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CHAPTER 1
1 SAMUEL 8
Kings of the Forest
Do you remember a time when kings ruled the forest?
When the wilderness was not its own, and the mountains were reverent?
Dandelions bowed, shadows brightened, creatures sang, and the forest brimmed with blossoms and gladness.
There was the king who ruled the trees, who smelled of red maple and whistled the most somber of melodies as he walked through the forest at dawn.
There was the king of the flowers, who was draped in delicate petals and strands of ivy and whose famous temper would change with the seasons. Flowers would blossom or wilt depending on his mood.
There was the mountain king, who ruled over the peaks and hilltops that stretched far and long throughout the forests. When the clouds rained, the mournful king would cry into the night with the voice of thunder.
Every king in the land was powerful, but only one was glorious.
His name was so pure that no creature or tree dared to pronounce it. He was the King over all the other kings, and everyone — from the leaf beetle to the hare to the buffalo — bowed down to him. He spent long days roaming the land, talking with animals of all sizes, helping the weak, and guiding the strong. He loved all the creatures in his realm. And as the sun was setting by the great waterfall in the White Willow Gully, he could often be found singing to any animal that was near.
He truly was the greatest of the kings.
All the kings worked together to care for the forest, making sure the trees shaded the deer and the bees fed the flowers. But one year, when winter hung on just a little too long and its cold winds wouldn't retreat, something terrible happened.
IN the White Willow Gully, all the creatures of the wilderness gathered before their glorious King.
"If you were truly a great king, you would stop this winter!" cried the toad.
"We no longer want to hear your songs," squawked the birds.
"We want a king like the others," lowed an elk.
The glorious King, with sadness in his heart, gave them what they asked for. He turned and left the forest.
Day after day the animals searched for a new king. They wanted a king that was not only like the others in the forest, but better.
They found him waiting in a dark and mysterious corner of the forest. He hibernated in the Bitternut Caverns every season but winter. This bear was a ferocious, powerful, dreadful being.
"He is strong!" whispered one fox to another.
"All the other kings will fear him," said the mountain lion.
The animals asked him to be their leader. The beast was only too happy to oblige. His time had finally come.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Good Night Tales"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Casey Fritz.
Excerpted by permission of NavPress.
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