The Discontented Princess
by Theodora Goss

Once, there was a princess
who was never content.
First, she wanted the moon.
Her father the king gave her a silver
pendant shaped like the moon
on a silver chain. When she wanted
the sun, he gave her a gold
pendant – essentially, the same
idea. When she wanted
a river, he gave her a blue
crystal to wear; when she wanted
the mountains, a tortoiseshell
comb carved to resemble
peaks and valleys for her hair.
When she asked for the clouds,
he gave her a dress of white silk
that she could wear to a ball,
and when she asked for the rainbow,
a multicolored shawl.
When she wanted the stars,
he had them painted
on her bedroom ceiling.
And still, she was not content.
She wanted a fox, and was given
a stuffed one; a singing bird,
and received a clever automaton.

One day, while no one was watching,
she stole her maid’s clothes
and sneaked down to the kitchen,
then out the back door,
through the garden and out
the gate, into the wide world.
There they were: the sun shining
on the slopes of the mountains, clouds
floating in the blue sky,
and in the distance, a river winding
through the valley. Above it,
where it had rained earlier that day,
remained the fading colors
of a rainbow. She heard birds singing.
A fox slipped through the trees
at the edge of the forest.
Soon, she thought, night will come.
I will see the moon and stars.
And then, I will have everything
I ever wanted, absolutely everything.

(The image is The Princess Out of School by Edward Robert Hughes.)