The Lightning Kid and the Bubble

After the initial announcement of the Lightning Kid's birth, the royal family cleared the court of visiting lords and ladies, visiting dignitaries, sages, healers and wizards; everyone left the castle.

The initial sadness and shock of the Lightning Kid's condition began to fade. The royal family was able to take joy in simply being a family. The King and Queen loved each other just as much as they loved Shark Boy and the Lightning Kid, who were both healthy, beautiful and strong. Shark Boy welcomed the Lightning Kid with hugs and kisses, and the Lightning Kid slept well, and improved his ability to nurse. The world of the Royal Family seemed good and happy.

The days passed, and nobody was bothered to look outside. When they finally looked out the window, the King and Queen noticed something strange. A big bubble had formed around the palace and nothing would be able to travel in or out.  The King and Queen were confused; obviously the bubble was a bad thing - goods would need to be brought into the castle and communication was impossible, and yet they'd been happy within this bubble.

The Queen said: "I'd dearly like to correspond with the other kingdoms... yet I'm afraid of what they'll say when they hear the news of the Lightning Kid."

The King said: "As am I.  Being free of advisers, be they sage, healer, wizard, crone, oracle or troll has been a blessing hasn't it? We could simply stay in the bubble..."


"Yet ultimately we'll need some of those advisers.  We have friends outside as well, can we really hide from them?  Also, I don't think Shark Boy will enjoy simply swimming laps around the moat for much longer." answered the Queen.  "I don't think I've seen anything like this..."


"I have..." answered the King.  "When my father died, I found myself in a similar bubble... they come in handy to shield us from the initial pain, but ultimately we're not healing while we're inside.  The only way to heal is to burst the bubble and learn to live with the outside world again..."

The King and Queen looked at each other in silent agreement.  It took but a single bolt of lightning from the Prince to burst the bubble.  The Royal Family went on excursions, corresponded with foreign lands and yes, had to visit sages, wizard and healers - some of which delivered bad news, some good.  When they spoke with others including members of the court, some comments bothered the King and Queen; they found them insensitive, but they knew they weren't driven by malice, but perhaps by ignorance.  When they took stock of it all, they noticed that people had been very wonderful and supportive overall.  Still, they resolved 
to fight ignorance in the kingdom by living their lives as the wonderful family they had always intended to be, and the Lightning Kid would lead by example.

The Lightning Kid is Born

Once upon a time, there were a King and Queen who were wise and kind. They had a son who was magic, and he became known through the land as the Shark Boy, for he had many teeth, loved the water, and was always on the move.

When it became known that a second prince would be born to the Queen, it was widely held that this one would be as magical as the first. When the Prince was born, he seemed healthy at first, but when the sages, wizards and sorceresses said there was something wrong with him. The portents and prophecies said that he'd look different, and that there were things he wouldn't learn. The wet-nurses abandoned all hope of him nursing.

The King and Queen were heartbroken. They had thought the new prince might rule a kingdom of his own one day, and this dream seemed to have evaporated like a cloud-puff; and where was his magic?

The Queen took charge of the most immediate matters, she would get the prince nursing to be as healthy, hale and strong as possible no matter how many mountains needed to be moved. While she undertook this struggle, the King looked to the future with fear in his heart. He had known how he wanted to run the kingdom, but the prince's condition raised questions, and the answers given by the sages and their ilk were always about limits and doors that would remain closed.

The King was no sage, nor a healer, but he had seen much in his life and was famed and respected for the breadth of his knowledge; it was said he knew a lot of nothing, and a little of everything - and that this was his magic. He promised the little prince to give him the best life and future he could. 


It was then that he noticed the little prince's hair.  For a baby, the hair was fairly long, and yet it stood up no matter what kind of comb or brush attempted to tame it. It was then and there that the King and Queen found the new prince's magic; he had been born with too much lightning.  They dubbed him the Lightning Kid, and proudly announced his title to the kingdom.

The Royal Family would occasionally struggle with the Lightning Kid's condition, but they continued to live and rule the kingdom as they were destined to, and the Lightning Kid's adventures would become legendary indeed.