Short Stories

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There was a king who lived in a distant land. The land was beautiful to behold. Trees and flowers were on every part of it where a house did not stand. The houses were of all different shapes and sizes from a small log cabin to a mansion. Their beauty could not compare to the King's Palace, which was decorated inside out with semi precious gems like Topaz and Onyx. The king's throne was the most beautiful place of all. It was made of all precious gems like sapphires and emeralds. The true beauty of the land was not the landscaping or the decorations. It was the relationship the king enjoyed with his people.
You see, the people could make any request of the king and he would grant it. There was one request, however, the people could not make. They could not ask to make their own laws. This was the one thing the king asked of his people. No other privilege was withheld from them. They were even clothed in the king's pure gold robes. The robes of the women glistened with a slight hint of pink. Everyone walked the grounds of the castle and came before the king' golden s throne day and night. Until, one day a man and a woman finally came before the king's throne and told him,
“We want our own government” "We want to decide what's best for us."
Now the king was wise. He knew someday his people would wish to rule themselves. Sadly, he had his most loyal servants dig a moat wide as an ocean between the castle and the dwellings of his people and he personally took from them the scepters of justice and dominion. With the scepters gone, blackness seemed to descend like a curse on the people and their side of the land. The blackness turned the lovely royal clothes into rags.
Soon, the smell of rotten eggs descended on them. The smell so repulsed the king that the people could no longer come to him without being summoned and anyone who came must petition the king for his scepter. As if conditions were not bad enough, the blackness made of approaching the king’s throne a deadly decision.

The king had decided long ago that anyone who wished to have his scepter and make a request of him must cook him a meal before they could come before the throne. He had also decided to send the crown prince with the king's scepter, the royal robe but no crown to rescue those who would ask for it and surrender to the king's government. When the stench became so bad that the dwellings of the people were rotting, the king finally sent him,
When the crown prince came, some asked for the scepter and surrendered to the king's rule because they recognized their smell. However, many others had sprayed themselves with such a sweet aroma and became so skilled at patching their rags that they believed that someday the king would allow them in his throne room without the scepter. These people hated the king's son because he told them their patchwork and perfume would never be enough. In addition, some of these people made lots of money selling the rag patches and perfume. Selling these items gave these few people a lot of power. The ideas of the crown prince threatened this wealth and status.

After some time passed, a mob beat the crown prince, stripped him, beat him some more, held mock trial and sentenced him to death. Meanwhile, he created scepters and royal robes for his most loyal followers and gave them permission to give them and the royal robes to those who would submit to the king’s rule.

Later, the people of wealth and status cut down a cherry tree and made it into a beam and nailed him to it.

A few days later, the king came to the prince and breathed life into him

A few weeks later, the king sent a cloud shaped chariot to take him back to the castle where he sits on a golden throne right next to his father to this day. As for those
who have taken the scepters, pledged their loyalty to the king. They are, once again, clothed in the royal robes and come before the king day and night telling him everything without fear. Because the blackness still influences them, the king must shield himself slightly from the people to prevent their death. However, he will remove the blackness from the people forever and the people will live in the castle and see him in all his splendor.
1 The word scepter in the title refers to Christ's “Scepter of righteousness referenced in Hebrews 1: 9 and the scepter of King Artaxerxes that Esther referenced in Esther 4:11.
1 Without fear refers to the definition of boldly as given in Strong's Concordance.

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