Let the Sun Shine In

Once upon a time there was an evil king who had a magic mirror in his bedroom.  Each night while alone and separated from all his subjects, he would gaze into the magic mirror thinking about how much his subjects loved him.  The mirror would show him images of his followers singing praises about the king’s brilliance as a leader and statesman.

“He is the greatest king of all time,” their voices emanated throughout the kingdom each day.   “He is a genius at military strategy.”  “He has a brilliant mind.”  “He is a strong negotiator.”  “All other kings in the world respect his wisdom and cunning.”  Each of his ministers would try to outdo the other as they created myth and legend in order to win favor from the king.  They had learned the more extravagant their praise, the more important they would become in the king’s eyes.  They had also learned that if they fell into disfavor, they would be banished from the king’s inner circle, never to be heard of again.

The problem, however, was that each night as dawn approached, the king would grow irritable and frustrated with the constant droning of his ministers as the praises they were spewing would begin to pale in his eyes.  Their attempts to shower adoration on him would fail to go far enough.  There was always something lacking.  He would begin to find fault with the wording or a lack of compassion or commitment. “He should have shown more excitement…”  “He could have said more…”  It wasn’t enough.  It was never enough.

By the time the new day was about to break, the king would fall into a malaise of anger and frustration.  He would grab his paper and quill to start writing the new edicts and proclamations for that day, outlining where his generals and ministers were to focus their efforts to build his greatness for the entire world to see.  He wanted more admiration demonstrated by his people in the streets as he passed through them.  The crowds needed to be larger; louder.  The princes and neighboring kings needed to be dealt with more forcefully.  Trade agreements needed to be improved.  The royal treasury needed to swell.  The construction of the new wall and moat needed to be completed more quickly.

And then there were those naysayers. There were an increasing number of voices in the crowds that would shout ugly and divisive slurs against him. He would wonder why they were allowed to spread lies and untruths about their king. He thought they should be stopped; eliminated; dealt with more harshly.  Make an example of them.  “Maybe I should order their heads to be put on pikes around the castle?  That would show them,” he pondered and then wrote more feverishly.  “That would show everyone that anything said against me, their King, will not be tolerated.”

As his anger grew he started to write a list of names; names of people who were criticizing him; spreading rumor and lies against him.  With each new name the grip on his quill tightened and his teeth became more clinched.  He broke the tip of his quill, which angered him further.  He changed quills and started again on a new parchment because the splotch of ink from the broken quill would be seen as a flaw.  Nothing was allowed to indicate imperfection in his kingly actions.

He paused to reread his list and a smile of satisfaction emerged.  He took up his quill for one more entry, an entry that would prove he was the greatest king of all time.  “Off with their heads!” appeared in large letters at the bottom of the page.  Anger, rage and a sense of finality stood plainly before anyone who would read the proclamation.  It was a proclamation for the ages.  “That will show them,” he said as he rolled the parchment and closed it with the kings’ seal. 

He looked again into the mirror and saw images of what his minister’s reactions would be to the proclamation as they read it.  There were a few eyebrows lifted and questionable looks among them. 

“Your Highness.  Is this really a good idea?” his most trusted advisor ventured forth.  “Won’t this, perhaps make more enemies?  Don’t you think the people will respond better if you treat everyone kindly with forgiveness and understanding?   You want the people to love you, not fear you, right?”

“Damn it!” the king shouted.  ”What is wrong with fear?  The great kings are always feared; feared by his enemies and feared by his followers.  Fear is the greatest form of respect.  If I continue to allow disrespect to flourish I’ll be considered weak and frail, not great at all.  Today I will have these heads on pikes.  Today I will show the world how great I am!”

He picked up the scrolls he had written, crushing them in his grip and walked out onto the balcony outside his quarters.   It was a dark, cloudy day that was threatening rain.  “Damn it,” he muttered.  He preferred to have a sunny day on this momentous occasion. “I’ll have a talk to the weather minister.  He has to do better.”

Just then a drop of rain landed on his forehead.  He swore briefly, gripped the scrolls tighter and returned inside to avoid the further unpleasantness the pending rain prophesied.  In his rush, his foot caught briefly on the threshold, sending him stumbling into his dressing room and head-long into the mirror.   It shattered into a million sharp shards.  His thoughts of pending greatness quickly faded as one shard found its way through his eye and embedded deeply in his brain.  When he was found later in the morning, the scrolls were still clutched tightly in his hands.  The doctor surmised that due to the tightness of his grip, the king had been unable to use his hands to stop his fall and pending doom.

As the news of his death spread through the kingdom the sun broke out from behind the clouds and with it the promise of a new beginning.  The heir to the kingdom was a young man who had been exiled into the distant corners of the kingdom.  He was a nephew the king never liked for being too weak and kindly to common people.   Throngs of cheering admirers filled the streets.  Hatred had been defeated and an era of harmony, promise and bright expectations had begun.  The young king fulfilled all these expectations and more as he became known at the greatest king of all times.  He was loved by all and the kingdom flourished.

The dead king was quickly forgotten, barely mentioned in annuls of history as a minor, insignificant moment in a distant past.  The remnants of the magic mirror were melted down in a great furnace used to mint coin destroying the threat of its power forever. 

The End

“I always love happy endings, especially endings where the sun is shining.  I love the sun.  I call for its arrival every day.  There is nothing better than a good dust bath in a warm sun.  When the sun is shining, my farmer seems happier, more relaxed.  He hasn’t been very happy lately so it is good news that he was able to write a story with a happy ending.  It shows he hasn’t given up.  He sees there is still hope in the world no matter how gray the skies seem to be.  Evil kings come and go but the sun never waivers. Peace to you and may the sun shine brightly into your life today.  As for me, I’ll be basking in the dust, cleaning my feathers and crowing up a storm.  Life is good.”  - Ollie

Oh, let it shine, c'mon
Now everybody just sing along
Let the sun shine in
Open up your heart and let it shine on in
When you are lonely, let it shine on
Got to open up your heart and let it shine on in
And when you feel like you've been mistreated
And your friends turn away
Just open your heart, and shine it on in

Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures) lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC