I had a dream last night...
I saw the Prince, having just reached the other side of town in the early morning, stretching his limbs as he stepped out onto the road.
Nearby, in the grass, sat the Fox, patiently waiting for him.
The canine hopped out onto the road and happily approached the boy. “I’m glad to see that you took my advice, and stayed at the humble inn.”
After a yawn, the Prince replied “Yes. As shabby as it was, it was comfortable enough for me to get a good rest. I didn’t see my brothers though. They must’ve moved on.”
The Fox didn’t say anything about what he had seen, but turned around to head down the road. “We best get going. I will show you where the Golden Bird is.”
“Are we really in that much of a rush? I haven’t even had any breakfast yet.”
The Fox turned around and sat down to wait, watching as the Prince pulled out a golden apple from his sack. “From where did that come? Your father let you take such a treasure on your journey?!”
The Prince casually shook his head. “A man in the village gave it to me. Saying that I looked the most deserving to have it. The Golden Bird must have dropped it. I just didn’t want it to go to waste.”
The Fox lowered his brow as the Prince raised the fruit to his mouth, only to growl and jump toward the boy, knocking the apple out of his hand!
As the fruit bounced across the road, the Prince turned to the canine in confusion. “What was that for?!”
“The fruit, it has been poisoned! You would be best to leave it alone.”
“But how can you be sure?” asked the Prince. “Who would have done such a thing.”
“Someone is trying to trap you. See for yourself, spit upon the golden apple.”
The boy wasn’t sure, and though it wasn’t something the son of a king would normally do, he spat on the apple, causing a spot on it to change into a deathly purple!
So the Fox scooped it up in his paw and threw it into the woods, turning around to present his tail to the Prince. “We best not wait around here any longer. Sit upon my tail and I will take you to the thing you seek.”
The boy looked out at where the apple landed, then back at the animal. “All right.” but wasn’t sure about how the canine was to take him. “Am I really to ride on your tail? I am far to big.”
“I am no ordinary fox.” replied the creature.
So the Prince seated himself on the animal’s tail, with the Fox saying:
“Hold on!”
And away they went, flying over stock and stone, until the wind whistled through their hair!
They went on and off winding roads, across forest paths, and around patches of trees, until they arrived at the gates of a grand estate.
Letting the Prince get off, the Fox turned around to face the boy. “You must wait until nightfall before going in.” he instructed. “You will see many guards about, but they will all be sleeping, allowing you to easily slip into the mansion. On the eastern side of the house, there will be a large room, in which you shall find the Golden Bird, sitting by a window, inside an old wooden cage. Beside it, there will be a beautiful golden cage, but do not be tempted to move the bird into it, or it may go badly for you.”
“All right.” the Prince agreed. “I hope it will be as you say.”
“It shall. Eat the berries and nuts of the forest if you must, I will meet you out here at first light tomorrow morning.” And with that the Fox turned and disappeared into the grass and bushes among the mansion’s front gates.
The Prince patiently waited until the sun had set, just as the Fox instructed, and began to make his way toward the mansion. There wasn’t a guard to be found, when the boy rounded a corner and came face to face with half a dozen armed men! And just as he thought he had been caught for sure, he heard one of the men let out a deafening snore. They were asleep after all, but standing straight up in their places!
So the Prince quietly stepped past them, making it into the mansion, and heading for the eastern side of the house to retrieve the Golden Bird.
–Charles M Warren
