Just Remember - Chapter 1

Jesse's earliest memories were of the two wizards who visited him once a year. It frightened him when the evil wizard, Shiz came. He was tall and mean, and he always came during the middle of the night, when it was dark and cold.

“You're a little wretch,” the wizard told the small boy, and he sneered when Jesse stared at him with fright. “Look at you, you skinny little crybaby! I can't believe anyone wants you to live with them. Why haven't they sent you off to live with the robbers, yet? That's where you belong!”

On the other hand, Jesse loved Emer's visits. He always came early in the morning, and he'd spend the whole day holding the child, loving and hugging him and calling him “Your majesty,” and “Sire.”

“You don't really belong here in this village,” Emer told Jesse. “You are really the son of the king, you are a prince, and some day, if you live well and stay as good as you are now, you will go home and live with your father in his castle.”

That made Jesse happy. It would be nice to live in a palace with plenty of food, warm clothes, and a father who loved him. The little hut he lived in was not a very nice place, and the old woman who took care of him was not very loveable.

When the wizards took Jesse away from the castle, they dropped him off on the edge of a poor, tiny village. An old woman found him, and took him to her hut, but not because she felt sorry for the little boy. She just thought it would be good to have someone to take care of her. She was a crabby, unloving old thing, and the little boy was often sad and lonely, as well as cold and hungry.

“Steal food out of the cupboard when the old woman is asleep,” Shiz told Jesse when he came to visit. “She is almost blind, and deaf. She won't catch you!”

But Emer said, “You are a prince. I know you are hungry, but a king wouldn't steal food. Instead, help the old woman work in the garden so she can grow more food. That's what your father would do. Always remember, love is the most powerful thing in the world. If you treat the old woman with love, you will feel safe and warm in here,” and he tapped the little boy on the chest, over his heart. “You really will.”