Mandy lived in a smaller part of the castle, far away from the larger main building where the King and Queen lived. As her beauty knew no bounds, the King felt compelled to keep her within the compound at all times, lest preying eyes might steal her away.

Mandy was the apple of the eye for the whole kingdom; everyone took pride in living in a kingdom where such beauty was present. There were many princes who came to the doors beseeching the King for her hand, yet she refused them all. It was said the princess had a destiny to fulfill, though the meaning of this legend was lost somewhere in time.

Mandy often took walks in the backside of the court that ran close by the sea, with guards watching her every move. The evening sea breeze would catch her hair and blow it up, long luscious locks swinging in the cool winds. The setting sun would take one last pleasure of the dying day to play on her lovely cheeks before disappearing into the sea.

 

One day, on such a walk, Mandy shrieked aloud as she stepped on a hard cold object hidden in the sand below her feet. As she bent down to observe the object she noticed it was made of glass. It was a hard, shiny glass key; the likes she never saw before. Feeling strange that anyone would want to make a key of glass, Mandy hid the key in her bosom and returned home with it.

She hid the key under her pillow to keep it away from curious maids. Alas, for the next few days Mandy had recurring dreams. In her dreams, she saw herself standing in front of an entrance to a cave, saying something, her lips moving. Then suddenly a large ball of fire spewed out of the cave and Mandy awoke with a jolt, sweating and shaking. As days went by, the dreams became more and more real until Mandy could no longer ignore them. She took the key from under her bed and studied it hard. In the end she decided to show it to the wise old woman who lived in the forest.

Fresh in the morning the next day she baked a pumpkin pie and sneaked out of the castle. She walked into the woods until she came upon the decrepit little hut of the old lady.

“Wise woman, I come with an offering” said Mandy

“There is always a want behind every offering” came the reply as the old lady struggled out of her hut “Give it to me” she said

“Give you what?” asked a surprised Mandy, wondering if the old woman was referring to the pie.

“Give me the key….”

Mandy took the key out of the folds of her dress, wondering how the old woman knew she had it.

“Ah, the key returns” mumbled the old woman as she took hold of it. As the key settled in her grizzled palms, she fell to the ground.

“My child, its clear to me you have no clue what this key is for…” she said, her wild querying eyes fixed on Mandy “I cannot tell you what this key is for, that is something you will learn as you live with it…and the key will guide you to where it needs to go. Pay heed to your dreams, young lassie, pay heed”

“But where is this cave? What is there?” asked Mandy, grabbing the woman’s cloak as she turned around to enter her hut.

“Take a boat and set sail, before sunset. The rest will happen” said the old woman as she shrugged off Mandy’s hand and retreated into her hut with the pie.

Two nights later Mandy again managed to sneak out of the castle without anyone noticing. This time she took a boat that belonged to a moat watchman and set off sail into the sea that lay East of her father’s kingdom.

 

Within an hour of quiet sailing a violent storm blew up, tossing and turning the small boat about in the dark. Surprisingly the key begun to shine in the dark, growing slightly brighter as time passed by.

Soon Mandy lost all semblance of direction as the boat continued to be battered by the storm. With no land in sight, or no apparent end to the darkness that surrounded her, she sat down on the floor of the boat, wet, tired and hungry. Soon she fell into a disturbed sleep.

Just as suddenly as the storm started, it died down. In the faintest of light emanated by the key Mandy saw the boat pull aground to land. She climbed out of the boat and started to walk around, instantly noticing the key grew brighter as she walked in a certain direction. She trudged miles in the darkness but before long, just as she saw in her dreams, she found herself standing in front of the entrance to what appeared a large cave in a wall or rock that was a part of a mountain.

As she stood there, the key wavered in brightness and abruptly stops to glow. In the absolute stillness and darkness, Mandy heard a rush like wind was coming at her. Before she realized what was happening, a thundering ball of fire came out the cave mouth. Having seen this many times in her dreams, Mandy instinctively ducked to the side and escaped the scorching heat.

“What have you come here seeking, foolish child?” bellowed a thundering voice from within the cave

“Who…or rather what…are you?” answered Mandy in a quivering voice

“I am the keeper of this cave” came the reply…as the most ferocious looking dragon stepped out of the cave. It was blackish gray in color with fire-burnt skin and a smoke smell about it.

 

“I see you bear the key…” It continued “so I cannot simply kill you like I do with all the others who show up” Having said that the dragon blew a thick stream of fire and smoke into the air, making a frightening noise.

“What does this key let me do that the others could not?” asked Mandy

“Well” grimaced the dragon “for one you can open the door…without having to fight me” With that the dragon pointed to the back of the cave where there was a huge wooden door with metal rivets.

“What’s behind that?” Mandy asked

“My foolish child, what is behind that door is what every man and women on this Earth want” said the dragon “Behind that door is trapped all the happiness of mankind”

“But mankind is a happy lot” said Mandy

“There you go again, displaying your ignorance” said the dragon disdainfully “The happiness you see is a fraction of how really happy mankind can be. A wicked sorcerer, who was angry with the Gods for not making him immortal, put a curse that gathered the happiness of man’s lives and imprisoned it in the chamber behind this door. He then made me to guard it. However, he or she who bears the key to this door will not be killed or forbidden from opening it”

“I could not have been the first person who found this key,” said Mandy

“Yes, there were many before you…” answered the dragon “but they never reckoned with the consequences of opening that door”

“Why would anyone bearing the key not want to open that door?” queried Mandy, sitting down on a rock nearby. This dragon definitely was not out to harm her, she thought.

“There’s a catch to it, the sorcerer was not an easy man to be appeased. You see, anyone who has found the key and opened that door, forever loses his or her own chance of ever being happy. This person will live a life of overwhelming sadness, a sadness that will grow to intolerance and eventually death. Finding the key and making the journey is not enough child, you must make a choice. Will you accept your loss, to set mankind free to be completely happy?”

“Is this why no one who has found the key and made it here, never actually opened that door?” asked Mandy, a little frown betraying her rising dilemma.

“Yes” replied the dragon “And if you chose to open that door, you will also be setting me free. I am chained to this cave and have been here over a thousand years”

Mandy looked the other way. Her father, mother, people of her kingdom, the old woman, images streamed in her mind. Memories of being loved, fed, hugged and tended for filled her thoughts and tears came to her eyes. Here was her chance to repay all the love she ever received from everyone she knew. In return she has do make a choice to die, of sheer sadness.

She stood up, looked across the hills she walked through in the now fading darkness. “I love you all, bye” she told herself silently as she walked past the dragon and towards the door. She inserted the key and opened it. As brilliant white light filled the whole cave, Mandy collapsed to the floor and lay still.

She had no recollection of how long she lay there. The light had faded but the dragon was still by her side, lazily scratching itself. It saw her come to and rose.

“You made the choice. All over the world people are happier than they were ever before. But you do know what is happening to you…right?”

“Yes” said Mandy as she weakly tried to sit up. As she sat she felt the first pang of sadness, sadness that she will never live to make the journey back to her lands, see her mother for one last time.

“Well, that was your choice, and in making that you set me free to leave” said the dragon as it walked towards the cave exit. There it stretched it wings and flew away.

Mandy stood up and walked out, and kept walking. Over the hills and across the land, she kept walking and walking. She had no idea which way was home, how to reach there, or if she ever will. Yet she kept walking. Her feet were numb with wounds and bleeding, she was hungry and faint. By the middle of the new day she fell, in the middle of nowhere. It was not her body that was giving up, but the intense sadness that was filling her up.

Time passed by. The wind stopped blowing and the shadows stood still. Through her half-closed eyes Mandy saw something move. She felt a sudden rush of breeze in her face and vaguely made out that the dragon had come back to her side.

“How do you feel about the choice you made?” It asked

“Why did you come back” asked Mandy wearily

“Well, after being immured for over a thousand years, I figured I have a lot to live up. But guess what, I realized my freedom meant little if I were to let you die here”

“Go away, leave me alone” Mandy turned her head away

“Here is what” said the dragon “When someone is captive that long, they sure have enough time to mull things. I have discovered that I too have a choice. I can choose to give away my happiness to who I wish. Looking at you child, you have a lot more to live for than I do. It makes more sense if I die in your place” Saying that, the dragon grabbed Mandy up from the ground and hugged her tightly against its chest for a minute. Mandy felt a weird sensation blanking her out, but felt herself drop to the ground when the dragon let go. Before she could say or do anything, the dragon swished its wings mightily and flew away.

Mandy felt her strength return, and she could feel a warm feeling in her heart. She could feel a smile creep on to her lips and a perk to her step. She searched frantically around for the dragon but it was surely gone.

Over the days Mandy eventually found her way back to her kingdom and her home. She saw the people were happy as ever. She felt the joy of re-uniting with her father and mother again.

As each day came and went, Mandy could not help but wonder. What happened to the dragon? Where did it finally fall? She would then say a silent “Thank You” and slip into bed.