Once upon a time there lived a great King named Aaron and within that Kingdom was a beautiful High Priestess named Zoie. Aaron was very fond of his High Priestess and loved her like a daughter. Zoie loved the King like a father and in fact she had never felt a love so strong for anyone in her entire life. In her eyes he was truly beautiful inside and out and he thought the same of her. They would spend hours and hours walking within the Kingdom laughing and talking. He taught her the meaning of unconditional love and she brought laughter and spontaneity into his life. They truly were a beautiful pair.

One day while the King walked amongst his Kingdom alone he thought to himself. Zoie has one of the most beautiful smiles I’ve ever seen. I want to capture that smile so I can look at it every day. So the King summoned Zoie to court and and said to her, “Zoie I’d like the royal artist to capture your smile for me. Would you please smile for me?” Zoie was flattered and she said “Of course my King! Anything for you!” Zoie gave the King a clumsy curtsy and he smiled. She was so happy and backed away slowly and turned around and ran from the main hall as fast as she could.

So Zoie went off with the royal artist to get her likeness captured for the King. Zoie told the artist “You know what? I’m not going to even practice my smile I am going to just smile the biggest most beautiful smile I can and you just capture what you see. I know the King will love it.” So the artist captured her smile and it was so beautiful that even the artist had to break his silence and speak to her. “Zoie this is truly a beautiful smile. I’m sure the King will love it.”

Zoie was so excited to show the King her beautiful smile. Zoie ran to court and knelled at the Kings feet and said, “For you my King, my smile. I hope you love it.” The King was so excited. Finally he’d get to capture Zoie’s smile. He looked at the drawing and was a bit disappointed. “Zoie this is not what I was looking for. This isn’t a smile it’s a grin Zoie. Try again for me ok?” Zoie is a little hurt but she adores the King and says OK I’ll try again.

The King looks at the painting of Zoie after she leaves and smiles. I wish she would show me the smile that I love, it’s truly beautiful. I can’t wait until I have that smile captured for myself so no matter what happens I will always have her smile with me.

Meanwhile, Zoie goes off back to the royal artist again and informs him that the King wanted her to try again. The royal artist is surprised that this one wasn’t chosen. The royal artist says, “Well I love it but we’ll try again.”

Zoie wants to make sure she gets it right this time. “Before we begin, I’d like to practice in the river to make sure I give the best smile I can and then we’ll present the King with many drawings of my smile. I’m sure then he’ll love it.” The artist agrees and Zoie sits by the bank of the river to capture her reflection smiling her best smiles ever. She has about 10 smiles ready for the royal artist to capture. Zoie is so excited she is sure that the King will love these.

Zoie goes before the King again and this time she has 10 paintings that she spent most of her day practicing and posing for. King Aaron leans down and examines the paintings but none of them is the smile that he loves. Why won’t she smile he wonders. He says to her “These are not what I’m looking for Priestess.”

Zoie is heartbroken. “King I spent most of my day smiling the best smiles I have and you haven’t accepted any of them. Please release me so that I can attend to other matters in the Kingdom?” The King releases her but he is saddened that he doesn’t have her smile and the Priestess is saddened that her best wasn’t good enough.

Time goes on but the King has to have that smile of hers. He thinks of her smile often and he hasn’t seen her smile that smile of hers in a long time. The Priestess on the other hand has accepted that her smile may not be the best but she loves it. The Priestess accepts her smile and she moves on.

Then one day the King thinks of her smile again and he wants to capture it for himself. He must have that smile, so he summons Zoie to his court again.

“Zoie why won’t you smile? You should smile more in these drawings Zoie. These drawings are not what I’m looking for. Try again.”

Zoie hears this and immediately she thinks about the time she spent smiling the best smiles shed ever smiled in her life to have them all rejected by the King. Zoie smiles and says to the King “I love my smile. King why have you summoned me to court again to smile? Are you comparing my smile to someone elses? Why are you demanding I smile for you? I don’t understand. I loved those drawings, the royal artist even said they were the best he’d seen. Just please just let me be ok? I will not pose for a smile again.”

The King is infuriated with Zoie and they get into a huge argument. The King thinks Zoie is insecure and crazy to have not accepted his genuine compliment. Zoie can’t understand why the King won’t just accept her smile as it is. She gave him her best smiles in those drawings and the King didn’t accept any of them. Why can’t he just accept the smiles that everyone else has come to know and love. The artist said my smile was beautiful. Whats better than beautiful? How can you perfect beautiful? Zoe thinks, it must not be beautiful in his eyes if he won’t accept them.

Zoie also gets angry but she is no match for the King. She realizes that she can’t win against a King and apologizes for not accepting his compliment but the King will have none of it. She runs away in tears and the King just dismisses her as insane. How can anyone reject a compliment? She is truly a nut. The King yells at Zoie to leave his presence but the Priestess decides to leave the Kingdom and she does so with a saddened heart.

Many months go by and the King often thinks of Zoies smile. On his many walks throughout the Kingdom he even hears that laugh she laughs. He still feels her in his heart and wishes that he had not gotten so angry and banished her from his Kingdom. But he thinks, I can’t be sad now. His Kingdom needs him, his Queen and small princes and princesses need him happy. He has no room for sadness but he truly misses his Zoie and he feels as if one of his daughters has run away from home. As soon as he had that thought he saw a deer, a young buck it appears, come out of the clearing and watch him. As he began to approach the deer it immediately turned and jumped back into the forest. Now the King rarely stepped outside of his Kingdom but decided to take a journey, a small detour this morning, before he headed back to the castle.

As the King was thinking about Zoie, Zoie was also thinking about him. She spent many months trying to figure out why he had gotten so upset with her. They were the best of friends and to have it all end over something so simple. Zoie just didn’t understand and she often times caught herself on the verge of tears but she refused to let herself cry. For months she had held back the tears and in her heart she still missed the King. If only she could see his face one more time…

“What was that?” Zoie sits up from the banks of the river and looks behind her to find that a beautiful deer is standing behind her, watching her. Zoie slow stands to her feet, gives a curtsy and stands to the side. The deer walks over to the river to get a drink of water. She smiles. Zoie loves being outside with nature and the forest and all its inhabitants are her friend. So when the deer finishes his drink and looks at her she is not a bit surprised. But all of a sudden she hears footsteps and she turns and at the same time the deer runs away. She has a thought to hide but for some reason her feet won’t move. She stands firmly by the river and awaits the presence of this new stranger.

King Aaron had not gone far into the forest before he heard the flow of water. He did not even know a river was nearby. He increases his pace and as soon as he gets to the clearing he sees her. He sees his Zoie. The King looks into her face and she gives the biggest most beautiful smile he had ever seen, even better than any he had given to her in the past. He sees tears streaming down her face but that smile stays exactly the same and his heart is filled with Love for his Zoie for his best friend. He walks over to her and when he looks into her eyes everything becomes clear and the King speaks:

“Zoie I have missed you so, you are my friend and like a daughter to me and I have been foolish. I realize now that all of those years I should have told you that you have one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen. Your smile is even more beautiful than mines. I wanted to capture your smile so that I could look at it all the time but now I realize that the smile you smile at me is different from the smile you smile at other people.”

He reaches out to touch her face.

“Zoie this is the smile that is meant just for me, it can’t be captured by any one else but me. This very moment will remain in my heart for eternity. I will never forget this moment and therefore I will never forget your smile. Zoie please accept my apologies.”

Zoie smiles an even bigger smile than before and leans up and gives King Aaron a big goofy, clumsy hug and he lets out the biggest laugh she had ever heard him laugh. She releases him and smiles and then the Zoie speaks:

“King Aaron I also apologize. I let my emotions control my actions and that is something that you taught me to never do. And no my King you have not been foolish, this is the moment you have asked for. You asked for my smile to be captured and you now know that it could never be captured on paper, only in your heart. I have missed your lessons these past months and if you’d still have me I’d love it if you allowed me back into your Kingdom as High Priestess.”

King Aaron smiles and kisses Zoie on the forehead and places his hand over her heart. “Zoie you will never leave my Kingdom no matter where you are on this earth. My Kingdom, our Kingdom lives right here. You will always be my High Priestess no matter where you are. I Love you Zoie.”

Zoie smiles and says “I Love you too King Aaron” and runs off playfully and the King follows. They sit and laugh and play by the banks of the river as their dear friend the deer watches them. The deer then smiles and prances off into the forest.

The Beginning…

Author's Note: Lesson of Love

Are you able to determine the moral of this story? What are your thoughts? Here are mines:

We need to let the ones we Love know exactly how we feel about them. And we also need to learn that even though a person may not say “I Love You”, we can also look at their actions and get the answers are heart seeks. Do you have a friend that has never spoken the words “I Love You” to you but they may share their lunches with you, they may give you a big hug when you cry, they laugh the hardest at your jokes. This is also Love, its just unspoken, no one Love is better than the other. They are both the same. So no matter if I tell you I Love You or give you the biggest smile you have ever seen every time I see you…count it all as Love. Remember you are beautiful and you are Love.

Sweet Dreams.

 

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