The children sat wide-eyed as Ms. Millicent finished reading the story.
“The prince took Cinderella on his horse and rode away with her. A fine wedding was held and the prince and Cinderella lived happily ever after”.
“Isn’t that a lovely ending,” Ms. Millicent said. “Why do you think Cinderella has such a happy ending? Was it just because she was beautiful?”
“No,” a tiny girl offered. “Cos she was kind.”
“ Well done,” Ms. Millicent agreed “Pack up now and don’t forget how important it is to be kind, even if you don’t want to marry a prince.”
That night Millicent looked forward to watching the new season of “The Crown”. She adored the royal family. Waiting for the first episode to load, she made a pot of tea, absentmindedly rotating the teapot three times murmuring, “I don’t want to marry a prince, but I would love to fly in an aeroplane, visit Buckingham Palace and meet the king.”
“Really?”
Millicent spun around There was a tiny man with a wizened walnut-brown face and mesmerising brown eyes.
“Jumping jehoshaphat!” Millicent shrieked before recovering herself. “Yes, but it’s just a dream.”
The little man contradicted her. “If this is truly your heart’s desire, I can help you make it happen.”
“How?” Millicent demanded abruptly, before deciding that was quite rude. She hastened to offer her visitor a cup of tea. “I mean, what would I have to do ?”
“Complete three tasks and your wishes will be granted.”
“Three tasks? What kind of tasks?” Millicent asked tentatively.
“Oh, they’re quite simple. The first one is to slay a dragon.”
“You’re joking!”
“The second – find hidden treasure.”
“Unlikely!”
“And the third is to pass over a rainbow.”
“Impossible,” she spluttered. “All three. Utterly impossible.”
But as she ushered him out he told her, “Do not doubt yourself. You are greater than you think. Au revoir.”
Millicent decided she’d been dreaming, immersed herself in “The Crown” and forgot all about it.
The next day at school, the children were presenting speeches. Tommy spoke about playing with Lego, Juliet about her grandmother, Yi Wen about her favourite books and Tama about his pet goat. Everyone listened carefully, clapping their hands at the end of each speech.
Then it was Matilda’s turn. She made her way slowly to the front of the room, not looking at the audience. Her chin was trembling. Her hands were tying knots in the front of her sweater..
“Matilda’s going to tell us about playing basketball and her dream to play in the Olympics,” Ms. Millicent prompted kindly. “Take a deep breath, Matilda, and tell us about it.”
Matilda took a deep breath, and ran from the classroom, sobbing.
Ms. Millicent followed. She dried Matilda’s eyes and asked why she was so afraid.
“There’s a d-d-dragon in my throat,” Matilda explained, “and he won’t let me speak.”
“I know just how to stop that dragon,” said Ms. Millicent confidently. “First, you tell yourself you know your speech very well. Second, you tell yourself all the other children want to hear why you love basketball so much. Third, you walk into the classroom, take several deep breaths and then, look at me. That dragon in your throat is afraid of me. I will not let him stop you speaking.” Matilda returned to the class, gave a tremulous smile, locked her eyes on Ms. Millicent and began her speech. The audience clapped loudly..
That night Millicent watched another episode of “The Crown”. She sympathised with poor Prince Charles who was sent to Wales to learn Welsh and to endear himself to his subjects.
“If I ever did get to meet him, I’d tell him how brave he was,” she mused. “Fat chance.”
In class next day, Ms Millicent instructed, “I want you to use your imaginations. Create your own world. Nothing can be too strange or impossible. You can begin with something you know and then venture into another world.”
Soon the room was humming.. Pencils scratched on paper like an army of insects. Except for Jack. His page was empty. His hands were empty. His eyes were empty. Ms. Millicent knelt down, asking him what was wrong.
Jack pushed the paper away,
“I can’t do it!” he shouted. “I don’t have an imagination.”
“Oh yes, you do,” Ms. Millicent whispered. “Everyone has an imagination, Jack, even if it’s hidden deep inside. You just have to dig until you find it.”
“I can’t,” Jack retorted. But Ms. Millicent continued.
“Remember when you gave your speech. You talked about your horse and how you love to ride her in the bush?” Jack nodded dumbly. “Imagine that one day you take a different path, and you find a new and exciting place where all your dreams come true. Think of what you would most like to find if you could have anything you wanted.”
“You mean like food hanging on trees and animals which talk?”
“Yes, just like that. You’ve found it, Jack. Your imagination was there all the time. You just had to dig and find it.”
“Oh, that poor princess Di,” Millicent sniffed that night as she watched the unhappy girl missing her old friends and feeling miserable being bound by royal protocol. “I’d love to go over and give her a big hug,” and she sniffed again.
At the end of the busy week at school, Ms. Millicent was driving home, looking forward to another episode of “The Crown”, yet scoffing at the idea that she would ever be able to achieve her dream. As she drove beside the river she noticed the sun glittering on the water, producing a kaleidoscope of colours.
“My goodness,” she thought. “All the colours of the rainbow are there. How beautiful.”
Then she realised, with horror, the cause of the rainbow. An oil spill. One of the tankers must have had a spill. How dangerous for the river birds. Stopping on the side of the road, she ran to the bank to look.
And there was a family of ducks. Covered in oil. Millicent kicked off her shoes. Slipped off her long skirt. She plunged in and swam out over the rainbow-coloured water. She neared the ducks, sweeping them gently with her skirt towards the bank. Focused on her task, she didn’t notice someone taking a photo of her cradling four ducks in a very oily skirt. She was thinking how she would clean them up.“The Crown” would just have to wait. Soon, tub after tub was filled with warm water, the ducks immersed, massaged with dish detergent, then dried with towels, repeatedly. It was late before Millicent was finally satisfied and put the ducks to bed in the laundry.
Millicent was up early in the morning to check on her ducks and was delighted they had all survived. After giving them fresh water and rolled oats, she was wondering what to do next, when her morning paper plopped on the floor through the letterbox. Imagine her surprise when she saw a photo of herself, looking very bedraggled and oily, holding the ducks!
“Thank goodness the photo’s a mid-shot,” she thought when she saw it did not show her wearing her knickers.
The headline surprised her: Ducks saved from oil spill by local teacher.
Millicent was mystified until she read the byline. A former student, now a journalist, had written the article. A teacher who always taught us to be kind to others, practises what she preaches read the subheading.
“Well, fancy that,” thought Millicent, and she made herself a pot of coffee and some marmalade toast before rehoming the ducks on a local pond.
One day followed another, much as they had done before. Millicent did not seem any closer to achieving her dream of visiting Buckingham Palace and seeing the king. She had consigned the little old man to her dream world. How ridiculous. As if she would ever be able to slay a dragon, find a hidden treasure and pass over a rainbow. This was 2024 and those things belonged to fairy tales and story books. Her reverie was interrupted by an urgent knock at the door. Opening it, she was met by a tiny postman holding out a large envelope. As she took it, the postman bowed. “I knew I’d be seeing you again. I knew you could do it.”
Ms. Millicent felt faint with shock.
He continued. “You completed all the tasks and now the king, who is very interested in environmental issues, has invited you to Buckingham Palace to receive a medal.”
Dumbfounded, Millicent tore the envelope open, finding a gold-edged invitation with royal insignia, plus air tickets, Stunned, she looked up to thank the postman.
Although she looked all around there was no sign of him. But the papers in her hand were real. She wouldn’t be marrying a prince, but she, Ms. Millicent, was going to fly in an aeroplane, visit Buckingham Palace and meet the king.
What happened was... 