a flower for
the king
One morning a seven-year-old student of Sunshine Private School asked his grandmother for a flower to take to school which he said he wanted to present to the king. He came back that afternoon looking dejected and said the king was coming only the next day. Next morning he took another fresh flower for the king.
When he returned home that day, he had a big smile on his face. He told his grandmother how the king picked him out of the rest of the class to ask a question. He made it seem like he was doing her a favor when he told her “I told the king I am from your village”. He narrated how the king playfully used his scarf to pat him gently on the cheek.
He told his great grandmother her shawl though yellow was unlike the king’s scarf which was plain without patterns. His nine-year-old sister who was sick and had to stay away from school that day sent a SMS to her father in Bangkok expressing her dismay at having missed the chance to meet the king. In his return SMS he consoled her “you will have a chance some other time”. The family had to bear his non-stop chatter for days.
It was only about a week later when the grandmother met the owner of the school that she learnt that the king had not visited the school, although a royal visit was expected soon. For once, the grandmother was dumbfounded but realized that what her grandson had told her was not the truth.
No one knows why and how the small boy made up this story. Did he in his excitement visualize the possibilities during the visit of His Majesty, and choreographed the day casting himself in as the protagonist – a mindless fantasy of a small child? Or did he dream the episode at night after a day of many thoughts? Perhaps we will never know.
His Majesty visited the school a week later. One can only imagine what went on in this boy’s mind as he stood before his king.
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