A very long time ago, but perhaps, it could have been yesterday, there lived a little girl. A beautiful little girl with hair as dark as the night and eyes as brown as a young deer. She had a smile that seemed to brighten the hearts of everyone she passed. Her happiness was a joy to behold because it reached out and touched each person like a spark igniting a fire.
Sadly, the little girl was not smiling today. She didn't feel very happy because she had no one to play with who was her own age. Her father had said that she was very special and only important people with even more important parents could be around her. This little girl was more than just a little girl because her father was a king which made her a little princess. Most of the time, it made her sad to be a princess. The only time she was happy was when people came to visit her, but that too had become rare. Even when she received visitors, they were adults who took more pleasure in watching the little princess play than joining in her games.
One night while her father was entertaining guests, she looked out from her bedroom window and saw one shining star all alone in the sky.
"We are a lot a like," she said. "Both of us are very lonely and no one seems to want to play. Little star, I wish I had someone to play with and make me laugh. Just for a while, that would be nice. Someone to run with and to play hide and seek."
She smiled at the thought, but after a moment, she began to cry. She made sure that her sobs were quiet so that the guards who kept watch over her in the outer room wouldn't come in. After all, they would only grow worried and report it to the King. Then her Father would grow sad and decree that no one bothered her until she felt better. He had been that way since her mother went away. Since that time, he had watched over her very closely as if he wanted to make sure that she wouldn't go away too.
Suddenly, all of these thoughts seemed to surround her and she laid her head on her fluffy pillow and cried until she fell asleep. Eventually, night came and with it, so did the princess's dreams.
The next day, she decided to take a walk in the castle courtyard. She liked to play in the courtyard because there was a special place next to the stream with a very large oak tree. She loved to climb the tree and drop from the lower branches and splash the nearby guards. The water was very shallow and only came up to her knees. The guards, if she splashed them once or twice, would walk away and give her time to herself. It was at those times that she would play her games of imagination. She would close her eyes and then re-open them and pretend to be a warrior-queen or a flying fairy.
Today, when she closed her eyes and stood under the shade of the tree deciding what to be, she was surprised to feel something hit her lightly on the head. She opened her eyes and looked up. She was startled to find a little boy sitting on one of the branches. He smiled at her and held his finger to his lips and whispered, "Shhhhh."
The little princess was shocked. She was afraid because no one was supposed to be around her without a guard supervising. Although as she looked at the little boy and he smiled again, she knew it would be all right. Besides, she could always cry out to the guards. They weren't that far away. She just wanted someone to play with for a short time......even if it was with a boy.
She smiled back at him and started to climb up the tree.
"Wait," the little boy whispered. "Can I have my ball back?"
The princess looked down and it was only then that she noticed the red ball at her feet that he had dropped on her head. She picked it up. It was soft and light. She grinned for an instant as she looked at the ball. She really shouldn't do it. Her Father always said it was wrong to do such things, but perhaps just this once, she thought.
"Well," whispered the boy again, "can I have my ball back?"
"Of course," the little Princess said in her most angelic voice.
Without warning, the red ball flew from her hands and hit the boy in the chest. Although the ball didn't hurt the boy, the surprise combined with his attempt to dodge the hurtling object made the boy loose his balance and fall from the tree. The only sound that escaped his mouth was a startled, "Whoaah" and then he fell into the stream with a large splash.
He looked up at the princess with his wide gray eyes. Everything from his white shirt and dark blue pants to his brown hair was soaked .
At first the princess thought she had gone too far in her game, but when the little boy's shock turned to a smile. She knew everything was okay.
She walked over to him and smiled haughtily in much the same way as when she pretends to be the Warrior-Queen who has just won against some evil dragon.
"Now we're even," she grinned.
"Yes," the boy winked, "yes, we are. My name is Destino*. What is your name, little one?"
"My name is Esperanza** and don't call me little one. I am almost nine years old and you don't look much older."
"Of course," he grinned. "Silly me," he shrugged just before he splashed the Princess from head to toe.
"Now....I'm ahead," he shouted before he ran behind the tall bushes nearby.
Esperanza laughed and started to run off after him when one of the guards appeared.
"Princess! I heard shouting. Are you all right?" he asked honestly concerned.
"Yes," she said, "I was just playing a game."
Then Esperanza thought for a moment and asked the guard, "You didn't hear anyone else?" she wondered.
"No, Princess, I heard only you laughing and splashing in the water," the guard responded confused.
"Okay," she said feeling confused as well.
Esperanza looked for the little boy the whole day, but he was nowhere to be found. "How strange," she thought to herself. "Where could he have gone?"
As night came to little Esperanza, sleep found her with a smile on her face and a small star shining in the sky. Today, she had found a friend.
The beginning....
* Destino is Spanish for Destiny or Fate which finds us all, if we choose to accept it.
** Esperanza is Spanish for Hope which is the force that drives us towards our Destiny.