Therapeutic Bedtime Stories for Children - Free complete book donated by authors. Part 5

The Fulture Kingdom
Part One

Fumblekins’ term at Cloakwood School had been utterly awesome. Now it was time to go home and join his mum again. He was feeling happy and confident as he flew through the skies. Zig-zagging playfully in and out of the clouds, he imagined eating his mum’s homemade food and sleeping in his very own bed again. Once over the valley, he was soon circling the mountain tops, spiralling down towards the open caves where the fulture families lived. Home again! He couldn’t wait to tell his friends all about Cloakwood School and all the cool things that had happened to him there.
“Mum,” he called as he swooped into his family cave; “Mum ...” His excited voice froze as he found his mother lying still in their family nest. She was lying on her back, her wings outstretched. Hearing the sound of beating wings entering the cave, her eyes slowly opened.
“Fumblekins. You’re home,” she almost whispered. Her voice sounded tired, as if she was hardly awake.
“Fulture King sent news that you were on your way home. I’m not very well. I need to go and see the tree surgeon. My dark fairy won’t leave me alone. It hovers around my shoulder all the time, telling me I’m hopeless.”
“Your dark fairy is wrong, Mum!” Fumblekins said. He plonked himself down beside his mother, stroking her beak tenderly with his wing, his face full of concern.
“I’ve given up thinking your father will come home, Fumblekins. Then you went away to Cloakwood School and I’ve been wondering if you would come home too. I have no energy. I’m always wishing I was in the yesterdays of my life, when we were all together as a family. I can’t see a future anymore; that’s the problem, Fumblekins,” she said, her face full of sadness.
“Mum, you don’t need to feel this way,” Fumblekins answered. “Ever since Dad left you’ve been drowning in rivers of tears. I tried to make you smile and laugh. I tried to be cool and clever. Before I went to Cloakwood School, do you know what I was thinking? I was thinking you didn’t love me anymore. I was thinking it was my fault that Dad left home.”
“Fumblekins!” His mum was shocked.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it? At Cloakwood School I learnt how the whispers of the dark fairies give us ideas about ourselves that are wrong.”
“What do you mean, Fumblekins?” his mother asked.

“They say things like, ‘You’re not good enough,’ ‘you can’t do it,’ or, ‘it’s your fault.’ Anything to make you feel bad about yourself. The dark fairy likes you to feel like you’re different and separate to everyone else. It loves to make you feel dead scared!”As Fumblekins carried on sharing his new knowledge with his mum, over in his royal cave Fulture King was growing tense.
“Where’s that Fumblekins? He should be back from Cloakwood School by now. Where is he?” he asked the two big guards that stood at the mouth of the cave. “Go and find him!” he demanded impatiently, winding himself up into a big flap.
As the king was squawking, Alanisoar the fulture just happened to be flying past his royal cave. She stopped mid flight and perched herself between the two royal guards.
“Your highness,” Alanisoar said to the king, “Fumblekins has only just arrived home. I saw him swooping in to his cave. He’s helping his mum. She hasn’t been feeling good.”
“I don’t care about that!” Fulture King bellowed, adjusting the crown which lay wonkily on his head. “I want him here. He’s one of my servants, just like you.”
“Your highness, I’m sure Fumblekins will report to you once he’s spent some time with his mum.”
“I, Alanisoar, am the higher than highness,” the king responded with a beady eye, while inspecting his fingernails. “I expect my commands to be acted on. Go with the guards and fetch him – now.”
The king’s voice sounded so loud and shrill that Alanisoar had to take a step back. The king was a terrible bully. He wanted all the fultures to obey his will without question. No one was allowed to enquire, to reason, or to debate. Oh no! He used his kingly power to control and dominate the fultures of the Dark Forest. To question was to suffer!
Alanisoar and the guards flew straight to Fumblekins’ cave to bring him to the king. As soon as they got there, Alanisoar noticed that Fumblekins’ mum looked loads better. Instead of looking all small and sad, she was laughing and joking with Fumblekins. Her eyes were all glowing and sparkly, her feathers all glossy and shiny.
“Alanisoar,” Fumblekins’ mum smiled. “Now I know why I’ve been having lots of dark thoughts about myself. Bad thoughts I’d become used to. I didn’t realise they weren’t real. They weren’t true. They’re just thoughts, and I’m not believing them anymore. No way! Boy, am I glad that Fumblekins is home again,” she said, tenderly gazing at her son.
“How embarrassing, man!” Fumblekins was thinking.
“I’d love to hear more, but right now we have to take Fumblekins to the king. He wants to know all about Cloakwood School too. You know what he’s like,” Alanisoar frowned. The two guards looked at each other knowingly.
“That’s silly! I’m not ready to see the king yet,” Fumblekins responded to the guards.
“You have to come with us,” said one of the rather large guards. “It will make the king really mad if you don’t come now.”
“I’m not being bullied by the king. Don’t worry; when I share what I’ve learnt from the elves at Cloakwood School, he’ll soon understand.” Fumblekins smiled. He didn’t seem concerned at all about following the king’s orders.
“Uh-oh,” Alanisoar thought to herself, “this ain’t looking too good.”
“The king’s sent us to collect you, Fumblekins. You must come with us right now,” one of the guards said, almost apologetically.
“Otherwise the king might take our homes away from us, and make us sleep in the hobgoblin cages!” the other guard added.
Fumblekins realised it was hopeless to resist. He turned to his mother.
“I’d better go, Mum. Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”
His mother quickly gathered some nuts and seeds and poured them into a pouch to give to her son. “Please take this with you, little one,” she pleaded, “you haven’t eaten since you’ve been home.”
Fumblekins was escorted back to the Fulture King’s cave, flanked by the king’s two most senior royal guards. As soon as he could taste and smell the sea air, he knew they must have arrived. Fulture King lived in the largest and grandest cave of all. The royal cave looked right out over the sea; the Self Sea that stretched away into eternity.
The king was waiting impatiently at the mouth of the cave.
“Thought you’d disobey me did you, Fumblekins?” His voice sounded tense and angry. The crown balanced wonkily on his head.
“Yes I did,” Fumblekins replied simply. “Yo, smells a bit rank in here!” he added, clasping his beak with his talons.
The two royal guards stared at each other with eyes and mouths wide open. Here they were, waiting at the beck and call of the bossy king, living in fear of losing their homes or some other horrible happening. Here was the young boy fulture, fearless as a lion. Fumblekins the fearless!
“How dare you?” roared the king. “Who do you think you are to disobey my command? No one else does!”
“You sent me to Cloakwood School to become strong, your majesty. I learnt many things there. Everyone praised me and I learnt to love myself for the very first time in my whole life.” Fumblekins was on a roll now. He puffed out his chest and took a deep breath. “You rule us through fear. You bully us all the time, because secretly you’re frightened yourself. So why not just share your feelings? I mean, we’re all in this game together. My mum needed me so I stayed with her instead. I was planning to come and see you in the morning. Chill out, man!”
The king couldn’t hear Fumblekins’ words. His dark fairy had flown right into his mind, whispering things like, “Look how powerful and self-confident the boy is! And look at you. You’ve lost your power over him.”
“No,” thought the king, “Fumblekins is right. I do behave like a bully.”
“Don’t be stupid,” argued the dark fairy. “Just look how powerful the boy is now. He knows too much. He can help the other fultures become strong and confident ... then look what will happen. They won’t want you ruling over them, controlling them, bossing them about. They’ll want to work in co-operation with each other; in harmony. What will happen to you then? You need to shut Fumblekins up so that he can’t help people. That’s what you need to do.” The dark fairy was having a great time now, dancing around in the king’s mind, making him feel confused.
“No, that’s not right,” the king argued back to himself. “It’s good for fultures to be strong and confident. If they love themselves, they’re going to do loving things. They won’t harm themselves or their environment. They’ll feel like they’re just part of one big global family. Wow!”
“Exactly!” The dark fairy jumped straight back in. “And look what will happen. Your trusted guards will leave you. The fultures will leave you because you’ve been so mean and horrible to them for so long. No one will be friends with you. You can’t risk it. Put Fumblekins away. Get him locked up!”
“But what if I say I’m sorry?” the king thought. “Maybe everyone would forgive me. Trouble is, I don’t know any other way to live. I need help. Maybe I should go to Cloakwood School.”
“Don’t be stupid!” interrupted the dark fairy. “You’re not thinking straight. Get a grip. You’re going to be left alone. Isolated. Separated. No one will follow you anymore. No one will even like you. Time to get Fumblekins locked up. Quickly! Before you change your mind!”
“But he’s only a child,” the king thought.
“So what?” his dark thoughts retaliated, intent on winning the battle of the king’s mind.
The king was weakening. His deeper self loved Fumblekins almost as his own son. At the same time he was full of jealousy and fear. The guards were now watching him, with little Fumblekins standing between the two of them, wondering what was going to happen. They watched the king’s anxiety-ridden face, wondering what he was thinking.
The king’s fear took over, allowing his dark fairy thoughts to take control.
“Guards!” he suddenly bellowed. “Take Fumblekins deep into the Dark Forest, where the hobgoblin cages are. Lock him up in one of them while I work out what to do with him!”
“Er ... do we have to? He’s only a child!” pleaded one of the guards.

“Do it!” the king growled back.
“Well done!” his dark fairy said encouragingly. “Give him plenty of time alone. Keep him separated from his mother and his friends for a little while. His own dark fairy will soon return to make him feel small and powerless again. Ha ha ha,” it laughed, as it dissolved away into nothingness.
Reluctantly, the guards escorted Fumblekins down into the Dark Forest, their hearts full of sadness, both knowing that this was in no way the right thing to be doing. Soon Fumblekins was locked away in a hobgoblin cage with only the darkness of the night to keep him company.

It looks like Fumblekins is in trouble! Who’s going to help him? Who’s going to save him? Everyone on Wellness Island is waiting to find out! They hope you’re enjoying this story and they’re looking forward to sharing the next part with you. Snuggle up in bed and remember – real power comes from inside. It comes from feeling loved and appreciated, trusted and cared for. Some children, just like Fulture King, may not have ever felt really cared for. They bring their own pain and distress out just like Fulture King did. Right now, as you settle down to sleep, remember how deeply loved you are. You are part of nature, just like the trees and the earth, the moon and the stars. Think about all the things you enjoy. It doesn’t even matter if you aren’t particularly good at them. Just things you enjoy. Imagine yourself right now doing those things. Watch yourself from a distance, smiling and laughing. As you settle to sleep, the stars are smiling with you too.
Sleep tight and Night Knight. TM

ooOoo