Nazareth Academy Goulash: Winter 2022

The King It was a busy Tuesday morning in the kingdom of the Western Commonwealth. In this gorgeous mountainside, the tall fern was always swaying and the yellow sun was always shining.

On the Northern Mountain of Samson, the king of the Commonwealth was locked inside his own throne room. It was the same routine for the past twenty-five years; he would impatiently wait for a messenger to walk in or for a servant to bring him his meals. It was an excruciatingly boring way to live, but he was willing to stay committed to his role in governing the entire kingdom.

This particular Tuesday, however, he was tempted to leave when one of his servants left the door cracked open to retrieve his meal from the outside. The king’s curiosity got the best of him and he left his throne room, the sun rays from the metal windows hurting his sensitive eyes. “What are you doing?” his servant asked. The king slowly turned to face him, but the servant collapsed on the floor without another word. He ignored the peasants’ insubordinate behavior and continued into the winding stone halls. It took over two hours to find the entrance, but when he finally did, several tiny, sharp objects flew by his long, ink black hair and stuck into the wall, preceded by a series of loud bangs.

“Get on the ground!” ten of his guards ordered. “Now!” The king slowly turned, a shadow casting on his face. “Do not order your king around!” he boomed in a muffled voice, his hair swaying over his green eyes. When the guards neared him, a surge of electric energy rushed up the king’s spine.

His eyes shot wide open and his veins on his forehead pulsed.

Before they could do anything, all ten of the guards dropped their weapons and fell to the ground, their eyes and mouths wide open under their helmets. They were unable to stop the king when he opened the front doors with his feet.

Upon looking into the dangers of the outside world, he was shocked to see a large-scale protest happening outside the palace walls. Hundreds of civilians and common folk were yelling at the royal guards who were standing in front of the front gates. When they saw the king standing on the front balcony, they became silent —a soft hush fell upon both the 14