd had in
years. The dragon began threatening the little bear again. He said,
"Little bear, this time I am going to crush you under my foot like
a grape." The princess begged Teddy to stop and to go back. All
the adult emotions had left her; once more she was a child. Her love
for the little bear was back and with it, the little bear's strength
gradually returned. If he was lucky, maybe he could walk all the way
to the dragon before he would collapse.
BaddTeddy raised his sword over his head and prepared to attack. With
this, the dragon raised a giant foot into the air, preparing to crush
the little bear. As the dragon's foot started to come down it changed
direction and missed its intended target. They could hear the dragon
yelling and howling. The little boy who had helped BaddTeddy get up
had begun throwing rocks at the dragon.
As the dragon turned from the bear to the little boy and began to advance,
someone else began to throw rocks at the dragon from behind and forced
the dragon to turn in that direction. Before long, rocks were coming
from all directions at once. The villagers had overcome their fear and
had learned a lesson from the little bear. The dragon became disoriented.
He was so mad he could not decide whom to kill first. So he stood there
snarling, snapping and turning his head back and forth as each rock
hit him.
All at once there was a blood-curdling scream. The dragon howled in
mortal agony. It seems that while the villagers had distracted the dragon,
the little teddy had climbed up the spines on the dragon's back and
had planted his little sword through the dragon's throat. In his pain,
the dragon dropped the princess, who was caught by the villagers below
and they at once ran with her to safety. The mighty dragon that so many
had feared for so long, fell down dead with a thunderous crash that
could be heard for miles around.
The villagers
rejoiced. They danced with happiness and merriment. The king, who despite
his old age, had finally managed to reach the scene of the battle, was
beside himself with joy when he heard the news that the dragon had been
slain and his daughter was safe. But when he came upon the princess,
she was in tears. "Why are you crying, my daughter," asked
the king. "The dragon is dead and you have been freed."
"Where is Teddy? Has anyone seen BaddTeddy? Where is he?"
cried the princess. The king in turn asked the villagers the same question.
The villagers looked around, and then realized what had happened. When
the dragon fell dying, he had toppled over on BaddTeddy. Just then,
the little boy began to scream for help. He was down next to the dragon's
feet. When the villagers arrived, they saw one small, battered, slightly
burned paw sticking out from under the dragon. The paw was quivering;
the little bear was obviously dying. The villagers quickly gathered
ropes and branches to create leverage to free the little bear. Once
he was freed, they laid him on the ground. There was not much left,
and he was not breathing. He had a broken arm and a broken leg, his
fur blackened from the fire and covered in mud and dragon's blood. There
was no way this little bear could possibly be alive. The king began
to cry as he thought of the brave little bear who risked so much to
save his daughter. The villagers also began to cry, and finally the
princess knelt over the little bear with tears running down her face
and hugged him tightly while she said, "I love you." The little
bear opened one eye and said, " I love you too, Princess."
When the princess
said, "I love you", magic occurred and the little bear was
saved. The words "I love you" had saved the little bear's
life, and something else magical happened. Little teddy bears started
appearing in the homes of children around the world. Teddy bears have
become the protectors of children, and the children make the teddy bears
come to life by saying, "I love you".
Have you hugged
your teddy bear today and said, "I love you"?
THE MORAL OF
THE STORY
You don't have
to be big and powerful to change the world. One person can change the
world, by having the courage to lead by example.
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