The Princess

Fara was born long ago on a land known for its mystics and charm. Her people were valiant, bold, and intelligent. Creating arithmetic in the morning and singing hymns in the evening over glasses of freshly brewed tea were commonplace. Circumstances unknown in detail forced Fara to move from her land and that was when her voyage began. 

After many tears from the eyes of her kingdom, she found herself in a land where the people’s tongues spoke a foreign language and yet still the sweetness of sugar was the same. When she asked for the name, they would look wide- eyed and say “Es Azúcar” to which she would smile and respond yes, السكر (alsukar). They would laugh at one another and try to explain how to sew up a wound or light up a flame. 

Though a secret to many, Fara was the princess of the land. She bore jewels that shone from her heart and her mind. She was kind and righteous, never hurting a fly and yet, she seemed far away in the night thinking of the vast darkness ahead of her and the monsters lurking behind her. Soon enough she became fluent in their tongue and fluent in their tastes and yet she, circumstances unknown in detail, had to leave. Some say she left to create a home for the children she was yet to bear. 

She went back to the mystics for only a moment before she looked out and came to another land with another tongue and other tastes. Here, she could not hide under books and similar looks. She stuck out and her jewels made others apprehensive. No one smiled at her here. She was a foreigner, a person of distaste. 

Nevertheless, she had status, she rose above all and learned. She was a princess all in through. She kept the tastes of her lands near and dear to her heart and soon again, the land became hers and they all came together as one. Spices were shared and tongues were fluent. The tastes of culture brewed a delicious fragrant. Fara knew it was because of her foreign tongues that she was able to untie the knots in the rope. The people trusted her and loved her. And she would soon forgive the bland, bear her children, and continue to smile at all the beloved so that they were not met the way she was. 

It was apparent to her that though they may seem foreign, our tongues are all the same and sugar will always be sweet.

-jt