The Prince and the Sundial

Once upon a time in a land far away, a lone castle stood atop a rolling hill covered with brightly colored wildflowers in the summer and sparkling snow in the winter. In this castle, there lived a young prince named Sebastian.

Sebastian loved throwing with sticks, chasing butterflies, and jumping. Most days he skipped instead of walked, his golden curly locks swinging freely around his round smiling face. Through storms or cloudless days, the prince fed the animals from the smallest mouse to the cows in the meadows. He was kind and loved by everyone.

But then for no reason anyone could guess his hazel eyes, which were usually filled with laughter, lost their sparkle. For fourteen days and fourteen nights it seemed as if a dark cloud covered his brightness.

Sebastian’s parents, the King and Queen, thought he must be sick. They sent for the doctor. Sebastian threw his shoe at him. He broke the star gazer’s telescope. And he chased off the village wise person with his wooden sword. None could help him. His friends had not come to play in many days. Even the servants who once loved to play with Sebastian ran to hide when Sebastian stormed with anger down the hall

“Where’s my scabbard!” Sebastian thundered one morning. He paced across his big beautiful bedroom. Sebastian flung toys and clothes aside and onto his four-poster bed. He threw open the door. He looked down the empty hallway and felt sad and scared of his own black mood. “Can’t anyone help me?” Sebastian’s eyes brimmed with tears of anger.

The Queen listened sadly to Sebastian’s temper tantrum from the patio where she sat drinking her morning tea. The gardener shyly approached the Queen. “If I may, your Majesty,” he said taking off his hat and bowing deeply. “I would like to escort Prince Sebastian to the garden. It is there that I believe he will find answers for what troubles him.”

“I would be grateful for anything you can do to bring my child peace,” sighed the Queen.

Sebastian skulked behind the gardener as they walked along the cold grey stone corridors. He stared looked at a bright tapestry with its images of faeries and imps dancing around a large fire. The pictures used to make him feel happy and light, but it had no affect upon him. Upon stepping through the castle’s grand front doors, the prince blinked several times to adjust his eyes to the sun’s brightness. He had not seen the light of day in a fortnight – two weeks.

The bareness of the garden greatly surprised Sebastian. The flowers had died long ago, leaving short, brown stems scarcely poking through the ground. Even the leaves on the trees, which had last been autumn colors of crimson red, burnt orange, and mustard yellow were gone. The trees stood bare as skeletons.

Sebastian picked up a fallen stick and sighed. “Why do the flowers and leaves disappear for so long?”

“They must travel down to their roots for nurturing,” answered the gardener. He took Sebastian’s hand and led him down the winding cobblestone path. “Like humans, plants, flowers, and trees must go to a quiet place to gather strength and energy to grow.

Sebastian tapped his stick on the path. “Do you mean like when I go to sleep at night?”
The gardener nodded his head yes. “I have something to show you,” said the gardener.
The brisk winter cold stung Sebastian’s cheeks as the gardener led him through a maze of high, perfectly hedged bushes. Instead of the small, delicate flowers that once graced the many branches, a blanket of pure, white snow now covered the bushes,

Walking further down the path, the gardener and the prince came to a clearing edged by shrubs, bushes, and small trees. A golden sundial stood atop a tall post in the center of the courtyard. They stepped closer. Sebastian admired the shining golden circle with a triangle stacked on it.

“Do you know the purpose of a sundial, Prince Sebastian?” asked the gardener.

“It marks the passing of time,” answered Sebastian. He traced his finger over the numerals that stood for the different hours.

“That is correct. Will you read the engraving?”

Sebastian squinted to read the words. “This too, shall pass.”

“Morning passes into night. Winter gives way to summer. Nothing ever stays the same forever,” said the gardener.

Sebastian paused in thought, then whispered, “Is it so with my black mood? Will it pass like a cloud over the sun?”

“Yes,” laughed the gardener. He knelt down to face Sebastian. “Changes are part of life. If you watch nature, you would see how the weather is always changing into different seasons, each flowing from one to the next. Every season offers different gifts – ”

“Like snow in the winter and flowers in the summer?” Sebastian interrupted.

“Yes. As it is not winter forever, your moods will not always last. The good or the bad.” The gardener reached into his pocket and handed Sebastian a daffodil bulb. “A seed or bulb will not always look nor stay the same. When planted it sits in the dark of the earth. If properly taken care of, it will bloom into a healthy, joyful flower. Plant this, knowing there is a blackness where the seed lives that must exist before anything can be created. But as always, the energy of life brings changes.”

A small ray of light crept back into Sebastian’s eyes. The gardener led Sebastian quietly along the path to his wooden shed. He handed the prince a pot and scooped rich, dark soil into it. Gently Sebastian placed the daffodil bulb inside and softly patted dirt on top of it. He gazed at the barren land and sent out a hope that he would soon feel better. Sebastian thought about the gardener’s words and the inscription on the sundial.

Carrying his bulb and pot Sebastian walked back to the castle. He walked the winding staircase to his room and placed the potted daffodil on his windowsill.

As the days passed, the moon waxed to fullness. Each day Sebastian woke to see nothing in the pot. Yet he watered it faithfully and hoped. With his attention on something other than his own moods, Sebastian began to feel stronger and better, without really noticing.

One morning a green leaf finally poked through. Sebastian grabbed the plant off its window perch and ran outside. He called out for the gardener. He found the earth’s caretaker by his shed.

“Look, look!” Sebastian exclaimed.

The gardener beamed a huge smile.

A cold wind howled from the north and whipped Sebastian’s golden hair about his face, but Sebastian felt nothing of it. His dark mood had withdrawn from him like the waves returning out to the sea.

He threw his head back and laughed. It seemed impossible now that he had been unable to shake the bad mood that had clouded his every waking moment. Together, Prince Sebastian and the gardener walked to the garden nearest the sundial where Sebastian could plant the daffodil among the other early spring flowers.