On Being King [Requestor is anonymous]

This was requested by a pregnant woman for her unborn child. I guess I've got some work to do here, eh?

By the time that your child is born, this will be made into a picture book, dear one. You shall read it to him often. By the time he can speak, he will know all of the words by heart. Do not fail in this, for in the mysteries of this story, lies his destiny, which only he can unlock.

And so it begins:

In the forest lived a mighty lion.

The lion's best friend was a butterfly.

Mr. Lion and Mr. Butterfly would often have tea and cake together. They were the best of friends, even though Mr. Lion was awful busy being the King of the Jungle.

Every day, Mr. Lion would visit the forest animals. He would visit Mr. and Mrs. Mouse, and ask how they were.

Then, he would find Miss Bunny, and make sure that she was doing okay. Each time, he decided not to eat her. At least for today.

He would make sure that the herd of deer was still there, and together.

And even Mr. and Mrs. Wolf got a visit from their King.

Mr. Butterfly loved to go with Mr. Lion on these trips through the forest. It made him feel like he was part of things. Like he was important. He felt fulfilled, just doing that.

And as Mr. Lion watched over the forest creatures, Mr. Butterfly went with him.

Mr. Lion was a very good King. He watched over his people, and he didn't even eat them. Well, not very often, anyway.

But Mr. Bear didn't like Mr. Lion very much. You see, Mr. Bear thought he should be King, not Mr. Lion.

One day, as Mr. Lion was visiting the forest creatures, Mr. Bear followed him. You see, Mr. Bear had set out a trap. He had dug a pit, and he waited for Mr. Lion to fall into it.

As soon as Mr. Lion was in the pit, Mr. Bear shouted down to him, "You are trapped, and now I will eat all the forest creatures that you were too foolish to eat when you had the chance! I will be King of the forest now!"

Mr. Lion tried and tried to get out of the pit. Over and over again, he jumped, trying, trying to get out. But he could not. He was stuck there.

Mr. Butterfly watched all of this, and knew for sure what he must do.

Mr. Butterfly started to flutter his wings as fast as he could go. He went to Mr. and Mrs. Mouse and whispered in their ears. As he left, he heard Mrs. Mouse exclaim, "Oh dear!"

Then he went to Mr. Wolf, and Miss bunny. On and on through the whole forest he went, whispering in everyone's ears.

Meanwhile, at the pit where Mr. Lion was trapped, something strange began to happen. All of the forest creatures began to gather, and they began to drop bits and pieces of wood into the pit.

Hurrying, and scurrying, they ran quickly to grab some more. Even the tiny ants came and helped. And as time went by, more animals arrived. They dropped more and more wood into the pit.

Pretty soon, Mr. Lion was able to climb right out.

As soon as he was out, Mr. Lion gave a mighty roar! The animals trembled in fear and ran away! Was Mr. Lion going to eat them, they had just saved him!

No, Mr. Lion did not eat any forest creature that day. Instead, he began to run very very fast. He zoomed through the forest, until he found Mr. Bear.

Mr. Lion was very angry with Mr. Bear! He rushed Mr. Bear, and they began to fight. At last, Mr. Lion won the fight, and Mr. Bear ran away to a different forest.

Dear one, remember this. When you treat those who fear you with great respect and love, they will be there in your time of trouble. They will work hard for you, and they will save you.

Sure, they may spend their days hurrying and scurrying and not think of you. But when the time comes that you need them, you will be very surprised at who will show up, simply because you always treated them well and did your best.

No one wants Mr. Bear to become king of the jungle.

And remember, too. When someone treats you well, and they need your help, you should be there. Don't leave someone alone, without help when you have some to offer.

Because if you do, you may find yourself being eaten by Mr. Bear.