The King’s Dream

Once upon a time, there lived a king. He was named King Lokesh and was the ruler of a distant land called Mohenjo-Daro. This King was not kind at all. He was cranky, mean and greedy.

eanwhile, there lived a beautiful girl Tanushri who lived in the view of King Lokesh’s palace. Her sisters and brothers watched King Lokesh as he ordered around all his servants every day and they envied him. Tanushri’s family was not rich at all and had very little luxuries, unlike the king.

M

Tanushri wanted her brothers and sisters to be happy and not have to be jealous over the king’s luxuries. She new though that would not be possible, because she had close to no money.

T

he thing that bothered Tanushri was King Lokesh’s pool. Every morning, King Lokesh would swim 17 laps in his huge pool filled with liquid gold.

T

ne day while the king was taking a swim in the pool, a little boy came up to him. The boy was about 7 and asked the king, “excuse me, but I can’t help to notice you look lonely, even with all your luxuries and servants. Will you ever get married?”

O

ing Lokesh was shocked. How dare a little boy ask him such a question. “Marriage is for fools,” he answered the boy. “Now scurry off,” he said coldly. King Lokesh knew inside that what the boy said was true. He thought about this concept and knew that he truly was lonely.

K

hat night, King Lokesh decided not to eat. He went straight to his bed. He thought about what the boy had said that day. Then he had a strange dream.

T

he dream was so happy. Everyone from Mohenjo-Daro was swimming in his liquid gold pool. Normally this would outrage King Lokesh, but he stayed calm and swam with them! The whole town was smiling, the kinds cheering, and the King was completely satisfied and not lonely!

T

e then woke up. This dream was the best he ever had. He thought, “maybe my dreams were telling me something! Maybe this is a message from heaven telling me that this is the solution to my loneliness.” He ordered all his servants to make sure the pool was super clean that day and have a big feast cooked.

H

very kid, mother, father, sister, and brother in Mohenjo-Daro arrived at the pool in their swim suits. King Lokesh was kind and welcoming to his guests. He was ecstatic to have his guests and couldn’t believe his personal happiness. He socialized with everyone, but everyone seemed a bit surprised about this sudden kindness from King Lokesh.

E

hat evening, King Lokesh went to bed happily. He was in a great mood and gave all his servants a break. That night, he had a bad dream though. In his dream, he was sad, but King Lokesh didn’t know why he was so sad.

T

n the morning he went outside to swim laps. He was going to open the pool publicly at 12. We walked outside whistling and happy, but was stopped short. All the liquid gold in his pool was gone. It had been either stolen or dried up. He couldn’t see his pool drying up, and he knew what had happened. The enemies of Mohenjo-Daro, the Imunites, were always out to get King Lokesh and he knew that they had stolen it.

I

he King knew that this couldn’t let down his new happiness, but he couldn’t help but to be sad. His servants saw this and conducted a plan. They collected 8 ladies from the land and would hold a contest for King Lokesh’s love.

I

he next day everyone gathered to see the contest. Every girl that the servants picked was beautiful for the King. They answered a series of questions, but not one girl seemed to be for him. When everyone went home, one girl not entered in the contest remained.

T

he lady was beautiful. She said her name was Tanushri. She told the King that she really enjoyed his pool and was sorry that the gold was stolen. Her siblings enjoyed it and she thanked him for letting them swim in it.

T

he King was interested in this lady. She seemed genuinely a nice person. He asked her to stay for dinner

T

hey shared a lovely evening and completely enjoyed each other’s company. They shared many more dinners after this and decided to marry finally.

T

t was a lovely wedding, spring air filled with the sent of freshly bloomed flowers. Everyone from all around was happy for them. From then on, the King was completely happy, and lived a new life with his wife. He also had his pool refilled so that everyone could be happy and swim in it.

I