Voyage Outside the Walls

Everyone ran frantically around the castle, in search of the prince, as he sat peacefully in the barn, next to his only friend Gib, the goat. A goat not older than 4-weeks. The prince has been regularly visiting his friend, to share his feelings of loneliness. “And that is what I got yelled for. Can you believe it? I honestly can’t,” the young prince said with a quivering voice.

With watery eyes, he waited for a reply from his fellow friend. But his friend seemed to be distracted today. As he stared through a broken plank in the barn. Staring at the mountains, contemplating his own problems. “You're wondering what is outside these walls aren’t you? I am thinking about it too, and I don’t have a clue either.”

The door smashed open as the guards entered in, happy to have found the elusive prince. As all things come to an end, so did the moment of solitude. “Let’s go prince, you don’t have permission to loiter outside your quarters. Your mother has summoned you, so please don’t get us in any more trouble, and let's return.”

The prince returned to his chambers after getting scolded by the Queen. His eyes were red and so was his face from all the sobbing. And once again, locked in his room, not able to talk to anyone. Irritated with all the restrictions and being confined inside these walls of the castle, the prince felt imprisoned. The city is going through turmoil, so the protection of the next heir is the utmost priority. But the safety, feels more like shackles for the young prince, holding him in one place.

But something has been brewing inside of his head. A plan. To get out, to taste the fresh air outside these walls. And the prince has found the perfect time to pay a visit to the outside world. At night, the prince got out of his chambers, but first, there was one important task, and that is to get Gib first.

Prince rescued his friend and both of them headed to the carriage which was their way out. At dawn, as the first ray of sunlight, pieces through the sky, the carriage started moving. And within no time, both the friends were outside the castle.

Both of them gazed outside and couldn’t believe how big the landscape was. Prince couldn’t fathom where the land ended. As far as his eyes could reach, the land was covered in grass and mountains. They were aw struck, with their jaws on the floor. For the first time, both of them are speechless.

At a nearby village, both the friends sneaked out, as the carriage driver stopped. Both slowly strolled on the road, away from the castle, further into the town. The more they walked, the number of people increased. They were in the heart of the town. The market was bustling with people. The prince had never seen so many people in his life, and it made him scared.

Until now, the prince had been thought, the people outside the castle are savages. Judging from the amount of noise they made, Prince started to get scared and confused. The panicked prince has no clue what to do and soon this friend Gib ran away. Prince followed him through the crowd. But within moments, Gib was nowhere to be found, and both of them were separated.

Prince is once again alone, and the whole reason he brought Gib was that he was too scared to come out alone, outside the castle. But his friend had wandered somewhere, leaving the prince behind.

Tears gathered around the eye, as the Prince tried to get rid of them. He felt alone in the crowd, he did not trust these people, as they gave him an uncanny look as they walked past him. He did not gel in the crowd, his clothes stuck out.

Prince mustered enough courage to start walking in the direction he last saw his friend. He kept walking for a while. And soon, he smelled something foul. It smelled horrible. The young Prince did not like it but he has to walk in the direction if he wants to find his friend, and so he continued.

Within the castle, Unable to find his youngest son, the Queen caused a ruckus. Once again, the soldiers scattered around the castle, to search for the prince. But he was nowhere to be found.

As he walked further, the smell got stronger. It was coming from a shop. Out of curiosity, the Prince inched close, bearing the stench. He reached right in front of the shop, that was the primary reason for the smell. And that is where the Prince witnessed everything that was wrong. A fat man, holding a cleaver over his head. And with one clean sweep, he chopped the head off, of the chicken he had held in his other hand.

The blood oozed out of the chicken as the butcher, casually did his job. But the prince was terrified. Prince stood there in shock, took few minutes to get himself together. For the first time, he had seen, from where he was getting his food. And there are other animals caged and probably waiting for their destiny to unfold.

The Prince frantically ran his eyes through the cages, to find his friend, and he sure did. His friend is locked in one of the cages. The Prince ran towards the shop. “Hey! Yes, you. leave my friend alone,” the young Prince roared.

The butcher laughed looking at a 7-year-old boy yelling at him. But the constant yells from the Prince pissed him off. “Who the fuck are you kid. Get out of here, before I slap the shit out of you and send you home crying.”

The Prince got scared but is resolve ios strong. He refused to back off, “Do you know who I am?” the Prince yelled.

“From the looks of it, you seem like a brat from a rich family. Get out of here, before I lose my cool.”

Once again, the Prince refused to back off. “Let Gib go.”

“And who is that? I reckon”

“This goat, he is my friend,” as he pointed towards the caged animal.

“Oh, this goat. Let me help him,” said the butcher.

As soon as he unlocked the cage, the smile on the Prince’s face returned. He is proud of himself, facing adversity head-on and saving his friend. And as he reached to grab the goat, the butcher walked towards the shop. Young Prince in confusion said, “What are you doing, Give him here,” to which the butcher replied with a venomous smile.

Meanwhile, in the Castle, the cries of the Queen refused to stop as the Prince was nowhere to be found in the castle. The soldiers were spread out in every direction to find the Prince.

The butcher placed the head of the goat on the board and using his entire hand to press him against the board, raising his cleaver, getting ready to strike. “Please…please let him go. Don’t kill him,” the Prince said, weeping in tears.

Looking at the tears, the butcher replied, “Fine. I’ll let him go.”

He let his hand go, with all his might. Chopping the young goat’s neck in half. The blood sprinkled out of the neck like a fountain, as the head, rolled and fell on the ground. The Prince couldn’t believe his eyes. His one and only friend had been slaughtered.

“Here you go…” the butcher said as he kicked the goat's head towards the Prince, “Take your friend with you.”

The Prince out of sheer terror ran away from the scene leaving a trail of tears behind him. The Prince kept running in the direction where he came from, through the crowd, and still kept running. The carriage passed him, but he did not stop and continued to run. He wanted to go back into the safety of the walls, go back where he came from. Away from here.

And soon the Prince ran into the soldiers of the castle. They brought the Prince home, back to the Queen. But the Prince did not stop crying. He looked into his mother's eyes with rage.

The sun was about to set, and the butcher prepared to close his shop. As he cleaned everything, horses started showing up. And there were a lot of them. The butcher looked at the crowd, and right in the middle the Queen herself is present. The butcher fell to his knees, “Your Majesty.”

And as he looked up once again, the boy was in the Majesty’s lap, pointing his finger at him. And before he could have a chance to say anything, his head touched the ground. Sliced clean, from his body. leaving a pool of blood and horror on the faces of those who had witnessed it.

And as soldiers started turning to retreat, Gib came back.