Danny Meets the Queen

Danny had always wondered what lies behind those great wooden doors inside the white-walled building. He wasn’t really allowed to go anywhere near them since, as how they say it, he’s still a child.

What they don’t know is that he could already count very well on his fingers. How else would he be able to impress the queen?

Danny’s father had told a lot of stories about the queen. He said that she was the most beautiful woman on the land. He’d told the child of how her curly hair bounce against her shoulders, and the way her eyes sparkle whenever she’s happy. Danny had seen a picture of the queen in her gown and instantly agreed with his father. He was right, she is very pretty.

At first, the boy was confused. He’s seen queens on television but never in real life. This pushed him to ask more questions.

“Papa, how did you meet the queen?”

“Well, it was a long time ago,” his father smiled as if remembering a happy memory. “Your Aunt Jane hosted a little sock-puppet theater and between the five audiences we have, the queen had the loudest cheer of ‘Bravo!’”

Danny tilted his head. “And where were you there?”

Father laughed. “I voiced Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer sock puppet and made him fly off the stage. He became the queen’s favourite character.”

The little boy giggled. He wanted to learn more. There’s something about the queen that is so interesting, he just couldn’t understand what. It could be how his father tells his stories or maybe it was the queen, herself.

“Papa, what is the queen’s favourite color?” Danny asked again.

“She loves green the most and then blue.”

Danny gasped and went to get his big Crayola box beside his coloring book. “I love green and blue, too! But I also like red. You like red, too, don’t you, Papa?”

His father smiled. “You have a lot of things in common with the queen.”

“Then, I can’t wait to meet her!” the boy jumped in excitement.

Danny’s father went quiet for a moment. He looked at his son, seeing the same sparkle in his eyes just like his mother. He felt an added flutter of hope. “We’ll have to wait for a bit but yes, you will meet her.”

After his assurance, Danny became a force that is sometimes impossible to be stopped. His interests with the queen continued to grow as he became more and more curious. He even dismissed the news that he will be enrolling for school next month.

“How brave is the queen?” Danny asked again one day. For some reason, they were baking cookies. His father said that it was the queen’s favourite.

“The bravest,” his father answered quickly, putting the tray of unbaked cookies inside the oven. “One time, she rescued me from a dragon. He was being bad, setting the land on fire, and she put him in his place.”

“I knew it! Dragons are real!”

The man laughed. “Well, if we’re speaking about bravery then the queen really is the bravest. Everyday is a fight for her. That’s why these cookies need to be delicious. If we offer it to her, maybe she will be more inspired to win.”

There was something in his voice that the young boy failed to understand. He could see him smiling and hear him laughing but Danny is quite aware that something else is present in between.

“Papa, are you sad?” It was a guess that Danny took the risk to ask. But before his father could answer, the phone rang.

Everything went fast after that. One moment they were baking cookies then the next is that they were on their way to the white-walled building. The hospital, as how Danny’s Aunt Jane calls it.

And unlike before, his father is far from sad. He looked excited about something and seeing him excited made Danny felt like he wanted to feel the same emotion as his father. “What is it, papa? Why are we going there again?”

“This is it, Danny. We’re going to meet the queen!”

Danny’s eyes widened. Now he knows why his father couldn’t stop smiling. And what of him? What would he do to impress the queen? He could show her his drawings but his father was in a hurry, they didn’t bring it with them. So…could he count? Maybe that’s enough. Maybe that will impress her.

“Does that mean that I wouldn’t be staying in the room where everyone waits, anymore?” the child couldn’t help but ask.

His father shook his head and continued driving. The moment they arrived, they almost run up the stairs because of the thrill they’re feeling. It was a good thing that Danny remembered how his father used to tell him to never run up and down the staircase, because there is a possibility that the man might’ve forgotten about it.

Both father and son were out of breath while staring at door. Once again, Danny wondered what lies behind them, and now he’s about to enter one. One…two…three…

Father didn’t move. He noticed how his son was looking at him intently but he couldn’t shake the fear that maybe this isn’t real. He knows that Danny noticed it, too. The child took hold of his hand and smiled. He took his son’s encouragement and pushed the door open.

There sits the queen peacefully, on a white bed. Danny took noticed of how different she looked. She wasn’t wearing a big gown. There were no jewelries and crown. She looked pale and her curly hair didn’t bounce against her shoulders. Instead, it was long and all tangled up. But Danny recognized one thing familiar. The sparkle in her eyes, especially when they met his.

“Hello,” the queen greeted quietly. “What’s your name, little one?”

“Daniel,” the boy squeaked. What does he say after this? Is he already required to count to ten? “But…but my Papa calls me Danny.”

One, two three, the boy practiced in his mind. Four, five, six, seven…now, what comes after seven?

An embrace. His father pulled him into a tight embrace with the queen as the man cried her name. “Catherine!”

The Queen laughed softly. “I missed you, too. And how about this little one? Hello, Daniel. You’ve grown, I see.”

The boy didn’t speak. He continued staring at her. Danny couldn’t understand why there were tears running down his cheeks and why he felt that longing feeling over who the queen is. But a few words from his father made him feel more emotions, all at once.

“Danny, meet your mother.”