Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. She lived in America back before the British decided to come and colonize the country. Well, partially.
She was a very strong and kind princess. She loved and respected all of the Earth's creatures. She had a logical mind and was very good at solving problems. She loved to go and sit up in a large willow and talk to the tree as if it was alive. She could sit with the tree until she found an answer to whatever predicament whose answer was evading her and she imagined that the tree told her answers sometimes.
She was the princess because the leader of her tribe was her father. He was a large and commanding man, whose wife had died years earlier. He had turned harder and colder after the death of his beloved wife, but his one true love remained his beautiful daughter. He would do anything for her. His daughter, the princess and main character of this story, was sometimes furious with her father, when he would not let her go out to hunt with the old, experienced hunters of the tribe, or refuse to allow her to climb to the top of the highest waterfall, or other dangerous but exciting things. She sometimes had a hard time understanding all he did for her, but she loved him dearly, despite his faults.
One day the princess was lying in a tree near the sea, watching the tide come in and out, filling the small pools in the sand then emptying them out again. She had her knees rested against a branch and her back lying against the thick, but in a gentle way soft, bark of the tree. She listened to the soft sigh of the water as it ran across the rough sand, and the gentle chatter of squirrels and birds as they engaged in playful dances above her head. She stared out across the large expanses of water and noticed a change on the steady horizon. She peered closer at a large brown dot at the edge. She felt the muscles in her back tense up but from years of hunting stayed motionless. Her eyes followed the brown speck as it slowly grew closer to the shore. As soon as she realized it was certainly coming for the beach, she leapt off the branch and silently ran for her home.
She burst into the camp and ran gracefully to the opposite side where her fathers tent was. She lifted the flap and walked in, steadying her breath quickly. Her fathers face softened as he saw her, as it always did, but the lines creased when he saw the sweat at her brow and her panting breaths. He asked her what had happened, and she explained what she had seen at the shoreline. Her father stood up, his brow creased, and walked quickly out of the camp and ordered her to show him where she had been. She lead him to the branch she had been lying on and pointed out the ever-growing speck on the horizon, now slightly more than a speck.
Her father quickly gathered the warriors of the camp and they patiently awaited the arrival of the smudge. The princess stood behind the line, happy to be allowed to stay at all, and watched as the small dot became a huge canoe made out of many, many trees. Her father, the princess, and the warriors all stared as the huge canoe grew larger until large numbers of people started pouring out of it. The princesses father talked with the tribe of the other people as he princess stared at the strange people.
Their skin was blindingly white, as if they had never seen the sun. The princess watched as they arranged themselves into a particular order; it appeared to be most important at the head, less important at the back. The princess found her eyes strangely drawn to the person at the beginning of the line. He, like the others, was very pale, but he had a kindness to his eyes that the others seemed to be lacking. She remembered his pale yellow hair, the color of the moon, when the men had left and gone back to their overly large canoe.
The princesses father spoke to the tribe that evening of the newcomers that they had seen earlier. He explained that they would be staying while they simply looked for some small yellow pebbles that their tribe leader had requested that they find from this land. The tribe had no objections, so life went on as normal for the princess and her father. They hunted, they searched for corn and berries, they were happy. But the princess failed to forget the pale, strange man with hair the color of the moon. She went to her tree and sat, but no matter how long she sat in silence no answer was received--from the tree or herself.
This confusion lasted for some time, until the next time she saw the pale men again. One of the
smaller ones came with a message for the princesses father. It was a request for a meeting at the
shoreline where they had spoken before. Her father, being a gracious leader, agreed. The princess was allowed to accompany him to the meeting, because political meetings like this were never dangerous. The princess stood quietly in the background, watching and taking in everything. She watched the pale man with moon-colored hair again, frustrated at her noticing of him without even thinking of it. The white peoples' tribe leader started off quietly and politely, but soon escalated to shouting. He was talking about the yellow pebbles they had wanted to find. They hadn't found any and wanted to know where the princess's tribe was keeping it hidden. The girl's father was confused, saying they wouldn't want such a rock, but the pale man just got more and more frustrated as time went on.
When the princess's father had enough of being shouted at, he politely asked if they were done and he could get back to his tribe. The pale man leader got suddenly furious, shouting at the tribe leader. The man with the yellow hair put his hand on the leaders shoulder, shouting something at him about not understanding. The princess stepped forward, ready to defend her tribe leader and father with her life, but her father held her back. She wished desperately she could do more, but she didn't know how she could help her father with politics, something she could barely understand. She spoke them angus the of trees and bushes, squirrels and birds, not of pale men. She decided to try and help in the only way that she knew how.
When the meeting finally concluded, the pale man bright red all over his face, the princess's father confusion written all over his face, the princess walked delicately up to the pale yellow haired man. She spoke with him momentarily, and he frowned at his father briefly before consenting. The princess walked silently into the trees, and the pale man walked behind her, talking quietly so as no to disturb the peace of the forest. They spoke back and forth gently, more politely and humanely than their fathers had been. The princess learned that the pale man was also the leaders son, and therefore they were similar. The princess spoke of the yellow pebbles with confusion and the pale man explained that in their country, the rocks were valuable to their leader. The princess was still confused as to sway they would fight so hard for pieces of earth, but she understood that they were indeed beautiful. She told him that they did not know where it was, as they had no use for rocks that they couldn't use.
The princess showed the pale prince her tree that she went to for guidance and the waterfall that she climbed to the top of when her father was not around. She found she enjoyed the company of the pale prince, though they were s different in physical characteristics. As they talked together, the princess hoped that she could indirectly smooth peace between the two tribe leaders--if their children got along, then they must get along, correct?
When the princess returned to camp, all was well and normal, though her father was more agitated than usual, everyone was fine. The princess and pale prince returned to walk through the woods and discuss politics many times after the first. They tried to find ways to get the two tribes to consult one another peacefully, but to no avail. Soon the princess realized that she thought of the pale prince more often than was necessary. They were partners in politics, nothing more. But she didn't feel that way. She thought of his pale hair picking corn in the fields, she thought of him next to her when she sat in her tree. She was reminded of his eyes when she saw the stars at night and the sun in the morning. She wondered if this was how her father felt when thinking about her mother.
That was when the war started. The pale people accused the princess's tribe of hoarding the yellow rocks. The princess begged her father not to engage with the white people, but the tribe leader must be strong, he reminded her, and make hard decisions.
After the fighting had been officially announced, the princess could not get out of camp long enough to safely meet with the pale prince. She didn't eat, didn't sleep, and felt sick whenever her father talked about the death of small skirmishes around the borders of her tribe's land, fearing one of the pale people that died or was injured was the pale prince. The princess wanted to put into action some of the information she had learned by consulting with the pale prince, but she did not know how without the prince. She had grown to love this man--a pale man that was attacking her people. She did not know how to stop the fighting without endangering them both.
One day the princess went out to pick corn with some of the other women of the tribe. When they returned, arms full of golden ears, the princess saw the pale prince again. But his hands were tied, and there was a bruise on his face on his cheekbone. She dropped the beautiful ears of corn on the ground and ran to him, crying out to her father. She asked what was going to happen to him, and her father, in confusion, answered that he would not be harmed, that he was simply blackmail for the other tribe leader. He was taken roughly to one of the tents and left there until more permanent arrangements could be made.
The princess composed herself, not wanting to admit that she loved the enemy. She knew now that she was on her own; she could rely on no outside help from the prince. She ran to her tree and sprawled on the roots of her beloved tree, begging for comfort. The tree offered none. She curled up her hands into fists and hit the ground. She felt utterly alone. Her tree, which had never really offered comfort, but had always been like a second home for her, was devoid of sympathy. The man she loved was locked up by her own people.
She returned to her own camp soon after, having thought long and hard about her situation and come to a conclusion. She immediately saw her father's top warriors gathered in a circle around their tribe leader and soon the young princess learned that a larger, more deadly war was coming soon. The two tribes were going to meet the morning after and end the fighting in one, bloody brawl. The princess begged her father to stop the madness that was going on all around them, but the tribe leader stoically refused to listen to his once counseling angel, and listened instead to the pride inside him that begged for blood.
The princess, defeated, waited impatiently until the next morning. When the sun finally kissed the horizon, the girl was immediately up, waiting with the warriors for the tribe leader. She wished dearly that her pale prince could be with her, but, knowing he could not me, she put him out of her mind. The warriors walked slowly and calmly to the meeting place that the white men had agreed to meet.
The white men were standing in a calm line, large black metal sticks in their hands that the princess knew were very dangerous--the pale prince had warned her about them. The tribe leaders yelled a command for the beginning of the fight to be anticipated. The princess took a deep breath and ran forward.
The princess stood between the two groups of men. The men jeered and yelled at her to get out of the way, and for the princess's tribe to control her. The princess stood in silence and waited for the men to calm down just a bit for beginning. She started to speak. Quietly at first, but with growing confidence.
She spoke of love. She reminded the men of the equality between them. She explained the birds, snakes, insects, trees, and their coexistence in this world. She asked what the point of all the fighting was. She pointed out that the fighting would just be over if the men could just patiently talk to one another like human beings. She spoke loud and eloquently, showing her intelligence and bravery with the words that poured from her mouth like water. She felt the strength of her words growing with every letter that fell from her lips. She watched as their eyes fell from her to the ground to each other.
As she felt the conclusion of her speech nighing, she finished, nodding graciously to both sides before walking sternly off of the field, refusing to look back. She walked back to her camp, not stopping before she reached the tent where the pale prince was being held. The princess deftly untied the knots holding his hands behind his back and watched as he thanked her and walked back to his own camp.
The war was over. The peace was remade, and much blood saved by the princess. She would never admit it, not believing she had done something that was not already mostly done, but everyone else knew--especially her tribe leader and father. No one ever doubted the princess again.
Including the princess. She believed in herself now. She had been raised to believe that men were the warriors and women were the mothers. She knew now that she was strong, courageous, and smart enough to solve problems that men could not solve. She carried her head higher now, and pushed herself harder. And this was the story of the American princess.
This story is about someone in particular. Comment and see if you can guess who it is!!!
