The Princess in the Tower

Princess Rosa lived in a tall white tower at the edge of a great wood.

Every morning, she climbed to the very top of the tower and looked out at the world.

She could see the trees. She could see the river. She could see the birds.

"I wonder," said Princess Rosa, "what is out there."

One morning, a small brown bird landed on her windowsill.

"Hello," said the bird.

"Hello," said the princess.

"I come from the wood," said the bird. "It is very nice. There are bluebells. And a stream. And a very old tree that is home to thirteen owls."

"Thirteen!" said the princess.

"I could show you," said the bird.

The princess had never left the tower.

But she wanted to see thirteen owls very much.

She put on her boots. She went down the stairs, all one hundred and twelve of them. She went out of the door.

The wood was just outside.

The bluebells were there, exactly as the bird had said. And the stream, clear and cold. And the old tree, and yes, there were the owls, looking wise and soft and a little cross about being woken up.

"Thirteen," counted the princess. "I counted thirteen."

"Told you," said the bird.

Princess Rosa sat by the stream and listened to the wood for a very long time.

That evening she climbed back up the tower.

She looked out the window at the trees.

She was not wondering any more.

She knew what was out there.

And tomorrow, she thought, she would go and find what else there was.

She snuggled into bed with that thought warm inside her, like a small lamp in a dark room.