Mellow & The Palace of Hearts

Once upon a time in a far off land there was a Palace of hearts. Closed to all, covered in the dust of time...as grey as the sad loneliness. No one saw the prince who lived in it. He had shut himself in the palace of heart far from everyone. He did not get out of the palace not let anyone come inside it. No one dared to walk near it, or to care for the dried up garden in front of it. The darkness of the night and the scorching sun wore the palace and its garden down ...

But there was a young blue eyed, rosy cheeked girl who was as soft as a morning glory but with a smile more bright, as beautiful as the full moon but without the blemishes...with golden hair plaited in two braids to the sides tied with pink ribbons, as pink as her cheeks and chin. She lived in the nearby village and was the baker’s daughter Miss. Mellow. She used to walk to the gates every day and feel sad about the wilting plants and withering flowers. She always wanted somehow to get inside the palace grounds to care for the plants. She always thought...

"How beautiful it would be 
If the palace was shining right, 
All the day and all the night 
The plants in bloom fresh & bright"

She tried jumping over the tall palace gates, but failed. She tried finding a way into the garden, but could not. She saw a small rat near the palace walls trying to dig a hole in the ground. She walked up to him and said:

"Oh my little rodent Mr. Rat.... 
My name is Miss Mellow Baker
Can you help me get in quicker 
And feed to make you strong & fat"

The rat smiled at her and nodded. She ran back home and came back with a loaf of bread and yummy cheese. Rat’s heart was filled with happiness.

"If I make a hole for you to get in, 
Would you be the one so kind enough 
To feed my starving friends so thin
And make them smile & some grin" 
asked Mr. Rat

Seeing a way to get into the garden, Mellow was so happy. She said

"It would be a pleasure..." and went running to her dad Mr. Baker. 

She asked whether she could have three loaves of bread for her friends. And the loving caring dad, Mr. Baker, gave her the three freshly baked loaves with a smile. She went to her Mamma Mrs. Maple Baker and asked for cheese for her friends, and with a sweet smile she gave it to Mellow. She put the bread and cheese in a basket and ran back to the palace wall where Mr. Rat and a pack of rodent friends were waiting. There were House mouse, deer mouse, voles, moles, roof rats, packrats, wood rats, gophers and all the other kinds who were waiting for the return of Mellow. As Mellow was running towards them they could smell the freshly baked bread and the cheese... their ears stood up and they too stood up in their hind legs waiting for the food. 

She carefully shared the bread with each one of them and after food they all set to work. They kept digging and digging all day long. By the end of the day there was a tunnel in the ground but not enough for Mellow to get through. Her blue eyes were filled with excitement but got wet with tears as she could not get inside the garden. 

"Don’t you worry Miss Mellow... we will make it big enough for you to go through by dawn." said the wise Mr. Rat.

Mellow walked back home thinking about the dawn when she could get into the palace and water the plants. She could hardly sleep but slept off in the sweet dreams of getting to the garden the next morning. Mellow woke up at the first hoot of the rooster. 

"Cock-ary-koooo Cock-ary-koooo"

She took three more loaves of bread and ran to the palace of hearts with enough cheese for the pack. To her surprise the morning sun was shining, showing her way to the garden, a tunnel fit for her with tiny steps to the size of her soft flowery feet. Mr. Rat was waiting for her at the entrance of the tunnel. The blue glassy eyes smiled at Mr. Rat and Mellow thanked the pack and gave them the tasty treats. The pack of rodents went their way with the basket. 

Mellow walked down and then up into a new world. A world that was dried up with no water, plants were tired and sad with no more flowers to entice the colorful butterflies. Mellow ran from one corner of the garden to the other searching for water. She reached the pond at the other end, but there was nothing there to fetch the water to the plants. Mellow made up her mind. She stepped into the cold pond and drenched herself in the water. Then she would run across the garden to water the plants. She did the running and watering all through the day and by the time the sun set, the garden had enough water. All the plants were happy. She did the same the next day.... and the next day and the next day for a whole week.

On the eighth day the plants were eagerly waiting and the buds in the plants were looking at the end of the tunnel visible to them. But Mellow was not there. Mellow had fallen sick. Her body was hot like a hot oven. Her fever did not let her get up from the bed. She wanted to go to the garden and water the plants. The plants were sad too. They prayed hard to God all day long. And Baker and Maple sat by the bedside of their daughter Mellow and kept giving her soup and put the cold cloth patch to bring her fever down. God heard the plants prayers and it started raining. The rain was pouring on the palace of hearts. It washed the palace shining bright. The windows got clear again and when the sun shined bright the next day the prince saw light fall into the hall. He rushed to the window to see the plants in bloom. He ran out of the palace to see the beautiful garden full of fragrant flowers. He asked the plants and the butterflies 

"Oh what a magic has come greet.... 
I have never seen a sight so bright
Who did all this, and it’s such a treat
Tell me flowers that shine so bright"

The flowers smiled and told the prince the whole story. The palace of hearts was shining bright and so did the prince's heart....He ran to the village in search of her. He ran from house to house asking for Mr. Baker. And finally the prince reached the bakers home and knocked. Mellow opened the door getting up from bed, and saw the prince stand in front of her with eager eyes. Her smile was magical and the prince knew it was her. He grabbed the hands of Mellow and started running towards the palace. From a distance Mellow could not believe her eyes. The dull gray palace was shining bright in the sun, the fragrance of the flowers reached from far. The white shining palace was like a jewel in the crown when she reached the wide open palace gates, where the all the flowers were greeting the prince holding Mellows hands....

From that day on.... there was not a single day when the plants did not bloom and Mellow was crowned the queen as the prince took on the reign. The king and queen lived in the palace of hearts happily ever after... and the doors of the palace remain open for all those who cared and shared some smiles.