In a small kingdom surrounded by a dense forest, a king lived with his only daughter in a beautiful castle. Her full name was Jessica Madison Abigail Elizabeth, Princess of Woodland, but most people just called her “Jessie.”
Since Jessie was the king’s only daughter, and because he loved her more than anything in the world, he fulfilled her every wish. He was a good-natured king and he wanted his beloved child to grow up as happy as possible.
Unfortunately, the exact opposite happened. Princess Jessie became conceited and spoiled. She wasn’t happy unless she had everyone’s full attention. If her wishes were not immediately fulfilled, her mood instantly worsened.
She was rude to all of the servants, rarely even spoking to them in complete sentences. She was unreasonable too, like when she demanded ice cream with fresh strawberries in the dead of winter when there was no fresh fruit to be found.
Jessie was actually a sweet girl, but because she had always gotten everything she wanted, she had learned to expect the impossible and didn’t respect people’s work. One day she demanded a pink dress embroidered with yellow diamonds, and the very next day she found the color yellow unsatisfying and demanded they all be replaced with red gem stones.
Eventually, Princess Jessie became just plain bored. No one ever denied her a single wish. Jessie could think of nothing more to do with her time because the more things she wished for, the less fun it was to do anything with them.
When the king noticed that his daughter was becoming unhappy and spiritless, he ordered a golden carriage to drive her every day through the beautiful forest. He hoped this would excite her and keep her cheeks rosy from the fresh air, as befitted a princess.
One day, Jessie was particularly grumpy. Nothing pleased her: the food didn’t taste good, her beautiful pink dress suddenly scratched her neck, and even the golden carriage was not comfortable enough for the bumpy road through the forest.
She looked out of the carriage’s gold-framed window, dissatisfied and indifferent. Suddenly, something flashed past her window. It was a white creature that left a beautiful, glittering rainbow trail in its wake. It quickly dashed behind a tree. Jessie ordered the coachman to stop and ran towards the rainbow, but it dissipated by the time she reached it. Curious, she tiptoed further into the dense forest.
“What could that creature have been?” she wondered. Jessie had never seen anything so beautiful. “I want to see it again right now!” she said and she stamped her dainty foot on the forest floor. That’s how she always got things she wanted back at the castle.
She looked behind every tree, but found nothing. Not even a footprint in the mud. She walked a little more and caught sight of a clearing bathed in a wondrous, bright light. There, standing in the middle of the clearing, was the white creature.
Was it a horse? Jessie compared it to the royal horses pulling her carriage… No! It was no ordinary horse. It had a big white horn on its head that shone in the light like a crystal. The princess had never seen such a creature before, although she knew many animals of the forest quite well.
“Who are you?” Jessie called to the animal into the clearing.
“I am a unicorn,” said the creature. “And I’m lost! Your golden carriage shone so brightly in the sun that I followed it all the way here.”
Jessie noticed that the beautiful unicorn was sad.
“I am supposed to meet the other unicorns but I can’t find my way back,” the unicorn explained.
“What are you meeting for and where are you trying to go?” asked Princess Jessie.
“All unicorns meet regularly at a secret place that you humans don’t know about. There, young unicorns, like me, are taught by a great wizard. He teaches us how to be unicorns and how to get the power to shine and glow so beautifully. I really can’t be late!”
Jessie realized her mouth was open. She was dazzled by the beauty of this creature. She desperately wanted to pet the unicorn. But the unicorn refused her. Princess Jessie became annoyed.
“This forest belongs to my father, the King of Woodland! You are in our kingdom and you have to obey me!” she said forcefully.
The unicorn became pale. “You’re very unkind, I don’t like you. Not every creature has to obey you just because your father is a king. Unicorns are very peaceful and friendly beings!” With that, the wondrous creature disappeared, leaving behind a glittering trail of mist.
Jessie was quite perplexed. It was the first time in all her life that someone had disobeyed her.
When she returned to the royal palace, she demanded that her father capture the strange unicorn for her. “Father, I really want to possess this glittering magical creature. It looks so wonderful!”
The king replied, “Dear Jessie, I would love to do that for you. Only, for once, I can’t grant you your wish. Magical creatures cannot be captured. Their attention must be earned.”
Jessie went to her room to think this over.
Each time she went out into the forest, Jessie visited the clearing, hoping to see the unicorn again. She tried to lure it with treats, but the unicorn wouldn’t show up.
At night, she dreamed of riding through the forest on the unicorn’s white back and being allowed to attend the unicorns’ secret gatherings. She couldn’t stop thinking about how the unicorn said they all treated each other politely and kindly.
One night, the dream changed. Jessie suddenly saw herself in her dream, yelling at one of the servants and being rude to the dressmakers. When she woke up she could not go back to sleep. She reflected all night and made a firm resolution to be a better princess.
The next morning, she got up early and put on the plainest dress she owned. She ran down the many stairs to the dining room and sat down at the huge table that was set just for her, as usual. Jessie realized she wasn’t hungry at all and ran into the kitchen.
“Good morning, Catherine! You don’t have to make me breakfast today. An apple and a glass of milk is quite enough for me this morning.”
The kitchen employees could hardly believe their ears. Jessie grabbed the apple and milk and hurried out.
Then she met the coachman, who was already feeding the horses and getting them ready for her ride in the forest.
“Hello Benjamin, may I help you feed the horses?” she asked. Before Benjamin could answer, one of the horses took a big bite out of Jessie’s apple.
Jessie laughed. “This is really fun!” she exclaimed.
The princess took it upon herself to make the dressmakers’ lives a little easier too. They sometimes worked for days on the princess’s special requests and almost never received any attention. Jessie had seen a beautiful meadow on her last outing and went to pick a big bouquet full of colorful flowers for them.
“I can’t wait to see if they like them,” Jessie thought.
Jessie took her daily carriage ride through the forest as usual. It was only when she no longer expected to see the wondrous magical creature ever again, that the unicorn appeared in the clearing. This time it came very close to her. She could feel its stardust on her skin and smell its unique floral scent. She was incredibly excited.
The unicorn knelt down in front of Jessie to let her climb on its back. Jessie was completely speechless, but happier than she had ever been. They rode silently through the forest as if on velvet hooves, wrapped in a cloud of fine silver dust. The unicorn showed the princess a silver lake; the unicorns’ secret meeting place. The rainbow behind the lake was reflected in the water. It was beautiful. Jessie felt like she was magical too!
She understood that being allowed to ride to the unicorns’ secret meeting place was a great sign of trust. She knew that she had to carefully guard and keep this secret. At that moment, a deep friendship began between the two that would change the princess’ life forever.
At the royal palace, Jessie was unrecognizable. The castle’s staff was amazed at her transformation. She never lost her temper anymore, she took very loving care of the animals, and she was never rude to an employee again.
Of course, the king also noticed the change in his daughter. He smiled because he was proud of her. Now he knew that his beloved girl would become a good queen one day!
“Almost like magic…” he thought to himself and smiled towards the forest clearing.
