Two Kingdoms (The Bridge That Destroyed)

Two Kingdoms

The Bridge That Destroyed

A Book Of Dreams

Copyright © 2016 abookofdreams.comlarge sea

Not too many stories start with Once Upon A Time but this one does.  This is a story from the mind of The Creators at ABookOfDreams.com from his ongoing series of stories which have been transpiring from dreams he has had since he was 8 years old.  The story below is considerably different from the other stories he has written in that there are points as the story matures where the Author opens up deltas in the story where others can insert deviations of the story and carry it to a different direction which makes for a very fun and enjoyable experience where others get their chance at story writing.  Those deviations are meant for the world of enjoyment and interaction but the deviations will stand on their own and are not an intrinsic part of the original story as the copyright remains applied to all original parts of the original author’s first iteration.  As additional elements are added there will be a link to the deviations of the story from other contributors.  Clicking those links will allow you to follow the imagination of contributors to the deviation of the original story.  And now… Two Kingdoms.

Once upon a time

Kingdom of Nature land

There was a beautiful land where a sea of great size ran through the middle of a very very very large valley.  On one side of the sea, there was a beautiful green and lush kingdom where tall green grass and beautiful trees grew spontaneously.  Flowers of all kinds laced the hillsides and gentle animals that had no fear of man lived in complete peace.

Kingdom-of-Wealth-1On the other side of the great sea lay a kingdom not as blessed in beauty but though it seemed a baron desert, it was a very rich kingdom filled with all manner of minerals, gold, silver and precious metals and gems of every kind.  The land itself was nothing to desire in nature and beauty as it was mostly a rocky and jagged kingdom which more closely resembled a desolate dessert of the sorts.

The two kingdoms were often referred to by outsiders as The Kingdom of Nature and The Kingdom of Wealth.

The Kingdom of Nature was such a beautiful place filled with marvelous streams and lakes, waterfalls and the greatest variety of wildlife.  It was such a place of peace and beauty that all who visited the kingdom desired nothing more than to never leave.  There was so much peace and solitude and the elements of nature inspired everyone who visited with great kindness and creative abilities.  It was such a magical place that many sought to find the kingdom and live there.

Kingdom Of NatureThe kind of people that desired to be in The Kingdom of Nature were by nature themselves, kind and gentle, seeking after the important things that life itself had to offer.  They who came and stayed brought great strength to the kingdom and it grew in power.  The power that this kingdom grew with and possessed was not the usual kind of power that most sought after, for it did not offer great wealth and  riches nor the ability to control and command but it instead offered a power that immersed and grew from within each heart that resided there.

It was a power of healing, of kindness, of building up one another and creating amazing artistry that moved and inspired every last person from 1 to 102.  It was a kingdom of service, love and patience…  even the animals had special qualities that unified all living within the kingdom.

The Kingdom of Wealth was such a rich place filled with all manner of precious metals and gems that many from all over sought out and desired to be a part of that kingdom as well.Kingdom of Wealth

The Kingdom of Wealth was however not as friendly to outsiders as one would hope it to be for it was ruled by very powerful men who sought more that it’s riches…  They sought the full and complete power and obedience of all who lived within the walls of the kingdom.  Yes there was great wealth in the kingdom but it was mostly reserved for the few who sat in high places and had control of all of the resources of the land.

The king himself was a very resourceful ruler who had many many ventures which daily increased his power and wealth.  He was a rancher and a miner of precious ores.  He was a brilliant man who’s tongue when in motion could convince people to do that which he made to seem wonderful.

The two kingdoms never did meet or trade with one another because the great distance between the two as the sea which separated them was great and expansive and extremely too large to easily cross.  Each kingdom rested high above the sea and valleys so that even if the sea could be crossed the great journey up to with mountain height would be too strenuous for a practical journey.

One day the brilliant king of The Kingdom of Wealth had an amazing plan and he sent a message over to The Kingdom of Nature explaining this marvelous plan which could unite the two kingdoms and bring so much more wealth to The Kingdom of Nature and how the Kingdom of Nature could in turn bless The Kingdom of Wealth with the magic of nature thus uniting the two kingdoms with the best of both kingdoms.

The words of the message were beautifully written and so eloquently penned that the king and queen of The Kingdom of Nature could only see complete goodness in such a miraculous plan.

The Plan:

The Bridge That Destroyed

A bridge created from the wisest of engineers from The Kingdom of Wealth which would span the great divide between the two kingdoms crossing high above the giant expanse of the valleys and sea below.  This bridge would be so amazing that both kingdoms could easily travel from one kingdom to another and share of the fruits of both kingdoms and in time both kingdoms would become so wealthy and powerful and filled with peace and love that there would be no place on the world which could compare to the great kingdom of the joining of two.

Work soon began on the bridge and in time the day finally came and a big celebration on both sides of the river commenced.  Each kingdom cheered and celebrated for an entire week as they partied well into the nights and crossed the bridge to partake of each kingdoms celebration and acquaint themselves with one another.  It was the most joyous time that had ever graced either kingdom.

Soon after the celebrations were over, the king from The Kingdom of Wealth declared that the fine engineers of the bridge were going to improve the bridge with new capabilities that would make travel across the bridge even faster and thus would need to close the bridge for a short time.

It was known that The Kingdom of Wealth was suffering lately from the lack of water and the king of The Kingdom of Nature knowing how abundant water was in their kingdom gladly agreed to add to the improvement, a water channel across the bridge to allow both kingdoms to equally share the rich abundant supply of water which in turn would benefit both kingdoms.

Time had passed and the bridge seemed to take more time on implementing the improvements…  days had grown into weeks.

moonOne night as the two kingdoms lay silent in rest, the king and queen of The Kingdom of Nature set out on a journey to seek the presence of the king of The Kingdom of Wealth.  The journey across the bridge would take them through the night and into the morning before they would reach the other side so they began their walk as the moon shown brightly in the midnight sky.

Sunrise BridgeAs morning broke and the Sun took it’s place in the sky they had finished their  journey across the bridge.  They hadn’t yet ever made the journey across the bridge and to their surprise they were shocked to see just how dry and rocky The Kingdom of Wealth really was.  They were so glad in their hearts to have something that would finally bring a wonderful benefit to their neighboring kingdom.

They continued their journey to where they had been told the king resided.  As they trudged along the rocky path which was indeed difficult to walk upon they noticed a very many great heard of cattle being moved along another path not far off from their own path.  It seemed that the cattle were in a hurry to be moved by their caretakers and so they continued on their journey to find the king, it was their intent to bring him a gift from their treasury which they knew was a gift he would not have as it was a stone of discernment which allowed one to be able to discern the truth of others hearts and minds.  They knew he would love such a gift and they then also would inquire as to the length of the time until the bridge would be reopened.

As they traveled they came finally to the gates of the king of The Kingdom of Wealth’s Palace.  It was more like a very large cattle rancher’s expansive mountain home. 

Kingdom-of-Wealth-Castle-RanchAs they approached the gates, they were met by the gatekeepers who informed the king and queen that the king was very busy at the time and would see them later on in the day.  They were turned away and it seemed very strange for them the king and queen of The Kingdom of Nature to be greeted and treated so cold.

They decided to walk along the mountain tail to the south and observe the kingdom from their point of view while they waited to see the king.  The pathway

was very rocky and most difficult to walk upon but they desired greatly to see more of the kingdom.

They had been walking for some hours when they noticed a great disturbance lower down on a path below them.  As they watched from above they finally were able to piece together what the disturbance was all about below.

Another bridge:

second-bridge

They couldn’t believe their eyes…  it was another bridge…  another bridge had ben built much farther to the south and it also was crossing the great divide between the two kingdoms.  The king of The Kingdom of Wealth had said nothing about a second bridge.  They moved down the trail to get closer and to determine why this second bridge had even been built.  Why they wondered to themselves would a second bridge even need to be built?

Their answer came in such a shocking way that they could hardly believe their eyes.  Many men on horseback were driving great herds of cattle from the West side of the second bridge to the East side…  From the Kingdom of Nature to the Kingdom of Wealth!

This could not be…  This was theft!  hundreds and hundreds of cattle were being moved across the bridge and they were all cattle that belonged to The Kingdom of Nature!

They had been deceived!  The plan was no plan at all!  It was a plot!  The king and queen looked at each other in disbelief…  Their kingdom was being drained of it’s resources and it was being done by The Kingdom of Wealth!

lionsThey turned quickly in their tracks and began to make their way back to the first bridge in order to alert everyone in their kingdom and prepare to protect themselves from the deceptive measures of this cunning and crafty king who’s kingdom they still were in.  They knew they must hurry as their very kingdom and even their very lives were now in danger.

As they hurried along the path, now running as best they could on the sharp and jagged rocks, the queen grabbed the king hurriedly and placed her hand over his mouth as she stopped him in his tracks.

“Quiet” she whispered…  “Don’t move”…  “See there”  as she pointed to a higher ledge just behind them almost white in color on the rocks of a faint yellow dirty scratched out a rough and jagged ridge just above and behind them.

“What is it?”  The king whispered back…

“Lions” the queen now with a quivering and silent voice whispered back…  “I don’t think they have seen”…  her sentence was interrupted with a painful roar from one of the sickly but hungry looking lions.

“Come now!  Quickly! Run!”  The king quietly but demandingly turned and pulling the queen’s hand bolted to the northward part of the trail.  Both were now running as fast as could possibly be done on such a jagged pathway.

As now their lives truly were in danger, the king pulled from his cloak his extendable staff but too late it was to extend it and begin using it as a weapon for the first and more healthy lion had knocked his foot off balance and the staff went flying from his hands to the ground.

The king managed to roll at the same time pushing the queen down the embankment along with the staff and at the same time grab onto a large dead branch just dangling from it’s dead tree awaiting just the right wind to finish knocking it to the ground…  but no wind was needed as the king now had the large limb with many thorns at it’s branching end firmly in his hand and now with all the force he had was using it as a weapon to ward off the hungry lion.

As the second lion approached, he gave a demanding yell to the queen!

“Quickly! reach the staff and extend it!  The second lion is upon you!  I cannot protect you yet as I have my hands full!”

She exclaimed back to him “I don’t know how to do this!…  I can’t make it work!”

His words now were of very little comfort to her as he screamed!

“I can’t help you!  See!  That this lion is all I can handle!  You must! You must! extend the staff!…  You have done it before!  You do know how to do this!  You must as I cannot help you now!  Please I beg of you my dearest!  you must as your life, my life,…  The entire kingdom is now at stake!”

Her failing voice continued “I can’t…  I just simply can’t!  I truly cannot!”

Those were the last words the king could hear before the screams of his dear queen could be heard as the second lion began to devour her.

Though the king fought with all of his might and wounded the first lion, it was too late for him to save his dear queen and as he plunged directly into the second lion fighting with all he had to save his queen and his very kingdom, the first lion had returned with a vengeance and resolve that overpowered the king, his queen and left the kingdom in the hands of their enemy.

The Kingdom of Nature would soon fall to the hands of deception and greed as the only hope of a forewarning to the deception and coming war had just been silenced.

Lost KingdomNearby the king of The Kingdom of Wealth was standing a fare way off watching as the entire scene play out.

As the last great breath of royalty was take from The Kingdom of Nature, a snap of the fingers could be heard…

Mounted horses, swords and shields descended upon The Bridge That Destroyed.

Only one kingdom remained.

The story actually has a happy ending as this particular story was intentionally left open temporarily to give others a chance to increase the light and positive energy of the story in their own way.

Copyright © 2016 ABookOfDreams.com

The author has the final story and will insert it as time matures.  This small little story is a very small part of a much much larger and longer story.  Please respect the copyright of this story as it is easy to feel ownership when allowed to add additional part with this style of contribution writing.  Just remember there are two entities in this Universe…  Black Holes and White Holes.  These two entities are completely opposite of one another.  One emits light and amazing energy into the Universe while the other steals and consumes energy and light.  One is the start of life while the other is the end of life.  Contribution writing is designed to bring the creative energy and light of potential writers into reality and spawn the talents of those desiring to become writers themselves.  This exercise is here to help foster that creative energy and inspire to be authors to become White Holes filled with creative imagination energy to move forward and share their original creative stories with the world and not to become Black Holes consuming the light of others.

The images used are only placeholders awaiting the official art work.

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