In the mythical land of Snepples games are always played. Where the bright sun meets the crystal blue lake shines the unicorn kingdom. The castle is fine-crafted out of white cobblestone. A tower stands high in each of the castle’s four corners. All types of animals live in harmony throughout the kingdom.
King Ardom is a red unicorn with a brown mane. He loves puzzles and pastries. He makes his loyal subjects smile and laugh.
Queen Deborah is a blue unicorn with a silver mane. The queen loves teaching and parties. She makes her loyal subjects feel good about themselves.
One day the queen raced around the castle, searching every hiding space.
“Why are you galloping around like you’ve lost your horn?” Asked the king.
“I can’t find Patches anywhere! He could be lost!” The queen blurted out.
“Have you checked the racetrack?” King Ardom offered a good idea.
“His favorite place to play hide and seek is the castle.” Reasoned the queen.
“You can lose yourself as long as you find yourself. In fact it may even be necessary.” Mused the king.
The king daydreamed of tasty pastries while the queen went outside to look for her son.
Beside the castle was the race track. The starting point was at the top. The silver track slopes downward, toward the finish line. Unlike the castle, there were not many good hiding places. The queen saw there were a few beavers and hedgehogs, but no unicorns.
“Have you seen Patches?” The queen asked her subjects.
“No.” Was the only answer given. That meant he was far away. Should she check by the lake or the pasture? The queen knew her son, and the freshest apples were in the pasture. She trotted off.
By the lake played a unicorn that didn’t look like the others. He had all of the rainbow colors in patches all over his body. Patches was the only one there. He tossed a silver ring in the air with his muzzle. He pointed his head up toward the sky. Patches felt the weight of the ring slide onto his horn. He smiled. Most of the time he missed.
He was so lost in his own game he almost missed the caterpillar.
“Hey, watch it!” said the furry green fellow.
“I’m sorry.” Patches apologized, he meant it. Patches noticed the caterpillar looked sad. “Why are you sad?” Asked Patches.
“I was just thinking about what I am gonna look like after I come out of my cocoon! I hope I look great! What if I don’t?” The caterpillar looked down.
“Wanna know what I really think?” Asked the rainbow unicorn.
The caterpillar nodded.
“We have no control over it, or I would have stripes and not patches. We don’t need to worry about what we can’t choose, we need to be friends. Wanna go play at the pasture?”
“Do I ever!” Now the caterpillar looked happy.
“What is your name? Mine is Patches.”
“Davy.” Said the caterpillar.
“Grab on to me Davy! It will be much faster.”
The caterpillar hopped onto Patches. He scurried up his leg onto Patches’ back. The unicorn ran across the fields, hopping over rocks and bushes. To Patches, life was a race and he was winning. “I play lots of games with my family. My favorite is racing. What do you do for fun Davy?”
“I sing with my family. We sing about everything. It’s a little known fact about caterpillars. Someday I am gonna write songs for all my friends and family.”
Wow. A singing caterpillar. How could this day get any better?
Patches saw the other unicorns gathering in a field near the pasture. Together they made an array of colors. There were more young unicorns in Snepples, Patches’ brothers and sisters.
“Hi Patches.” said a familiar voice. He was met by a smiling yellow unicorn with a bit of straw in his mouth.
“Hi Maurice!” Patches smiled and waved. Patches knew to always be friendly toward a friend. “Hey, can I play with you?”
“Yeah! We were all gonna play tag!” Shouted Maurice.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Meet my new friend, Davy!” Patches motioned toward the caterpillar on his back.
“Hi!” Said Davy, holding on for dear life.
“Hi Davy, I am Maurice.”
A purple unicorn ran up behind Maurice and slapped him lightly on the back with her hoof. “You’re it!” Shouted Mitzi.
In an instant the game began. Unicorns dashed around the field hopping and prancing in an attempt to avoid Maurice catching up to them. He was able to corner Clara, a pink unicorn. He tagged her lightly on the back. They both burst out laughing.
Now Clara chased the others, her hooves striking the ground. She was gaining on Patches, but he cut left and avoided her. The game continued for some time. Afterward the unicorns all rested.
“I like tag, but I don’t like that everyone can’t win” said Clara.
“There is no game we can all win” Maurice spoke fast.
“I hear a bear grumble!” Exclaimed Davy.
“That’s my stomach!” realized Patches. Close by was a fruit orchard. Tummy rumbles became tummy thunder. “I just thought of a new game we all can win!” Shouted Patches. “Who can eat the most apples?”
The unicorns ran over to the orchard. The dozen young unicorns surrounded the apple tree, picking and eating apples. What a great game it was. Davy again was at a disadvantage, but he was happy for his new friends. The unicorns chomped chewed and burped.
“I see the queen.” Exclaimed Zuli, a vibrant green unicorn.
Queen Deborah trotted down to the orchard. “Patches you must ask me before you leave the castle. We still needed to finish your lesson from yesterday. You were not dismissed from class. ”
“But mom…” Stammered Patches.
“Your mom is the queen?” Shouted Davy. “Wow!”
The queen looked confused. She narrowed her eyes toward Patches. “Who said that?” Asked the queen.
“Presenting to you my new friend, Davy!” Patches grinned. He motioned toward the waving caterpillar on his back.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Davy.” Sometimes the queen was really proper. All of the unicorns were impressed.
“Honored to meet you Queen!” Davy bowed.
“Now, Patches! We will continue your lesson tomorrow. When class is over, you are to come with me. Because we are all here I have something to show you! It is a gift for all of you. A gift you can give to others.”
“What is it?” Maurice couldn’t hold his horses.
“Is it apples?” Shouted Don.
The queen smiled. “We all have great power in us! Don’t ever doubt that. Patches hold your head out high with your horn pointed at mine.”
Patches held his right hoof out.
“Good try patches.” said Zuli.
“Try this.” Mitzi pointed at her horn.
Patches stuck his head out with his horn pointed toward the queen. The queen touched horns with her son. Lightning shot between the two horns in a small arc.
“Wow!” the others exclaimed in awe.
The queen spoke in a low, stern voice. “We always share our gifts with our families and friends. Kind words and kind actions matter. Never underestimate the power of helping your family and friends. Soon, I will teach you all how to summon the lightning. Today, we are going back to the kingdom.”
“Can we race back?” Asked Mitzi.
The queen’s smile was her answer. The tribe of unicorns raced across the pastures and farmlands of Snepples, back to the kingdom.
Soon, the cobblestone towers were in view. The unicorns walked up the winding path. Hot air balloons flew in the sky above Snepples. Animals pulling carts lined the street.
There was a gate at the entrance to the castle. The queen walked right in, leading the others.
Once inside they noticed… a mess. Hoof prints covered the castle. A few empty pie pans scattered the halls. The queen raced to the kitchen. There were pie ingredients everywhere. It was a delicious mess.
“Ardom! Where are you?” She shouted. “Spread out and find him. He hasn’t gone far.”
It didn’t take long for Mitzi to find him upstairs.
“The king has eaten too much pie!” Shouted the queen. “Please, help me move him to his bed!” The unicorns worked together to get the king in his bed.
“I will get the doctor” Shouted Hilda, the maid.
“He is gonna need a lot of pie when he wakes up.” said Patches.
Ten Days Later:
Patches was an early riser. Like normal, he was up before everyone else. Patches let his mind wander; this lead to his hooves wandering. The outside was nice in the morning. A mist covered everything for just a moment. There was no flavor to it. He checked. Patches wandered down the hill.
More to come soon!
By: Nathan Hall
Copyright 8-11-2022 All rights reserved. This book can’t be changed or altered. This book is based on a fictional place with fictional characters.