Short Story by Leon

There was once a kingdom in a far-off land, ruled by a mighty king, crowned with glory and honor. A mighty king whose prosperity stretched as far as the east was from the west. A wealthy king, whose riches were as deep as the bottomless ocean. Those who served the king in his kingdom were blessed beyond measure, for this king carried himself righteously and in good character. This king had a son, a young prince, who was beginning to be taught to walk in the process of kingship. When the time arrived, this prince would learn to rule alongside his father.

The process of learning to rule was not easy. The prince faced many trials and many challenges. Though his father and his father’s servants stuck with him through every struggle. He would learn to carry himself with dignity, to walk in uprightness, and to act wisely. Eventually, the prince would learn to battle with a sword, as his father had many enemies seeking his throne. Day after day and night after night, the prince became more of a mirror of his father. And the father was proud of his son. The prince was also satisfied with his growth.

One night, two women were talking amongst themselves in the outer courts of the royal palace. The prince being unable to sleep overheard their conversation. They spoke of a small, and poor country resting on the outskirts of the kingdom. This place was known as a forbidden realm, mandated as so by the king himself. These two women spoke giddily to each other about the enjoyment they found traveling to this place. Infuriated, the prince approached them. “Do you not know who I am? I am the prince, soon to be the ruler of this glorious kingdom! How dare you betray my father by traveling to the forbidden realm?”

The two women looked at each other before beginning to burst out in mock laughter. “You are not yet king, who are you to render any justice upon us? Go back to your training and bother us no more.”

The prince was shocked by their blatant disrespect of the laws of the land, his father the king, and of him. They had little to no fear of repercussions, even though their unlawful deeds were exposed to the prince himself. It was as though those two women were bewitched by some evil enchantment. He spent the entire night tossing in his sleep disturbed by the encounter. Finally, the prince said to himself tomorrow I will go to this land and find out all of my father’s traitors and expose them to the entire kingdom.

And so, he did. When the prince arrived in the forbidden realm, his nose immediately met with a sweet aroma causing him to feel giddy. Small dogs ran out to greet him, pulling on his royal garments and seeking to play. The prince had always longed for a pet companion, but his father insisted that the time for an animal was not right. From sun up to sun down the prince lost himself playing with the animals. At the end of the day, the aroma drifting in the air he had smelled previously began to wane. When he looked down at the dogs he had been playing with he realized they were not dogs at all, but wild swine. His royal clothing was torn and he was covered in filth and grime. There were bite marks on his arms and legs.

Desperate, and riddled with fear, he fled to his kingdom and his father found him shortly after.

“My son,” Seeing the prince broken, wounded, and filthy the king called to him with concern and love. “Why are you in this state?”

The prince explained all that had taken place. The king immediately called for his servants and physicians. They tended to the prince’s wounds, cleaned him up, and dressed him in the finest of royal garments. The king warned his son not to return to that land. For within lies an evil magic meant to entice those who enter by exploiting their heart’s desires and impatience. The prince understood and was thankful for the compassion his father had offered him.

But it came to pass that the prince realized the magic had done something to him. In his deepest being, he could not shake the memory of the sweet aroma that called out to him. The prince struggled for days to resist the urgency that told him to return to the forbidden realm. Eventually, he broke and found himself in the wretched place once more.

The aroma assaulted his senses straight away and the pigs in the land turned once more into gentle dogs wanting to play with him. Knowing better the prince continued his journey deeper into the town. There, he would find people who were impressed greatly that the son of the king would come to visit this place. The prince became surrounded by the beautiful women of the town, whose tongues slayed the heart with flattery and charm. The prince had always longed for a wife, but his father would have him wait until one was prepared for him. The prince said to himself Surely I will take one of these to my father as a wife for me, for they are beautiful and caring in every regard. Yet when the sun went down and the aroma faded, the prince’s eyes were opened. These women were the prostitutes of the town. There was nothing beautiful nor charming about them. While the prince was caught up in their flattery, he noticed they had robbed everything, worth anything, that he carried. Even the precious pearl necklace his father had given him, and entrusted him to safeguard until the time was right. Ashamed, the prince returned to his father’s kingdom. But he avoided the king relentlessly as the guilt was overwhelming.

After days the king sent word to the prince through his servants. “My son, where are you? The time has come for your marriage. Bring forth the pearl necklace which I have given you. Present it to your chosen betrothed as an act of engagement.”

The prince’s heart sank into his chest upon hearing this. He fled back to the forbidden realm to avoid the condemnation of his father. Once more the aroma came to him, and he found himself lost in the deceitful enjoyment of the swine and prostitutes. The prince began to notice that the further he traveled into the heart of the city, the stronger the aroma became, and the more his senses were dulled. It wasn’t long before he completely forgot his responsibilities as the royal prince and the voice of the king.

The prince found himself eating at a great feast until the sun went down. Then his eyes were opened and he saw that he was eating a deadly fungus from the bark of a tree. Before he could even muster the courage to return to his father for help, the poison had taken his body hostage.

The prince collapsed in agony and fell into a deep slumber. I am going to die in this vile place! he said to himself in misery. When he woke he found himself in his bed, healed completely, and garbed once more in royal attire. He felt around his neck to find that even his pearls were returned to him. Desperate for answers he called for his father’s servants and they answered him. “Your father found out of your whereabouts and immediately went to save you. The king is the only one who has the power to resist evil magic. He was the only one who could travel to the forbidden realm and save you.”

At once the prince ran to his father’s side and begged for forgiveness. The king put his hand on the prince’s shoulder to assure him. “At the heart of the forbidden realm rested a tree that enchants the inhabitants of the town. The tree uses its magic to exploit the desires of hearts. The tree offers illusion and cheap imitation of what is real, to lure people into its trap and destroy them.”

“I do not know if I can resist the call,” confessed the prince in shame.

“When I went into the forbidden realm to save you, I cut the tree down and set it ablaze. It will no longer have any power over you.” The king told him before standing to his feet. He called for his servants to bring the animals he had prepared for his son and the woman that he had chosen to marry him. The king held a feast and invited the entire kingdom to celebrate his son’s freedom from the tree. As they ate, the king looked at his son with eyes of love. “Everything in my kingdom is yours. You need not seek imitation for I will bless you with reality. Trust in me.”

Those who follow Christ are born into a royal family. We each go through a process of spiritual growth in the Lord. Our God prepares what we need, when we need it, and how we need it. The world offers us a cheap imitation of our heart’s desires on the false premise that we can have what we want now. This is a trap and deceptive by nature to lure us away from our father through guilt. The world wants to destroy us. And if we fall into the trap, we may delay and miss the good things God has prepared for us. Yet, God will never abandon us even when we fall short. For Christ came into the world and faced the same temptation we did to rescue us from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Jesus conquered sin, death, and temptation, and He restores all who believe in His name.