The rose-colored door

Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a king. He was a great and wonderful king, and was well known for being peaceful and kind. The king was a simple man, and required little money for himself or his palace. He only required enough for himself, his three sons, and pay for a few servants and guards around his palace. The king had no army; because he saw no need for it, because he kept peace and order in both his land and others. He had no need for a navy because there were no countries across the nearest sea; it simply expanded into a never ending nothingness. At one point it was said to simply stop, because the world was flat, and that wouldn’t make sense, having more land across the vast ocean. The king loved games and jokes, and would play them with anyone- not just the lords, but the common people and the servants and anyone who would challenge him. His three sons grew up to be strong and valiant knights in the face of danger- not that danger was something that was common around then. The first was bold and defiant, the second humble and weak, and the third was humorous and happy. They enjoyed the palace, each secretly wishing that they would be the next to become king, but their father had made no mention as to who would be his successor. The first wanted to become king for the glory, the second for the money, and the third simply because he liked the castles chess set. 1

One day, when the king was far past his prime, the wrinkles in his face deep and long, but the twinkle not gone from his eye, there was a knock at the door. It was an ordinary knock, on an ordinary day, and could have easily been an ordinary person. The king, as ordinary, walked cheerfully to the door to see what this person wanted. He always answered the door himself, and so, as ordinary, he walked to the door, assuming it was another person who wanted to play chess with him, or croquet, or any other game that involved strategy and enjoyment. He opened it, though to something completely different. It was a dragon, and with its great wings and its great tail and its great chest and its great scales, the king was quite startled. He fell down, and in one fluid movement, the dragon picked him up and threw the king on its back, and before the king could say dragon he was off to a mountaintop, far, far away, and having never flown before, he knew not where he was nor where to go.2

The dragon said “If you can capture the winds, breathe fire and walk on the waters, as I can, you will be able to defeat me, too. However, no man has, and I believe no man will!” The dragon then did the same for each of the king’s three sons, taking them to a separate faraway mountain, telling them what to do, and leaving them there. 3

The king was not in a fit condition to be climbing mountains, and started lowering himself down slowly, taking many breaks. The king worked his way down the mountain, and, after a few days, he left the mountain unharmed. He wandered in the streets, and was widely popular because he had been good to the commoners, so they were good to him and gave him food and board and plenty of amusement. He asked everyone how to go about his task, but no one knew, they only knew that they were happy to be able to give to their wise and great king. He enjoyed the acceptance, and stayed with the commoners. In time, as most old men do, he died, and there was a great and long ceremony for him. Everyone wondered who was going to defeat the dragon, but everyone also thought that their quest was impossible, and therefore didn’t concern themselves with kings and princes and resumed life as if it was normal, however the dragon took to having people for dessert on the occasion, so more fear and tension was occurring. 4

The first son raced along the trail, ignoring the sharp rocks and pebbles, determined to be the first one to finish the quest. He raced down to the waterfront, and stepped into the cool water. He didn’t know how to walk on water, and got very upset trying. He worked the whole day trying to build something to float on, but he was not a boat builder, and had in fact only been on a boat once before, and gave up. The next day he tried to capture wind with a big jar, and that didn’t work because once the air was in the jar, it was still. The next day e tried to breathe fire and ended up only with a sore tongue. The first son got tired of trying, and, dejected, he went to the castle to beg, and, finding only the dragon, had to go out onto the streets and beg for food and money in the streets. 5

The second son decided that he was too weak and that his brothers too fast, and walked down the mountain aimlessly, wondering where he would sleep and what he would eat. The second son wandered aimlessly, and followed a water ditch and found a tranquil pond. By the pond he remained, fishing and drinking the water, and he liked it so much there that he decided to stay and build a house. Stay he did but build he didn’t, he wasn’t sure how and intended to get the occasional passerby to help on small portions. In the meantime, he dug a hole in the meantime and slept in it, and he liked it so much that he decided to stay in it. He wanted warmth, so he built a fire and liked it so much that he kept it going all the time. 6

The third son did not start by walking, but by thinking, and ended up thinking and walking at the same time, and ended up at the bottom of the mountain without realizing it, because he was deep in thought on how one can defeat a dragon by walking on water. He wandered the wilderness, pondering and questioning, and wondering and thinking, conceiving and considering, reasoning and reflecting. It was in a moment when, in confusion and discouragement, that he looked up from the ground he had been walking, and looked up at the sky, but saw in front of him a house. It was a simple house, small and wooden, and it blended into the trees except for the rose colored door, which was shut tight, with a rusted knocker on it. The third son decided that it might be worth a try to enter, if no one was there, it should provide him sufficient shelter. He took a breath and headed up to the door. 7

The third son knocked on the rose colored door with the rusted knocker, and waited patiently for the door to open. When the door opened, a witch peered out at him, and smiled and told him to come in. He hesitantly stepped over the threshold and into the warm hut. Bookcases covered the walls, the table, the floor, and some of the chairs. There was a table in the corner with some potions of uncertain origin, one gave off a green smoke, and one gave off a silver smoke and one gave off a gold smoke. She told him to sit in one of the worn down chairs by the fire, which he did. She quickly stirred a potion briefly and came and sat down with him, asking where he came from and how he got there. He told her his predicament willingly, ending with his frustration over the fact that it appeared impossible and irrelevant. Upon his conclusion, she laughed. She told him to look with her at her books, and that she was sure that a solution could be found. Awkwardly he explained that he didn’t think that a book would help anything, but she ignored him and went over to her shelves, and wandered around the shelves, pulling out books, putting them back, and pulling out other books and changing her mind again. Finally she cried “AHA! Found it I have! Come in here, boy, we have got ourselves a solution!” He walked over to the shelf, anticipating a book about boats, or winds, or fire, but the book she pulled down was about dragons themselves. “Don’t you see? Isn’t this great? You can go and defeat your dragon, and solve your quest!” 8

The third son hesitated before asking “Umm.. what is your grand idea? Dragons are not going to help me; they are the problem here, right? I don’t see how this is going to work… not to offend you, ma’am,” But the old woman was already busy, flipping through the book and then racing over to her potions table, mixing potions, throwing in the occasional unrecognizable ingredient. , stirring, and mixing more things. When she was done, she handed him a potion.9

“Here, this will turn you into a dragon, because dragons can do all the things you listed, right? Here is a counter-spell. Use them well, boy, I know you can. But in return for that, I shall request a small favor,” she said with a smile. 10

“Ma’am, I don’t know-11

“If you come out of this alive, then I would like to live at the castle and be the court magician. I am not a harmful witch. I am not going to try to eat any of the castle servants or maids, or anyone else for that matter. I can make medicines, I can make gold, and, if you so desire, I can make you an even better chess set. I would simply like to retire somewhere else aside from this hidden cabin,” she explained. 12

“I will see what I can do, ma’am. Good night,” the son raced through the woods, scared and irritated by the old witch, feeling slightly awkward, and mainly wanting to conquer the dragon and regain the throne. Upon reaching the castle, he knocked and cried “Oh great dragon who resides within these walls, if you would please come out for a moment to hear my plea,” and then drank the potion. When the dragon reached the door, he found that it was not a human, but a dragon, and a young, fit dragon that was ready to battle. “I am the prince, and I have finished your quest, and I am ready to fight you! Prepare for battle!”13

At once the greatest dragon battle known to dragons began, with the older, wiser dragon against the younger, fitter dragon, and it went on for days, and the longer the battle went on, the more exhausted the dragons got. The dragons lunged and lashed, charged and chased, and hid and harmed. They moved all through the air, the water and the land while fighting, until finally, the witch appeared. Rolling her eyes, she aimed her wand at the dragon, but at the same time, the son-changed-into-a-dragon swung a great arm at his heart and with both of those movements combined, the dragon fell dead at their feet. 14

Epilogue:15

The son became king, and like his father, he enjoyed games and jokes, and the kingdom prospered once again. The first son returned to the castle, and took a liking to the witch, and soon after became her apprentice. He was the best and only apprentice the witch ever had. The witch, as requested, resided in the castle, bringing all her books, potions, and the rose-colored door. 16