Saturday, April 4, 2020

The Octopus and the Queen

The Queen was visited by an Octopus
On the first day of May


The Octopus was very, very upset
Because there was a storm outside
And the thunder and the rain
And the lighting
Was making the Octopus very afraid


The Octopus asked to meet the Queen
Because the Octopus wanted to know
If the Queen
Who was very powerful
And very smart
Could stop the storm
And make it go away


The Queen was very happy
To meet with the Octopus
Because she had never met
An Octopus before
Even the Octopus lived
In the castle aquarium


The Queen went to the aquarium
All by herself
Because even though she had many
Helpers and friends
She wanted the Octopus to talk to her
Without feeling nervous
About talking in front of lots of other people


When the Queen got to the Octopus tank
The Octopus did seem very nervous
So the Queen sat down in front of the tank
Which was not easy to do
Because the Queen’s dress was very big
And it puffed out in front of her
As she sat


Even from deep within the castle
Where the aquarium was located
It was still possible to hear the rain and thunder
And the Octopus was still afraid of the storm
Even though it felt much better
Being in the presence of the Queen
Who was in charge of everything


The Octopus asked the Queen
If she could scare the storm away
And in that moment
The Queen wanted very much
To tell the Octopus
That she could make the storm go away
Because she knew that the storm would go away
Whether she told it to or not
But she didn’t want to tell the Octopus a lie
Even if it meant
The Octopus would feel better


Instead she told the Octopus
That even a Queen
Could not make the storm go away
Because nobody is in charge
Of how storms come and go
But that they do come and go
And that this one would go too


But the Octopus was too young
To remember all the other storms
That had come through the kingdom
And so it had trouble understanding
Something it had never lived through


The Queen said that it was okay
For the Octopus to be scared
And that no matter how many storms
The Queen has seen
She still gets scared whenever a new one arrives


The Octopus asked the Queen
What she does when she’s scared
And she told the Octopus
That she likes to think about
All the things she’s going to do
When she’s not scared anymore


In fact, she said, The last time I was scared
I told myself that when the storm was over
I would build myself a beautiful aquarium
Right here in the castle
That I could visit whenever I was afraid or sad
And that would make me feel better


The Octopus couldn’t believe
That the Queen could feel better
Being here in the aquarium
When the Octopus wanted to visit with the Queen
For that very same reason!


The Octopus told the Queen this
And the Queen laughed and said--


You may be surprised to know
That a Queen needs an Octopus
Just as much as an Octopus needs a Queen


It should have made the Octopus nervous
To know that someone the Octopus was counting on
To take care of everything
Was really no more powerful
Than the Octopus
But that didn’t happen


Instead it made the Octopus happy
To know that it could be useful to the Queen
Just by having a little visit with her
In a place she made
For when there was lighting happening
Outside the castle


The Queen and the Octopus sat for awhile
Talking about other things
That made them scared
And talking about those things
Made them a little less scared


And they talked about things
That made them sad
Like not being able
To go outside in a storm
But by talking about it
It made them
A little less sad


And they talked about
All the things they were going to do
When the storm was over
And by talking about
It made the Octopus realize
That one day
Yes
The storm would be gone


And the Queen said--


When it’s gone
You and I will go down to the shore
And you can go in the ocean
And float and swim
And surge through the waves


The Octopus thought this sounded very nice
But it was also very nice
To visit with the Queen

The sound of her voice
Wasn’t louder than the thunder outside
But the Octopus focused on the Queen
And what she was saying
And how kind she was being


The Octopus asked the Queen
If she would stay in the aquarium
And wait until the Octopus was asleep
Before she went back to her throne room


And the Queen said that
Yes, she would
Because the Octopus was her subject
Just like any other subject
And it would be her honor
To give it comfort


So she sat
And after a few moments
The Octopus slipped into sleep
And outside the storm
Began to pull back
Like a wave
From the sand

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