Tales by Carly, now with 50% more plot

It’s time for another super-fun bedtime story, so grab your jammies, light the fireplace, put on a pot of tea and curl up for some crappy, I mean, good reading… Besides, it’s not like there’s anything good on TV.

Darkness had fallen over the whole kingdom, it had become a desert wasteland, a mere silhouette of its former self. It had once been a flourishing place, a place of happiness and abundant in brown liquids, some hot, cold, and diet. But now little of the glory of the Plant remained. The Plant was ruled by a gracious Queen, bringer of all things caffeine, she was familiar with the land’s inhabitants and would know whether to bring a cheese toast or bowl of soup, a coffee or a BLT, chicken fingers or the girliest drink on the menu. The people loved her, and knew that she was good. She was always willing to bestow a tale of adventure on the usual inhabitants, filling their minds with wonder and giving them new hope to face what seemed like an unending sentence at school. Yes, it was a beautiful place that people would gather from all over the land, spin tales, sit in each other’s company, and throw make-shift SpongeBob Square Pants parties for each other.

After the Great War the land was now empty, no longer filled with the happiness and excitement that once befell the dark and dankness within. The Great War had brought an end to everything good, and at the heart of the war lay selfishness and greed of all involved, as most wars do.

Long before the establishment of the Plant there was a magical amulet. This amulet, as described by the adjective in the previous sentence, held magic powers, in particular, when joined, it would bring peace and prosperity to the Plant and all of those who sought comfort with it’s brick cladden walls. This amulet was created in the heart of Good Mount Invisible, and due to the origins, the amulet itself was invisible and resided deep in the hearts of two special girls. Both were successful and quite beautiful, they were intelligent and cunning, but at times were suspect to bouts of self-pity, selfishness, and the forces of pig-headedness, as most are. The amulet halves lay in quiet mystery for many years, unknowing of the other half just like it or the happiness that would arise from the reunion it would one day be part of.

They two maidens progressed through their lives, making a difference to those who loved them, and gained many friends over the years. They were loved by all, or at least most, and those that didn’t love them were the jerk-faced people who didn’t really count anyway. They would become pillars of social status, organizing events and gathering the people who only wanted to hang out with them. One foretold day the two girls met and would end up as friends. They did their best to help the other out, they would help the other obtain a job and would include the other in their enchanted social circle. This was good for all of the peasants of the kingdom of Plant. They were all happy together and did many stupid things that would become folklore and inside jokes for years to comes, known only to themselves and more importantly would often entirely lack humor for others who would be exposed to such shenanigans (wow, I spelt that right on my first try, there were no red squiggly lines or stupid paper clips popping up or anything). But all in all it was a prosperous and happy time, little did they know the kingdom was about to fall under siege to the green-eyed monster (not to be confused with the beautiful Princess of the kingdom who coincidently also had green eyes), that would be bent on destroying the happiness and peace of the Kingdom to the demise of all within.

The evil (not the good, funny evil, but the kind that doesn’t benefit me), monster crept into the hearts of the two girls. They began to see the little things in the other, things that weren’t that big a problem, but when stretched, bit by bit, turned into something much larger. Their issues with the other grew and grew and instead of taking calm and relaxed approach to the whole thing by just talking to the other, the monster began to whisper ideas to them, ideas that people would pay more attention to them if they spread ideas. They would be popular with their friends and be happier if they made the other seem like a monster, so the two did. This made the monster happy and it grew in size. They never talked to the other about their problems, but just yelled and made claims that were exaggerated. This made the monster grow even more. They also never forgave, they would only think about themselves first and not the others that they were hurting. This made the monster grow so big that it started to spread to the others of the Plant. The monster would stir in others, sometimes it would turn them against friends, made them tattle on one of the girls, or even keep them from talking to each other. Because of how much anger the monster was being fed it grew even more. It grew so big and for so long that people began to forget that there was a problem and thought that this was the way it always was in the kingdom, and most certainly the way it would always be. Problems kept springing up until all that was left was the monster, casting a shadow over all that had once been light and good. People stopped caring about the group or what they once had, they just accepted things as they were, best friends were split up, people stopped talking, and no one came to the Plant.

A beautiful and smart Princess, also the fastest driver in the land, became very sad. She missed all of her friends, but fell trap to the monster, and stopped caring about the Great War and didn’t bother to try to fix it. After spending many nights alone in her tall tower on the top of the tallest hill in the County, she decided that she had to do something. A cursed day was fast approaching and she knew that only evil befell that day. She thought that maybe if she could make things better, everything would turn out good and she could have a non-birthday party with all of her friends, together, and happy. The Princess had seen much misfortune and knew the dangers of losing someone. There were many things that you would regret in life, but losing friends and family, especially for your own dumb reasons, was something you didn’t have to regret, but would be missed most of all. It was something simple, something that could be fixed, but more often then not, people wouldn’t. She knew that as people got older, they became more susceptible to the monster, and where most kindergarten fights could be solved over the period of a recess, grown-up fights could last forever. She thought about how many people would be leaving the Plant soon to move to lands far away, and how they wouldn’t be able to see each other much longer anyways, and just hoped that somehow everyone could have a happy Christmas together, as it could be the last one they all spent together, or met for coffee one more time, because they would all move on to new kingdoms and places of coffee and gossip. The Princess was sad about all of this, mostly because she felt that she didn’t do anything, but was losing her bestest friends because of the Great War. She felt alone and sad, and knew that she may be leaving in a few months and hoped that maybe everyone could get along, if only for her sake.

The two girls complained that they were sick when seeing the other, or were just afraid of being yelled at, or didn’t want to put up with anything that might hinder their own success, but the Princess felt the same way, yet realized that there are some things more important then only thinking of yourself. This is one of the reasons the Princess decided to write a story about all of her friends. She knew that if she did this, many of them may be really angry at her, but deep down she would always care about them, and knew that it was just the monster that had taken over. If nothing else, she knew she would at least have the memories of all the happy times they had spent together, because even now it seemed like memories were all that she had.

One night she ran to her balcony and searched the skies for the first rising star. Actually it wasn’t so much night, as three in the afternoon due to the fact that she lived in a northern climate and the sun set way to early. But she searched and found the first star that rose and made a birthday/star light, star bright wish, that maybe, as a present, everyone would just get along. They didn’t have to be the best friends that they once were, or talk to each other any other time, but maybe, like two divorced parents put up with each other for the sake of the forgotten child, would just get along.

This story doesn’t end, not yet, that part hasn’t been written yet, and I don’t think that I can, and it doesn’t have a moral unless you are willing to accept it, and learn from your own life, not some stupid blog I rant in when I’m upset. Morals are what come when the covers are closed and the book is finished, they are ongoing, affect your life, and change who you are, not something in script-print and bold letters following on of Aesop’s tales. Most importantly this story isn’t just for two people, it’s for everyone, least of all the amulet bearers. They might spread the ideas, but it’s up to everyone else to ignore it, or as we all seem to have done, been entwined and caught up in the drama, making it much deeper giving everyone a reason to carry on with this stupid feud. While I hate to write something deep and just quote the Simpsons, if you just stop looking, it will go away. I’m not saying that ignoring the problem is the answer, but paying more attention is exactly what the monster needs to keep spreading and will make you forget that we were a tight knit group who all got along, much in disagreement of our demographic group. Personally I want to be selfish for once, I want things to go back to how they were, I feel physically sick trying to balance a schedule so that the two groups never coincide, or am miserable thinking that I may have lost some people that mean a lot to me, aside from the occasional pity coffee. If you don’t agree with me, or are too caught up and only find yourself upset by what I’ve said, fine. I’m not going to quote any song lyrics, and I certainly won’t cut you out of my life, I just want things to go back to how they were. I want my friends, and my kingdom, and us to al have a great Christmas break together. I want to get invited out on days I actually can make it, and not just sit around and wait for the phone call that will never come or the email I’ve stopped expecting outside of a courtesy measure. Seeing as how I’m already a social outcast with plenty of other groups to hang out with, don’t expect me to hold my breath, but I still have honest hope for all of us. Don’t let this be something you regret, believe me, life is to short for crap like this.