Once, in a very quiet moment, when no one was around, I heard a little voice say: “Can I tell you something?”
Puzzled I answered: “Off course”. Then I saw on my dining table, standing next to the salt and pepper set, a tiny little woman the size of my hand looking at me bravely.
“I decided not to hide anymore, I think you need to know me”. She said.
“I am sure I do”, I answered politely, but in my mind I was screaming: “Am I going mad?”
“You are not going mad”, she answered out loud. “You asked before you went to sleep – ‘give me the strength to do this’. Remember?”
I was blank: “Ï did?”
Yes”, she said full of passion. “You wanted to learn how to say NO to that rude woman who comes to the shop, ruins the mood for everybody, and insults you.”
“Oh, yes,” I recalled.
“It is pitiful”, she added.
“But she is a client…”
“You let her poop all over the floor… every week!”, she said with disgust.
“Ok, I get it! So who are you?”
“I am the one who can help you keep your shop peaceful and you happy”.
“Yes? How?”
“I have the talent of setting borders with all kinds of elements”, she bragged.
“That is great, you want to teach it to me?”
“No!! Don’t you remember? I was in your court for years. Then you abolished me from you kingdom and shrank me to this size”.
She looked emotional and I have no idea what she is talking about.
“Now, if you want to ‘get your strength’ and enjoy your flower shop growing, you need to let me back in”, she said with sparks in her eyes.
I decided to go with it. “What do I need to do?”
“Let me express myself, let me back in your court, in my position”. She looked at me deeply and said: “Let me be the one that guards the borders of your kingdom. I am good at it and you are not”.
“What does that mean, what do I need to do?”
“You need to break the spell, and let me back in”.
“The spell???”
“Yes, when you where ashamed of me so much and wanted me gone.”
Suddenly it came back to me and hit me. I see me and my family in a garden celebration. My family and friends are ashamed of me for being ‘selfish, know it all, too powerful, too outspoken’.
“A princess must learn her place!”, says my mother. “You are not the mistress of your life, not in this land anyway! You must be accommodating and pleasing. Now get out of my sight.”
I felt an electric shock to the right side of my head, and suddenly I was chained.
“Shame did that, I shrank.”
We were both quiet.
“You should break the spell…”
“How do I do that?”
“You give a command”, she answered surprised. “Please hurry, I am bored”, she smiled.
I looked again at the the little woman on the table. She looked like a mountain tribe warrior with a belt full of teeth and bones.
“You are scary!” I laughed. “We will have to have some ground rules about your new role”.
“No problem”, she said with a shiny face. “Just let me use my talents and protect our Kingdom from invaders”.
“Kingdom?”, I laughed, “I am just a city girl with a little flower shop”.
“Sure you are” she said, sitting next to me in full size, sipping tea. “Wait when you see everything when the spell is totally gone”, said my new friend while crunching a cookie with her white teeth.
“Don’t scare anyone with your wildness”, I warned.
“Don’t worry, Princess Lily. They will never see me coming.”
