needed
to smile for everyone to know whom she meant.
‘ Those who succumb to the Fading,’ she continued, ‘their time
has come. If someone appears in an illustration, but their time is
not yet here, then they will not Fade, nor yet die. But if their
time is close, then just as your great and shared and
focused love can give life, it can also help prolong it in those
who would otherwise have passed all too quickly away; and this is
what we call the Fading. The Fading is a time that gives you the
chance to say the things that would otherwise have been left
unsaid. What regrets do we suffer when someone passes out of our
lives before we have told them how much we appreciate them, how
much we love them? The Fading, then, is not a curse but a blessing;
for it’s a time when we can all experience an outpouring of
our love for each other. Don’t fear that time. Don’t waste
it.’
This time as she
smiled, those closest to her would later recall how they seemed to
be suffused with the love she spoke of. Those farther away,
however, swore that it was a brief, blinding glow of light that
left them blinking in amazement.
The carriage’s
inner band began to slowly twirl once more, lowering their Princess
back inside, closing up behind her as she became seated once more.
The horses turned, unhurriedly heading back towards the palace
where people were already being taken on as the Princess’s
gardeners, her carpenters, her musicians.
As the great
gates of the palace’s walls opened, few people failed to see a
black carriage waiting just inside. It couldn’t be ignored. Its
presence was too ominous and threatening to be dismissed as nothing
to fear. Only a fool would disregard its portent.
But as the
gleamingly white porcelain carriage trotted past it, then as the
gates closed once more, the dark carriage first faded then
completely disappeared from view.
The town
celebrated, putting on a vast fair that no one had seen the likes
of for hundreds of years. They invited anyone who was lucky enough
to hear of it. There were musicians and massed, joyful dances.
There were ingenious mechanical rides, and boat swings for the
children. There were stalls with games to play and prizes to win,
or selling all manner of weird and wonderful goods from near and
far away. And, of course, there were puppet shows and
storytellers.
And many people
already understood why the Porcelain Princess had arrived amongst
them.
Although she may
sound like the stuff of fairy tales, the Porcelain Princess is
actually as real as you or me. We fear that our lives are fragile,
that our world is set hard and unchangeable; yet if the Porcelain
Princess lives, she gives us the reassurance we need that this
porcelain world is ours to watch over. For we are the only part of
creation that can truly understand itself; and therefore we are creation itself.
And so you must
also realise that without your belief in her, the Porcelain
Princess can only weaken, becoming once more as lifeless as the
clay she was originally so lovingly formed from.
Fortunately, the
tale of the wise rule of the Porcelain Princess was already
beginning to be told, to be elaborated on, and to
spread.
*
Chapter
13
It was midday
before the steam caravan finally cleared the last, more loosely
scattered trees of the forest. The road stretched on before them,
however, with no towns, villages or even hostelries along the way.
There were farms to be seen on both sides of the track, but each
one of these was too far away and too remote to be worth a
visit.
‘ Perhaps they just don’t like living together around here,’
Peregun said miserably, eager to put on another show.
Even as night
fell, they continued travelling in the hope that they would at last
catch a sign of a town in the distance, its lights beckoning them
on. And, eventually, this hope was rewarded, the number of lit
lanterns and windows at first growing the closer they got, only to
start winking out one by one as
to smile for everyone to know whom she meant.
‘ Those who succumb to the Fading,’ she continued, ‘their time
has come. If someone appears in an illustration, but their time is
not yet here, then they will not Fade, nor yet die. But if their
time is close, then just as your great and shared and
focused love can give life, it can also help prolong it in those
who would otherwise have passed all too quickly away; and this is
what we call the Fading. The Fading is a time that gives you the
chance to say the things that would otherwise have been left
unsaid. What regrets do we suffer when someone passes out of our
lives before we have told them how much we appreciate them, how
much we love them? The Fading, then, is not a curse but a blessing;
for it’s a time when we can all experience an outpouring of
our love for each other. Don’t fear that time. Don’t waste
it.’
This time as she
smiled, those closest to her would later recall how they seemed to
be suffused with the love she spoke of. Those farther away,
however, swore that it was a brief, blinding glow of light that
left them blinking in amazement.
The carriage’s
inner band began to slowly twirl once more, lowering their Princess
back inside, closing up behind her as she became seated once more.
The horses turned, unhurriedly heading back towards the palace
where people were already being taken on as the Princess’s
gardeners, her carpenters, her musicians.
As the great
gates of the palace’s walls opened, few people failed to see a
black carriage waiting just inside. It couldn’t be ignored. Its
presence was too ominous and threatening to be dismissed as nothing
to fear. Only a fool would disregard its portent.
But as the
gleamingly white porcelain carriage trotted past it, then as the
gates closed once more, the dark carriage first faded then
completely disappeared from view.
The town
celebrated, putting on a vast fair that no one had seen the likes
of for hundreds of years. They invited anyone who was lucky enough
to hear of it. There were musicians and massed, joyful dances.
There were ingenious mechanical rides, and boat swings for the
children. There were stalls with games to play and prizes to win,
or selling all manner of weird and wonderful goods from near and
far away. And, of course, there were puppet shows and
storytellers.
And many people
already understood why the Porcelain Princess had arrived amongst
them.
Although she may
sound like the stuff of fairy tales, the Porcelain Princess is
actually as real as you or me. We fear that our lives are fragile,
that our world is set hard and unchangeable; yet if the Porcelain
Princess lives, she gives us the reassurance we need that this
porcelain world is ours to watch over. For we are the only part of
creation that can truly understand itself; and therefore we are creation itself.
And so you must
also realise that without your belief in her, the Porcelain
Princess can only weaken, becoming once more as lifeless as the
clay she was originally so lovingly formed from.
Fortunately, the
tale of the wise rule of the Porcelain Princess was already
beginning to be told, to be elaborated on, and to
spread.
*
Chapter
13
It was midday
before the steam caravan finally cleared the last, more loosely
scattered trees of the forest. The road stretched on before them,
however, with no towns, villages or even hostelries along the way.
There were farms to be seen on both sides of the track, but each
one of these was too far away and too remote to be worth a
visit.
‘ Perhaps they just don’t like living together around here,’
Peregun said miserably, eager to put on another show.
Even as night
fell, they continued travelling in the hope that they would at last
catch a sign of a town in the distance, its lights beckoning them
on. And, eventually, this hope was rewarded, the number of lit
lanterns and windows at first growing the closer they got, only to
start winking out one by one as
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