Angelica's Wish

Angelica's Wish



“Beana, tell me a story. I like it when you sit with me.” Avery snuggled under the down comforter and yawned. “Beana, please?”

Grandma gently pulled the blankets up and tucked them in tightly. Smoothing his light brown hair, she caressed his cheek.

“Well, you know what your mom said I was not supposed to spoil you.” Beana grinned. “You were supposed to be in bed an hour ago.”

Avery heaved a huge sigh. “How will she know? You have not told me a story in a long time.” There was a whine to his voice.

“You know, when I was little my mom would let me climb into bed before she put the top sheet on. It was all crisp and smooth. I loved the fresh air smell. That was back when we dried our clothes and things outdoors on a line. Great grandma would flip-snap my sheets and then let them drift down, covering every inch of my bed and me. Then she would tuck them in so tight that there were no wrinkles. Great grandma would uncover just my face and I would giggle.” Beana kissed Avery’s forehead, “Only then would she begin to weave a story just like this one now.



Once upon a time (Beana stories always began that way) there was a great and powerful king. His kingdom stretched far and wide, from the sea in the east to a mighty river in the west. He had gold and silver, diamonds and rubies. Yet, there was only one thing that he truly loved. It was more precious than everything else.
His daughter.

The princess with her long flowing honey brown hair, her milk white skin and her sparkling blue eyes was so beautiful that her father had named her Angelica. He said, “She must have come from heaven, for only angels are this beautiful.”
In spite of her beauty, the princess was never happy. She behaved so horribly that no one in the castle liked her. The servants did not like to wait on her. She would throw things. She would scream mean, hurtful names. She never acted like an angel at all.
You see there was no color in Angelica’s world. Everything she looked at was gray, black or white and flat. She could hear the robin call for rain but she could not see his orange breast; she could feel the sand flow out from under her toes but could only see a blur of gray. The scent of the lilacs in the spring garden was breathtaking, but she hungered to see their color.

More than the lack of colors Angelica could not see distances. Everything was flat, whether it was a wall or the garden it all looked as though it was right beside her. She would put out her hand to pick a daisy and it was not there. She could not walk alone, a stair step looked like the flat floor and the forest resembled a beautifully painted wall.

The king tried to make her heart happy. He gave her everything but nothing would satisfy her. He could not give her what she wanted most. There was only one thing he knew he could do and that was to pass a law. Part of the law made his people use only black and white; the other part punished them if they ever spoke of colors. He thought that if no one ever talked about what they saw maybe she would forget there were colors.

So, the king decided, the people had to live in black and white houses wearing only black and white clothes. They could not say things like, “Isn’t the sky blue today.” Or “Boy, was my face red!” Never, ever were they to say anything about the princess.

They grumbled but no one ever heard a word. Under their breath they would say, “If the king had his way we would be painting the grass black and the sky white.” They may even think, “Why must we suffer because of a spoiled child?” However, they would never ever say that aloud.


The unhappy kingdom settled into quiet gloominess.