The Wall

A great wall springs up and divides two kingdoms, but is this beautiful structure doing more harm than good? Number seven of the No One Special Fairy Tales.

The Wall

Once upon a time there existed two great kingdoms, both blessed beyond measure with beautiful lands and prosperous citizens: The Blue Kingdom, and The Red Kingdom. But one day, something very curious happened. A great wall sprang up and divided the two kingdoms, which had once been unobstructedly conjoined at their borders. 

In the Blue Kingdom, they were sad to be separated from the Red Kingdom, but the more that they saw the wall grow, the more they noticed how beautiful it was. For the wall was covered with roses and wildflowers and lush green leaves, and seemed to emit beautiful rays of rainbow light onto their fair lands. It made the citizens very happy and they all loved the wall dearly. It was incredible to look upon and they began to be very glad that it had sprung up. For even if it separated them for a time from the people of the Red Kingdom, it was such a blessing that truly they could not tear it down. In fact, they hoped that it would grow as high as the skies themselves and continue to bless them with it’s colors and living green. 

However, the people of the Blue Kingdom soon became very angry upon receiving an urgent letter from the people of the Red Kingdom. They couldn’t understand why, but the people of the Red Kingdom demanded that the wall be torn down immediately. Those of the Red Kingdom claimed to hate the wall, and insist that it must go. 

The people of the Blue Kingdom were very sad. How could the people of the Red Kingdom hate their precious wall so much? It was so wonderful, why didn’t they appreciate it? Did they not have a sense of beauty and wonder for the nature around them? Surely that must be it, it must be that they simply did not appreciate the humble gifts of the earth. So, they replied to the Red Kingdom that they would absolutely not, under no circumstances, tear it down. Furthermore, they accused the Red Kingdom of being ungrateful and disgusting and unartistic. 

Soon the people of the Red Kingdom sent a hateful letter back accusing the Blue Kingdom of being the ones who were selfish, and of being greedy and not caring how the wall obstructed their communication. And how the wall served no purpose to the people of the Red Kingdom, it only caused them to stumble in it’s path, and truly they could not stand to be around it. 

The two kingdoms became more and more angry and estranged. But as much as the Blue Kingdom began to hate the Red Kingdom, the more and more they loved their wall. Their precious wall with it’s leaves and petals as it grew up taller and taller. And the more the Red Kingdom began to hate the wall, the wall that divided the two. 

One day, much to the Blue Kingdom’s great joy, the Red Kingdom stopped complaining to them. In fact, the wall had grown so high that they hadn’t even seen the Red Kingdom in quite some time. The Blue Kingdom thought it was just as well and went on happily tending to their wall. 

But after they had not heard from the Red Kingdom for several months, they became worried. They tried to send communications to the Red Kingdom, but no reply came. They grew more and more worried, until one day they sent an emissary of their own kingdom, over the beautiful expanse of the wall. This messenger from the blue kingdom then climbed down the other side, but could not believe what had become of the Red Kingdom. To his grate horror, he beheld all of the citizens laying dead in the streets. The sky was dark and blotted out, and the roads overflowed with blood. It was a terrible, gruesome sight. 

What could have brought down the once noble people of the Red Kingdom? The messenger could not understand it until he turned back around to leave for his own country. Only then did he realize that the other side of the wall, the side that had sprung up in the Red Kingdom, was made of thorns and spikes and knives, and it’s dark tendrils had slowly crawled out and ensnared all those in the Red Kingdom until their lives were snuffed out, which all could have been avoided, and yet....

Author's Note

Number Seven of the No One Special Fairy Tales, this is sort of my take on what controversial issues do to society. Copyright No One Special 2010. See my website for further updates about the book "No One Special Fairy Tales"

Reviews

[thoughts of jade]

this is one great story. simply wonderful

[Nadia Vincent]

A very original idea and a pleasant read, once one society can be so separated from another society the less they might start to care about the problems others face.
What you have written is very thought provoking!