Elmira and William

Elmira was born into a family of royal bloodline. For her, life has always been simple since young. She had countless maids attending to her every need. She had no lack of toys, no lack of clothing. Yes, she is a princess. To her family, her birth was a joyous event; she received countless gifts from relatives around the country on the day she was born. By the age of five, she was already well known throughout the country for her wit and her beauty. Indeed, she was as pretty as her mother, and she acquired her wisdom from her father, the king. She was well-versed in the arts and literature as well. But talented as she was, she never had a playmate through her childhood. Her father was too busy to find her one; he thought she would be occupied with the amount of toys he bought for her. Little Elmira longed for a childhood playmate, but all she ever got was more and more toys.

Somewhere among the poorer parts of the country, another little child is longing for a playmate too. His name is William. He was the youngest of the house; he wanted a playmate as his brother and sister were too old to play with him. More importantly, they often had to worry about their next meal as well. As their dad left them when they were young, his brothers and sisters have to spend their day scavenging or begging for food. To make ends meet, they sometimes have to steal from homes of other people. The two children lead such different lives even though they both lived in the same country, even though they both stared at the same side of the moon.

When William was eighteen, his brother had to go serve in the army, therefore, William became the sole bread winner of the family. Their mother was too sick to work, and William’s sister had to take care of her, thus, leaving him with the responsibility of feeding the family. William sometimes works in the fields and helped plowed the land, or in the quarries where he helped carried rocks around. The money he earned was meager, but was enough for them to eat two meals a day, sometimes only one if they have to buy medicine for their mother.

Elmira on the other hand, was helping out with the country’s politics and economics when she just turned eighteen. It’s not that she was forced to; she helped out her father because she was wanted to change the lives of the peasants for the better. She would often visit the people of the country to understand their needs, and the people grew to love her in time.

One day, while on her way to the market, she heard someone playing the flute. It was such a beautiful piece of music that she couldn’t resist venturing towards the forest in search of the source. As she got nearer to the source of the melody, the melody became visibly clear. It sounded sorrowful and sad, each note hung in the air like broken pieces of a sad lullaby. As she walked into the clearing among the trees, she saw William sitting on a fallen log and playing on the flute. He stopped playing when he saw Elmira staring at him.

Elmira looked at William and said: “I’m sorry, did I disturb you?”
William replied softly: “No you didn’t, I’m just not used to having people around when I’m playing.”
He recognized her as Princess Elmira of Armenia. He was also captivated by her beauty and elegance.
Elmira sighed with disappointment: “I’ve got to go. My parents will be worried when they see that I’m not back.”
After saying that, she started walking back. But before leaving, she turned around and asks: “May I know your name?”
William was apparently not prepared for that question, he stammered in reply: “William, William Wyler.”
“What a nice name. My name is Elmira. It was nice to listen to you playing the flute. Thank you.” She smiled and left.
This was how the princess and William first met each other.

Over the next few days, William couldn’t get Elmira out of his mind. All he could think about is her. He longed to see her again, he longed to witness her beauty and grace again. Whenever he walked pass the clearing among the trees, he would stop and look around, hoping to see the Princess somewhere. But the days turn into weeks, and the weeks turn into months. Finally after three months, William began to give up hope of seeing the lovely Princess again. He went on with his daily life, slowly forcing thoughts of Elmira out of his mind bit by bit.

One day, while walking alongside the river, William saw a charming white horse drinking from the river. “What a beautiful stallion this is, whoever own it must be from a wealthy background,” he thought to himself. As he approached the horse, he noticed a fragrance scent in the air.
A sweet voice from behind startled him: “Hello William, nice to see you again.”
William turned around and came face to face with his Princess, his lovely Princess Elmira. She looked stunning; even though she was wearing a simple dress, she still managed to look enchanting and prepossessing. William could only look at Elmira and smile; the loud beatings of his heart seemed to drown out whatever words he could think of.
“What’s wrong?” “Why are you looking at me like that, is there something on my face?” Elmira turned away, blushing slightly on her cheeks.
William quickly stammered in reply: “Oh no, there’s nothing on your face.” “It’s just that you’re too beautiful to be true.” William fell silent after saying that.
Elmira was the one who broke the silent: “Do you have your flute with you?” “Can you play it for me to listen?”

William then took out his flute and started playing a tune for the Princess. He started with a fast paced, cheerful consonance; the notes followed one another like a gushing river. Then he slowed it by a notch and started on something much more soothing to listen. Each note sounds like a lullaby by itself; you can soothe your heart and calm the soul just by listening. Finally, William slowed the tune even more and started on a woeful and grievous melody. It was so heart wrenching to listen that the Princess could not hold back her tears. The melody seems to describe a sad story that no one understands. You just know that it’s sad, it’s sorrowful, but you do not know why it’s sad. Every time you try to understand it, you just break down and cry. And with a final note, the song came to an end.

“It’s beautiful, where did you learn how to play the flute?” the Princess asked in between tears.
William just shrugs his shoulders and replied: “I learned it myself; this flute was a gift from my father.” “He was also an excellent musician as well.”
The Princess seemed amazed by William; she wanted him to teach her the flute as well. But she had to be home before evening. And so she bid William farewell and rode her beautiful white stallion back to the castle.

William went to the riverside the next day hoping to see the Princess again. But there was no one there, he sat down on the river banks and started playing the flute. This time, he played a melody that tells of longing and memories. When he started playing, the fishes and birds came near to him, something tells them not to be afraid of him. The surrounding turns quiet whenever William plays the flute, it was as if nature was trying to listen to him playing. When he finished the melody, he heard footsteps behind him. William thought it was the Princess so he turned around quickly. But he was dismayed to see that it was not the Princess but was instead a man he did not know.

The man approached William and introduced himself as the servant of Princess Elmira. He left after handing William a letter written by the Princess.

To be continued..