Once upon a time, there was a boy whose face shone like the sun; his teeth were white as Persephone's pearls and whose eyes were as blue as the sky. He was friends with a young queen, who unbeknownst to him had her eyes set on his perfection. Our queen was years younger than him and although she was too young to understand the fluttering in her tummy, she was convinced that it was the effect that his presence had on her.
A few years later, our queen goes off to school for the first time. Her family moves to a new place and she grapples with the changes in her environment. With them moving, she never saw that boy again. It left an empty hole in her tummy not out of hunger but because the fluttering stopped. A few years more and our queen slowly grew into her shoes and found her footing. She met a couple more boys but none had the same effect that the first boy had on her. There was a marked absence of a sensation she associated with that first encounter, it was the fluttering.
While growing into her shoes wasn't as easy as she hoped it would be, it did give her time to plant her feet firmly on the ground. The world around her wasn't ready for her reign, not just yet. So, she kept to herself most of the time and admired boys from a distance - careful not to let anyone notice or she might risk having her crown taken away from her. It wasn't until she went to uni when she was finally able to break free of the chains holding her back from exercising her reign. She mustered enough courage to face her subjects without fear of ridicule or intolerance; after all, she was the queen.
Admiring boys started as a hobby until it grew into a sport that she would later excel at. All the queen's men were mirrors of each others' perfection. She was sure to surround herself with exquisitely fine men who would throw her endless admiring gazes coupled with smiles that could melt the icecaps with the mere gleam of their pearly whites. She soon became the envy of queens from surrounding kingdoms.
Little did she know that not everything that glitters is gold.
Behind the pearly whites that could melt the icecaps, behind eyes that glimmer like the stars and behind the alluring faces lie a darkness that she was not prepared to face yet. One by one, the queen's men took off their knightly robes and shimmering armors. Each chainmail fell to the ground with a loud thump that could be heard across the kingdom traveling as far as the ends of neighboring countries. As each of her guards shed their suit, she saw them in all their glory, and unfortunately, in all of their shame too. She learned that the suits were meant to dress up the feeble bodies of the bearers, protecting the otherwise vulnerable flesh that could easily be ravaged by a dull knife in a single soft blow.
Devastated, the queen retreated back to her castle, built walls around it and waited - for a king (not just a knight) to climb the walls and claim her, dressed in nothing but his glory and shame that are not withheld from eyesight by a shinning armor. Fast-forward to a decade and no king has yet attempted to climb the walls of the castle. Perhaps it's time to rejoin the world. Perhaps not. Perhaps it's better to just recall that first boy who made her tummy flutter, go back to the time when there was nothing but pure admiration - one that is not tainted by any color, race, creed, religion or expectations. Then again, that would not be living at all.
The queen now understands that there is more to a man than his suit. All that is essential lies behind all the facade. She is allowed to slow dance with men in vague attempts of enticing each other to submission. However, when all the music fades and the curtains fall, all that's left are actors that slowly but purposefully wipes all the make up off their faces, takes off the fancy costumes and puts on their real clothes while looking at themselves in the mirror seeing what others could not see while they were performing - the truth.
All this time, the queen's men weren't knights or kings, they were jesters performing for her amusement. They showed her what they thought she wanted to see. Now that the show is over, the queen is off to prepare for the next performance, not as an audience, but as one of the actors. Maybe now she'll get to see what she couldn't see before - the truth. When the curtain falls she will be there with the other men too, wiping her make up off and taking off her costume. As they each look at themselves in the mirror, she'll lean over hoping to catch a glimpse of what these men look like without make up.
xoxo
QB
A few years later, our queen goes off to school for the first time. Her family moves to a new place and she grapples with the changes in her environment. With them moving, she never saw that boy again. It left an empty hole in her tummy not out of hunger but because the fluttering stopped. A few years more and our queen slowly grew into her shoes and found her footing. She met a couple more boys but none had the same effect that the first boy had on her. There was a marked absence of a sensation she associated with that first encounter, it was the fluttering.
While growing into her shoes wasn't as easy as she hoped it would be, it did give her time to plant her feet firmly on the ground. The world around her wasn't ready for her reign, not just yet. So, she kept to herself most of the time and admired boys from a distance - careful not to let anyone notice or she might risk having her crown taken away from her. It wasn't until she went to uni when she was finally able to break free of the chains holding her back from exercising her reign. She mustered enough courage to face her subjects without fear of ridicule or intolerance; after all, she was the queen.
Admiring boys started as a hobby until it grew into a sport that she would later excel at. All the queen's men were mirrors of each others' perfection. She was sure to surround herself with exquisitely fine men who would throw her endless admiring gazes coupled with smiles that could melt the icecaps with the mere gleam of their pearly whites. She soon became the envy of queens from surrounding kingdoms.
Little did she know that not everything that glitters is gold.
Behind the pearly whites that could melt the icecaps, behind eyes that glimmer like the stars and behind the alluring faces lie a darkness that she was not prepared to face yet. One by one, the queen's men took off their knightly robes and shimmering armors. Each chainmail fell to the ground with a loud thump that could be heard across the kingdom traveling as far as the ends of neighboring countries. As each of her guards shed their suit, she saw them in all their glory, and unfortunately, in all of their shame too. She learned that the suits were meant to dress up the feeble bodies of the bearers, protecting the otherwise vulnerable flesh that could easily be ravaged by a dull knife in a single soft blow.
Devastated, the queen retreated back to her castle, built walls around it and waited - for a king (not just a knight) to climb the walls and claim her, dressed in nothing but his glory and shame that are not withheld from eyesight by a shinning armor. Fast-forward to a decade and no king has yet attempted to climb the walls of the castle. Perhaps it's time to rejoin the world. Perhaps not. Perhaps it's better to just recall that first boy who made her tummy flutter, go back to the time when there was nothing but pure admiration - one that is not tainted by any color, race, creed, religion or expectations. Then again, that would not be living at all.
The queen now understands that there is more to a man than his suit. All that is essential lies behind all the facade. She is allowed to slow dance with men in vague attempts of enticing each other to submission. However, when all the music fades and the curtains fall, all that's left are actors that slowly but purposefully wipes all the make up off their faces, takes off the fancy costumes and puts on their real clothes while looking at themselves in the mirror seeing what others could not see while they were performing - the truth.
All this time, the queen's men weren't knights or kings, they were jesters performing for her amusement. They showed her what they thought she wanted to see. Now that the show is over, the queen is off to prepare for the next performance, not as an audience, but as one of the actors. Maybe now she'll get to see what she couldn't see before - the truth. When the curtain falls she will be there with the other men too, wiping her make up off and taking off her costume. As they each look at themselves in the mirror, she'll lean over hoping to catch a glimpse of what these men look like without make up.
xoxo
QB
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