Endless Winter - 1

PROMISES

"Wait for me till next spring..." the Prince had said before kissing her goodbye. He had tears in his eyes.

"You have your duties. I will wait." the Wildflower had said serenely, grabbing his shoulders and eyeing him proudly.

The Prince had only walked two paces before coming back rushing towards his Wildflower again. The dam of the bravado that had restrained their tears had broken finally and in the solace of the wild Forest, both the souls had cried hugging each other with all the passion they had in their hearts.

For those stolen moments, they weren't a Prince or a Wildflower... They were one. The world did not exist; only love did. That was more than enough. They could have spent all their life that way in that beautiful oblivion.

The Prince had to leave though, for the greater good, with the promise to come back for his Wildflower, the next spring. Then he would take her to his Palace. His Palace was no place for any Wildflower but it did not matter. He knew how to fight wars and win them.

Wildflower waited for him. After he left, she knew how meaningless her life was without him. She wanted the time to hurry up but it moved so slow that every moment killed her a little. It was the same time that ticked away so hurriedly whenever Prince came to meet her in the Forest, she thought angrily. She missed his sweet voice, the safety in his mighty arms, his serene smile and the way he stared into her eyes making her blush.

She daydreamed all the time, listening to the music of the rustling leaves and watching squirrels nibbling at the treenuts, the things the Prince loved to do. She dreamt about the Palace her Prince would take her to. She had never seen the Palace, but she had been there in her imagination, through her Prince's eyes. Majestic iron gates shining silver, huge ballrooms, the Roses adorning the high golden walls, precious stones glittering on the silk curtains, rich food, fine wine, fluffy pillows... She wasn't really fascinated by the Palace. She had grown up in the Forest; of what use the diamonds and silk, roses and tulips, gold and silver were to her! All she ever wished was to wake up to her Prince every morning and sleep in his arms every night.

All through the burning sun and the cold rain, through savage wildfires, a vicious tempest and the winter that seemed endless that year, she stayed strong. She prayed for her Prince's safety day and night.

When a melodious song of a cuckoo brought the news of the imminent spring, her heart skipped a beat. She danced with joy and sang loudly in her rough voice. With every passing moment, her Prince was coming closer to her now... Soon she would lose herself in his loving embrace. The coldest winter in her heart would end soon... All that painful wait since eternity would come to an end.

All the Trees around her called her lunatic. She smiled proudly telling them, "Wait till my Prince comes!" with her nose in the air.

She wondered all the time where the Prince's Royal Carriage would land in that dense wild Forest. She shook her roots and pulled them off the soil. It was painful; but the love she had for him had only made her stronger than ever. She had long decided not to wither in his absence.

"When you will be back, I will dazzle you with my glow!" she had told him mischievously before he had left.

She moved to a beautiful Riverbank, adorned with the green carpet of the lush grass laid out as if to welcome her Prince.

'One step closer to you..' she whispered to herself happily.

The Prince never came back even after spring, nor did his message.

She pulls her roots off every morning to go back to her old Forest just to see if her Prince returns there. She asks the Trees around for any sign of him. Some whisper, some smirk, some sympathize, but no-one calls her lunatic on her face anymore. With a sympathetic shake of heads, the Trees tell her the Prince would never come back.

"Shut up! You don't know him! He keeps his promise." she spits at them indignantly and leaves for the Riverbank in a surly mood.

'He is the Prince after all, he must have Roses in his Palace. Poor Wildflower!'

'Hasn't she started withering these days....'
The Trees discuss after she leaves every evening.

To be continued...