The Flowering Babagoonosh

There once was a Princess who lived in a castle with the most impressive gardens.

When she became of age, the Princess started growing her own gardens on the estate.

But sadly, she was unable to grow, for her green thumb simply did not work.

The Princess cried for her garden did not bloom.

But one day, a Prince came along and gave her seeds.

He promised her they would grow to be beautiful blooming flowers that would give rich juicy fruits.

The Princess and Prince married and became King and Queen.

And with the wedding came a flourishing garden and a little Princess.

The Queen’s mother, now referred to as Grandmama, came to live with them to help raise the little Princess.

Guests traveled from all over the kingdom to see the magical garden. Lines formed around the castle and the kingdom became a magical happy place.

But a plague swept through the beautiful estate and all the land surrounding it.

Grandmama, the Queen, and the Princess watched as the plague took the King and the gardens with it. The town suffered horrible boils and deadly fevers. The kingdom was a dark place of misery. Villagers starved and many people died.

The Queen wept as the gardens grew sick and her people sicker. She felt helpless. One dark night the Queen went out to the dead gardens.

She heard the dragons in the woods and the wolves in the mountains. A thick fog clung to the estate. Her dress was heavy with mist but she searched for any last flower. Any last life left in her garden. To her surprise, the first plant that the King gave her before they married was still alive. She hurried to the last plant. She dug up it up, put it in a pot and locked it away in her closet.

Time passed and while the plague left, the town never quite recovered. Many villagers were lost and no flowers bloomed.

The Princess was growing in a dark, sad castle.

Unable to find friends of her own, she was quite the troublemaker. She ran around the castle causing all sorts of trouble. She would set water to boil and run away. The kitchen staff was certain she would burn the castle down single-handedly.

She would paint all over the walls with Grandmama’s wild berries. The little Princess was often found by her Grandmama in the closet cutting up all her fancy dresses to make rope ladders. The Princess simply could not control herself.

The Queen knew she needed to help the Princess, so she gave her a project.

“Come with me, Princess,” said the Queen.

“I shall give you a present but you must make this the center of your life.”

The Queen unlocked her closet door and retrieved the plant.

“Princess, you must grow this plant in the garden. It was a gift from your father to me. You must take care of it. You must spend your days with this plant.”

Intrigued, the Princess reached out her hand to carefully caress the plant.

“I will momma.”

The Princess and her Grandmama went to the dead garden to plant.

Grandmama showed the Princess how to place the plant in the soil and water it.

The Princess spent her days watering the plant and having fun.

Grandmama and the Queen watched from the castle window satisfied that the Princess now had a task that made her happy and kept her out of trouble. They were also glad that she had less opportunity to burn the castle down.

Soon enough the garden started to flourish. Green leafs sprouted everywhere. Flowers grew high and bloomed so big that even the dragons calmed and laid under the flooring pedals.

The Princess spent all of her time in the garden, eating the delicious fruits and playing with the baby dragons.

But her favorite spot was near the original plant her mother gave to her. The little Princess wondered why after all this time the plant stayed the same size.

“Why will you not grow tall, plant?” asked the Princess.

The Princess asked the plant every day why it would not grow tall.

Eventually, buds started to form and the Princess grew excited. “What flower will come of this plant?” wondered the Princess

One day while the Princess was inspecting the flower, she saw the bud of the plant had a head in it. But no

t just any head, it was a bird head. The Princess gasped, “What?”

The next day the Princess rushed back to the plants and saw feathers had sprouted with the head.

The day after that the Princess came back and saw that an almost full bird hung from the leaf.

Intrigued, the Princess tapped the birds head.

The bird opened its eyes and started blowing kisses at the Princess.

“What is your name?” asked the Princess, delighted.

“Babagoonosh,” the bird replied.

“You will be my best friend,” the Princess said and they were.

Every day the Princess came to the garden where more and more birds were born from the plant the King had given the Queen.

One night as the sun was setting, Grandmama and the Queen watched the princess from the castle window.

The Queen spoke, “The water no longer boils rapidly, the walls are now clean of wild berries, the Princess is happy.”

“And rather occupied,” said Grandmama.

The End.