Hey and welcome my friend,
This is Lisa Watley and I'll be the voice that tucks you in tonight.
So get yourself comfy now as you continue to listen.
Tonight's story is called Little Wild Rose and I've added an extra special treat.
I've infused the entire story with healing energies.
These healing energies are meant to not only relax you but to restore peace,
Love,
Joy,
Health and abundance with always and only your greatest and highest good as a set intention.
So as I help you escape into your inner world with no effort on your part,
Know that this healing and relaxing bedtime story really does have a magical ability that will prepare your mind and body for that familiar sleep state,
Alleviating stress,
Anxiety and quieting your mind with the end goal of sending you off to dreamland with ease and allowing you to sleep peacefully all night long.
And know that when this story ends the music will continue to play and then it will simply fade away.
Now close your eyes and let's get sleepy together,
Sweet dreams my friend.
Once upon a time the things in this story happened and if they had not happened then the story would never have been told.
But that was the time when wolves and lambs lay peacefully together in one stall and shepherds dined on grassy banks with kings and queens.
So as old tales go,
Once upon a time,
A long,
Long time ago,
There lived a man named Leo.
Now this man,
He was really a hundred years old,
If not a full twenty years more.
And his wife,
Her name was Nora,
And she was really old too.
But how old?
Well,
I just don't know.
But some said that she was as old as the goddess Venus herself.
Oh,
That is old.
Leo and Nora,
Well,
They have been very happy all these years.
They would have been happier if they had children.
But as old as they were,
They had never really made up their minds to do without them.
And often they would sit in front of the fire and talk about how they would have raised their children,
If only they had some come live in their house.
One day,
Leo seemed sadder and more thoughtful than was normal with him.
And at last he said to his wife,
Listen to me,
Nora.
You go get me some money out of the chest,
For I am going on a long journey all over the world to see if I cannot find a child.
You see,
My sweet Nora,
Heartaches to even think about that after I am dead,
My house will fall into the hands of a stranger,
And this I cannot let happen.
So,
Nora,
I must tell you,
If I never find a child,
Then I will not be returning home.
And with that,
Leo took a bag and filled it with food and money,
And throwing it over his shoulders,
He kissed his wife goodbye.
For a long time,
Leo wandered and wandered and wandered,
But no child did he see.
And one morning,
His wanderings led him to a forest,
Which was so thick with trees that no light could pass through the branches.
Leo stopped when he saw this dreadful place,
And at first he was afraid to go in.
Then he remembered that he must.
Perhaps it will be in the midst of this black spot that he might find the child that he was searching for.
So,
Summoning up all his courage,
He plunged boldly into the dark forest.
Now,
How long he might have been walking,
He could never have told you.
And then he reached the mouth of a cave where the darkness seemed a hundred times darker than the forest itself.
And again he paused,
But he felt as if something was shoving him to go forward.
And with a pounding heart and shaking knees,
He stepped inside the cave.
And for quite some time,
The silence and darkness was absolutely terrifying to him.
So he stood where he was,
Not daring to even move.
Then he held his breath,
And with great effort,
He took a few more steps.
And then suddenly,
Far out in front of him,
He saw the glimmer of a light.
This made him smile,
And filled him with joy.
He walked quickly straight towards the faint rays until he could see,
Sitting by an old hermit with a long white beard.
Now the hermit either did not hear the approach of this visitor,
Or he pretended not to do so,
For he took no notice and continued to read his book.
After waiting patiently for a little while,
Leo fell on his knees and said,
Good morning,
Holy Father.
But he might as well have spoken to the Rock.
Ah,
Good morning,
Holy Father,
He said again,
A little louder than before.
And this time,
The hermit waved his hand,
Telling him to come closer.
My son,
Whispered the hermit in a voice that echoed through the cavern.
What brings you to this dark and dismal place?
Hundreds of years have passed since my eyes have rested on the face of a man,
And I did not think to look on one again.
Well,
My misery has brought me here,
Leo said.
I have no children,
And all of our lives,
My wife Nora and I have longed for one.
So I left my home and went out into the world,
Hoping that somewhere I might find what I was seeking.
And then the hermit picked up an apple from the ground,
Wiped it clean on his pant leg,
And handed it to Leo with instructions.
He said,
Eat half of this apple and give the rest to your wife,
And stop wandering through the world.
Leo quickly bent down and kissed the feet of the hermit in sheer joy,
And then quickly left the cave.
He made his way through the forest as fast as the darkness would let him,
And soon enough,
He arrived in flowery fields that dazzled his eyes with their brightness.
In the evening,
He was seized with a desperate thirst,
Along with a burning in his throat.
He looked for a stream,
But none was to be seen,
And his tongue grew more parched every moment.
And then his eyes fell on the apple,
Which all this while he had been holding in his hand,
And in his thirst,
He forgot what the hermit had told him,
And instead of eating merely his own half,
He ate Nora's half too.
And when he finished,
He went to sleep.
When he woke up,
He saw something strange lying on a bank a little way off,
Slightly hidden within the long trails of pink roses.
Leo got up,
Rubbed his eyes,
And went to see what it was.
And to his surprise and joy,
What he found was a little girl about two years old,
With skin as pink and white as the roses above her.
He picked her up and gently cradled her in his arms.
She wiggled and cooed with the light,
And Leo wrapped his cloak around her,
And set off for home as fast as his legs would carry him.
When they were close to the cottage where they lived,
He laid the child in a pail that was standing near the door and ran into the house,
Crying out,
Nora,
Come quick!
I have brought you a daughter with hair of gold and eyes like stars.
At this wonderful news,
Nora ran so fast down the stairs that she almost went tumbling down in her eagerness to see this beautiful baby girl.
But when her husband led her to the pail,
It was empty.
Leo was nearly beside himself with horror,
While Nora sat down and sobbed with grief and disappointment.
There was not a spot around in which they did not search for the little baby girl,
Thinking that somehow the child might have got out of the pail and hidden herself for fun.
But that was not the case.
The little girl was not there,
And there was no sign of her at all.
Where can she be?
Cried Leo in despair.
Why did I ever leave her even for a moment?
I wonder,
Have the fairies taken her?
Or worse,
Has some wild beast carried her off?
And they began their search all over again.
But they didn't find fairies or wild beasts either.
With sore hearts,
They gave up their search and returned sadly into their cottage.
So what did happen to the baby?
Well,
Finding herself left alone in a strange place,
She was scared and she began to cry.
An eagle hovering near,
He heard her and went to see what the noise was coming from.
When he saw this chubby pink and white creature,
The first thing he thought of was his little ones,
Hungry at home.
He quickly flew down and grabbed her in his great claws,
And just as fast,
He was flying with her over the tops of the trees.
In a few minutes he reached the one in which he had built his nest,
And laying the little girl named Wild Rose among his downy young eagles,
He flew away.
The baby eagles naturally were rather surprised at this strange animal,
So suddenly popped down in their nest.
But instead of beginning to eat her as their father had expected,
They nestled up close to her and spread out their tiny wings to shield her from the sun.
Now in the depths of the forest where the eagle had built his nest,
There ran a stream whose waters were poisonous.
And on the banks of the stream,
Dwelt a horrible dragon with seven heads.
Now the dragon often watched the eagle flying above the tree tops,
Carrying food to his young ones,
And accordingly,
He also watched carefully for the moment when the baby eagles began to try their wings and fly away from their nest.
Of course,
The father eagle himself was there to protect them,
Even the dragon,
Big and strong as he was,
Knew that he could do nothing.
But when he was absent,
Any little baby eagles who ventured too close to the ground would be sure to disappear down the dragon's throat.
Their brothers,
Who had been left behind as too young and weak to see the world,
Knew nothing of all this.
But guess that their turn would soon come to see the world also.
And sure enough,
In a few days their eyes opened and their little wings flapped impatiently,
As they longed to fly away to soar above the swaying tree tops and to fly the mountains in the bright sun beyond.
But that very night,
The dragon,
Who was very hungry and could not wait for his supper,
Came out of the brook with a rushing noise and headed straight for the tree.
Two eyes of flame came creeping nearer and near,
And two fiery tongues were stretching themselves out closer and closer to the little birds,
Who were trembling with fear in the farthest corner of the nest.
But just as the tongues had almost reached them,
The dragon gave a fearful cry and turned and fell backwards.
Then came the sound of battle from the ground below and the tree shook,
Though there was no wind,
And roars and snarls mixed together until the baby eagles felt more frightened than before and thought their last hour had come.
Only Wild Rose was undisturbed.
She slept sweetly through it all.
In the morning the father eagle returned and saw traces of a fight below the tree,
And here and there a handful of yellow mane lay lying about,
And here and there a hardscaly substance.
When he saw that,
He rejoiced greatly and quickly went to the nest.
Who has slain the dragon?
He asked of his children.
The baby eagles answered that they did not know,
Only that they had been in danger of their lives,
And at the last moment they had been saved.
Just then the sun beamed through the thick branches and caught Wild Rose's golden hair she lay curled up in the corner,
And the father eagle wondered as he looked at her whether the little girl had brought him luck,
And it was her magic which had killed his enemy.
Children,
He said,
I brought her here for your dinner,
And you have not touched her.
What is the meaning of this?
The baby eagles did not answer,
And then Wild Rose opened her eyes and seemed seven times lovelier than she had before.
From that day forward,
Wild Rose lived like a little princess.
The father eagle flew about the wood and collected the softest,
Greenest moss he could find to make her a bed,
And he picked with his beak all the brightest and prettiest flowers in the fields,
And on the mountains to decorate it.
He did such an amazing job that there was not a fairy in the forest who would not have been pleased to sleep there,
As it rocked to and fro by the breeze of the treetops.
When the little eagles were able to fly from their nest,
The father eagle taught them where to look for the fruits and berries which Wild Rose loved.
And so time passed by,
And with each year Wild Rose grew taller and more beautiful,
And she lived happily in her nest.
She never wanted to leave it,
Only standing at the edge in the sunset and looking upon the beautiful world.
For company she had all the birds in the forest who came and talked to her,
And for toys,
Flowers which they brought her,
And the butterflies which danced with her.
And so the days slipped away,
And then she was nineteen years old.
One morning the emperor's son went out to hunt.
He had not ridden far before a deer jumped out from under some grove trees,
And started running in front of him.
The prince instantly gave chase,
And where the deer went he followed,
Until he suddenly found himself in the depths of the forest where no man dared to go before.
The trees were so thick and the woods so dark that he paused for a moment and listened,
Straining his ears to catch some sound to break the silence which almost frightened him.
But nothing came,
Not even the howling of a sound or the beep of a horn.
He stood still,
And wondered if he should go on.
When suddenly he looked up and saw a stream of light that seemed to flow from the top of a tall tree.
In its rays he could see the nest where the young eagles who were watching him over the side.
The prince fitted an arrow into his bow and took his aim,
But before he could let it fly,
Another ray of light dazzled him.
It was so brilliant that he dropped his bow and covered his face with his hands.
When he finally dared to take a peek,
Wild Rose,
With her golden hair flowing around her,
Was looking at him.
This was the first time she had seen a man.
Tell me how I can reach you,
Said the prince,
But Wild Rose smiled and shook her head and sat down quietly.
The prince saw that it was no use and turned and made his way out of the forest.
But he might as well have stayed there because his heart was so full of longing for Wild Rose that he was absolutely no use to his father.
Twice he returned to the forest in the hopes of finding her,
But this time fortune failed him and he went home as sad as ever.
After a while,
The emperor,
Who could not think what had caused this change,
Sent for his son and asked him what was the matter.
Then the prince confessed that the image of Wild Rose filled his soul and that he would never be happy without her.
Now at first the emperor felt rather distressed.
He doubted whether a girl from a treetop would make a good empress,
But he loved his son so much that he promised to do all he could to find her.
So the next morning,
Messengers were sent forth throughout the whole land to inquire if anyone knew where a maiden could be found who lived in a forest on top of a tree.
And to promise great riches and a place at court to any person who should find her.
But nobody knew.
All the girls in the kingdom had their homes on the ground and laughed at the notion of being brought up in a tree.
A nice kind of empress she would make,
They said,
As the emperor had done,
Tossing their heads with disdain.
The messengers were almost in despair when an old woman stepped out of the crowd and came and spoke to them.
She was not only very old,
She was very ugly with a hump on her back and a bald head.
And when the messengers saw her,
They broke into rude laughter.
I can show you the maiden who lives in the treetop,
She said.
But they only laughed more loudly.
Get away old witch,
They cried.
You will bring us bad luck.
But the old woman stood firm and declared that she alone knew where to find the maiden.
Go with her,
Said the eldest of the messengers at last.
The emperor's orders are clear,
That whoever knew anything of the maiden was to come at once to court.
Put her in the coach and take her with us.
So in this fashion the old woman was brought to court.
You have declared that you can bring forth the maiden from the forest,
Said the emperor,
Who was seated on his throne.
Yes,
Your majesty,
And I will keep my word,
She said.
Then bring her at once,
Said the emperor.
Give me first a kettle and a tripod,
Said the old woman.
And the emperor ordered them to be brought instantly.
The old woman picked them up and tucking them under her arm went on her way,
Keeping at a little distance behind the royal huntsman,
Who in their turn followed the prince.
Oh,
What a noise that old woman made as she walked along.
She chattered to herself so fast and clattered her kettle so loudly that you would have thought that a whole camp full of gypsies might be coming around the next corner.
But when they reached the forest,
She ordered them all to wait outside and entered the dark forest by herself.
She stopped underneath the tree where the maiden lived,
Gathering some dry sticks and kindled a fire.
Next,
She placed the tripod over it and the kettle on top.
But there was something wrong with the kettle.
As fast as the old woman put it where it was to stand,
The kettle would roll off,
Falling to the ground with a crash.
It really seemed possessed,
And no one knows what might have happened if Wild Rose,
Who had been peeking out of her nest the entire time,
Had not lost her patience at the old woman's lack of understanding and cried out,
The tripod won't stand on that hill,
You must move it.
But where am I to move it to,
My child?
Asked the old woman,
Looking up to the nest and at the same time trying to steady the kettle with one hand and the tripod with the other.
Didn't I tell you that it was no good doing that?
Said Wild Rose.
Make a fire near a tree and hang the kettle from one of the branches.
The old woman took the kettle and hung it on a twig,
Which immediately broke,
And the kettle fell to the ground.
If you would only show me how to do it,
Perhaps I should understand,
The old woman said.
And quick as thought,
The maiden slid down the smooth trunk of the tree and stood beside the old woman to teach her how things should be done.
But in an instant,
The old woman had caught the girl and swung her over her shoulders and was running as fast as she could go to the edge of the forest,
Where she had left the prince.
When the prince saw them coming,
He rushed eagerly to meet them,
And he took the maiden in his arms and kissed her tenderly before them all.
Then a golden dress was put on her,
And pearls were twined in her hair,
And she took her seat in the emperor's carriage,
Which was drawn by six of the whitest horses in the world.
And they carried her without stopping to draw a breath to the gates of the palace.
And in three days the wedding was celebrated,
And the wedding feast was held.
Everyone who saw the bride declared that if anybody wanted a perfect wife,
They must go seek her on top of a tree.
The End Thank you for joining me for this bedtime story.
Many blessings and sweet dreams,
My friend.
And until we meet again,
With peace and love,
From my world to yours.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Thank you for watching.
