TBC Publishing Pride Month Flash Fiction Challenge, 11 of 30
Title: Once Upon a Time – A Hopeful Rebeginning
Author: R. Scott Tyler
Genre: Mystery / Fantasy
Word count (500 max): 495
There once was a relatively new upstart of a kingdom that had done well for itself. Its leaders were not perfect, but there were enough good ones to recognize when something needed to change to improve life in the kingdom. They aimed to be fair and ruled with a semblance of equality. However, the kingdom’s dwellers were never satisfied. Those with land and gold coins always wanted more land and gold coins. Even those with only a little land and few copper coins argued among themselves about who deserved more and who was more favored by the king and the royals in the land.
The king, let’s call him Donatello, was a vile man, as wriggly as a snake and half as trustworthy. One day, he decided it would be good for him and his royal crew to weed out some of the people in the kingdom who didn’t look or act like them, even though many of these same people had supported his crowning.
He called his loyal guards and selected the coldest of the cold. Some of them were frozen solid, or so it was said. He devised a plan to send these frozen individuals across the kingdom, targeting those who had sneaked in to try to bleed the kingdom dry. However, what he ultimately did was pick on the hardest-working people, those who were helping to build the cities, repairing what was left of the yellow brick road, caring for its elders, and raising the food that fed everyone.
The loyal guards, the coldest of the cold, would do anything for their king, no matter if it was right or wrong.
It happened that a rainbow celebration was occurring simultaneously, and several princes and princesses from high-ranking kingdoms were taking part. They celebrated with their families (those who supported the rainbow) and with their loved ones (often those who were not as well off as they were). Two princes together, two princesses together, a prince and a pauper, a princess and a handmaid, two blacksmiths, two barmaids, singers, dancers, and cross-dressers — it didn’t matter who they were as long as they loved and participated in the rainbow celebration.
This infuriated the king and his loyal subjects, but the celebrants remained unconcerned. They were louder and prouder. They marched in the streets, exercising their right in the kingdom. They partied into the night; not only did they celebrate, but they also talked, communicated, and documented what was being done to them. They reached out in friendship to the other kingdoms that had supported them in the past and to the kingdoms from which they had come (in pursuit of a better life and greater opportunities).
It was their dream to one day not be vilified with hate because of their color, level of education, or the person they happened to love. They would persevere, and they would continue to help others as they knew it was their right and obligation to do so.
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