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| Be a princess in your own fairy tale. |
Once upon a time, in a small village, there
lived a peasant girl named Boa. Like every other girl, She believed in fairy tales. One
day, Boa heard about the prince charming in a faraway kingdom. She decided that she
would travel to that Kingdom. She will marry her prince charming, and will live happily
ever after. She packed a few things and started her journey.
The road to faraway kingdom was through a big, dark jungle. On her way, Boa met a dreadful lion.
“Are you not afraid of me, girl?” asked the lion,
with curiosity.
“No” answered Boa.
Lion was impressed with her bravery.
“Where are you going?” Inquired the Lion
“I am going to meet my prince charming, and
then am going to marry him. We are going to live
happily ever after.” answered Boa, in one breath.
happily ever after.” answered Boa, in one breath.
“I am the king of the jungle. You are a beautiful
girl. I can be your prince charming. But promise me you will look like this
forever.”
“I can’t look like this forever, I am going to
get old and look different sooner or later.”
The lion looked a little disappointed.
“Hmmm … that is a problem. I can’t be your
prince charming” said the lion
“Don't worry, the king of the jungle, you will get
your lioness someday” said the Boa gaily.
She said farewell to the lion, and kept walking towards
the kingdom.
After some time, Boa saw a roadside puddle with many frogs.
“Who are you? Where are you going?” asked one
of the frogs
“I am Boa the peasant girl, and I am going to meet my
prince charming”
“I am your prince charming. ” said the frog.
“What are you talking about? You are just a puddle
frog.” said Boa, visibly annoyed.
“Yes, presently I am a frog. But in reality, I
am a cursed prince. If you kiss me, my curse will be lifted and I will become the
prince charming”.
Boa stood there confused. She didn't know
what to do. She was just a naïve peasant girl.
The frog sensed her hesitation.
“Trust me, peasant girl.” said the frog
earnestly.
Boa closed her eyes, and kissed the
frog. She opened her eyes slowly. Her heart was beating faster. She was going
to see her Prince Charming.
“What is this? You are still a frog, the curse is
not lifted!” screamed Boa.
“What curse? There is no curse. I just fooled
you.” said the frog looking at all the frogs in puddle.
All the puddle frogs started laughing. Boa felt betrayed, but she didn't say anything. Tears rolling down her eyes,
she kept walking towards the kingdom.
She reached the kingdom. In her excitement of
meeting her prince charming, she completely forgot about her ugly encounter with the frog. Finally, she was in front of the prince charming. He was all what she
imagined. The most handsome man she has ever seen. He was surrounded by beautiful
girls. Each girl was beautiful than the first one.
Boa kept looking at the prince charming, suddenly
their eyes met. She was nothing like any other girl prince charming had ever seen.
There was a childlike simplicity in her manners. Her eyes were full of admiration
for him.
“Come here, girl. Where are you from? Never
seen you before”
“I am Boa, the peasant girl, I am here to meet you, Your Grace!” answered Boa, timidly.
“And what is the purpose of this visit, girl?”
asked the prince charming.
Boa wanted to say a lot many things, but couldn’t utter a word.
“Let me guess, you are here to marry me”
Boa nodded.
“But that’s not possible. I can’t marry you. I
am the prince charming to every girl. If I marry you, what will they do? Instead, you can stay with me like these girls and enjoy the palace luxuries."
That answer broke the Boa’s heart. It
shattered her dream of living happily every after. She left the palace at once.
She kept walking. She walked and walked, without food without water. At last,she couldn’t walk anymore. She collapsed on the ground.
“Are you all right? Wake up please?” a stranger’s
voice was asking
Boa opened her eyes. She saw a boy of
her age.
“You gave me a fright! I saw you collapse on
the road” said the boy.
“Where am I?” asked the girl, getting up.
“You are in my kingdom, my lady.”
“Oh, are you a prince?” asked Boa .
“I am the king of this Kingdom.”
“That’s nice! Where is your palace? Where are
your guards?” asked Boa
“I am creating this new Kingdom. There is no
palace but I built house for myself. My friends are working on building a better
farming system, so that everybody can get more food. We are still working on the town planning. You are welcome to stay with us, if you want.”
Boa thought that the idea of
creating a new kingdom little foolish, but she l had no desire to go back as
her dreams were shattered. She stayed.
She noticed though the boy was only her age,
he was well respected by all. They all called him King. He was full of new
ideas about building the new kingdom.
He never asked Boa about her
past. But one day, she told him her story -- how she ran away from home, about
the frog, about the prince charming. King listened quietly. He didn’t say a
word.
“You know my past, the horrible mistakes I did.
Do you think less of me now?” asked Boa with shame.
“Who am I to judge your life? It’s your life. You should live it as you want. We all make mistakes; the important thing is that
we learn from them.”
Time passed by. Boa noticed that King cared for her. Whenever she was sad, he made jokes, just to make her
happy again. Whenever she fell ill, he took care of her. Soon, she started
reciprocating. They never said a word to each other. But they knew, even the
people from the small kingdom knew, that they were madly in love with each
other.
On one beautiful day, King asked Boa to marry him. Boa gladly agreed. And thus, she became the queen.
Under King’s rule, the kingdom grew large and prosperous.
King cared for his people. He worked hard to improve their life. Many people
from other kingdoms heard about this new beautiful kingdom. They migrated to
this kingdom. Queen, being a peasant girl, knew about poor people’s problems.
She implemented many reforms. These improved life of people in kingdom greatly.
One day, while meeting people from the
kingdom, the queen came across a little girl, who was staring at her
continuously.
“Come here, little girl. Why are you looking
at me. Do you want anything?” asked the queen.
“No, Your Grace! She is just comparing you and your
character in the fairy tale about you,” answered the girl’s father.
“A fairy tale? About me?” The queen was surprised.
“Yes my Queen! It is fairy tale named ‘The
Peasant Girl Who Became A Queen.’ It is very popular these days.” answered the girl’s
father, respectfully.
The queen just smiled. She realized that she had
created her own fairy tale!
——
“Someday, someone will walk into your life and make you realize why it never worked out with anyone else.” — Shon Mehta
——
Interested in the philosophy behind this story? Read the full analysis in the [Stories of Jivavarta: A Tale of a Fairy Tale].
© 2003–2026 Shon Mehta. All Rights Reserved. > This work, part of the Stories of Jivavarta, was originally released in print format in 2003. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission.
Shon Mehta is an author and philosopher known for creating the Jivavarta Universe, a grounded, secular, sociopolitical world used to explore human resilience, social dynamics, and moral philosophy. Her novels and parables have transitioned from literary fiction into foundational academic material used in educational curricula across several countries. Through her analytical work, she examines the complex social structures and leadership archetypes that shape our reality.
This is the first time I have come across non religious parables, loved them!
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