The Fountain of Youth (An Original Children's Story)

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Once upon a time, there was a king whose only desire was to live forever. He was willing to do anything just to make sure that he will never grow old. He had even hired the most powerful wizards and mages in the land for this sole purpose, but none of them had any promising solution.

Little did he knew that for all those years of his quest, a fairy was observing his actions. The fairy lived in the forest near the king's palace. She always thought that the king was too greedy and ambitious to even dream of being immortal. Most of all, the fairy believed that he didn't deserve it. He only wanted to live forever so one could take his throne.

Things had turned from bad to worse when one day, one of the king's advisers told him that they had found the solution. They said that the king had to sacrifice his only child, an eight-year-old princess, to have an everlasting life. The queen protested against it, trying to persuade her husband that there might be another way. But her concern was put to waste when the king ordered for her to be imprisoned. The fairy then knew that she had to do something.

The next morning, the fairy decided to end the king's illusion. She went to the palace in the form of a mage who came from a faraway land, and boldly offered another solution to the king. "There is a fountain of youth," she started, "it's not far from here. But you will have to go there alone, with nothing but peasant's clothes, a piece of stale bread, and an empty jar."

The king thought about this for a moment, "Surely, there had to be a catch," he said, "what is it?"

The mage smiled upon hearing this, the king was indeed clever, but she was well-prepared. "I am going to give you the map so you can easily find the fountain, but before you leave, you have to surrender your throne to your wife. She shall rule the kingdom from now on, and your daughter shall be her heir. You must never come near the kingdom again, or else the gift will be taken back.

The king was surprised, but he suddenly had an idea. He agreed to do what the mage had said and prepared himself for his journey. That night, the queen was proclaimed as the ruler of the kingdom, and the mage became her adviser.

The next day, the king went off on his journey. He wore peasant clothes and brought only an empty jar, a piece of stale bread, and the map.

The mage was right, the fountain was not very far and the king found it easily. But since it was getting dark, he decided to rest beside the beautiful fountain and act on his plan in the morning. Back in the palace, a feast was held for the new ruler. Everyone was glad that the cruel king was gone.

Morning came and the king rose early. It's time to take back what's mine, he thought. His plan was to drink the water right away and go back to the palace and accuse the mage of lying. Then, he will take his throne so he could rule the kingdom forever.  He thought that the mage will never know it because he is more powerful than her. He was the king, after all.

He dipped his empty jar into the fountain and started drinking it. Then and there he felt different -- he felt stronger than ever, he felt like he could do anything. He filled his jar one more time and drank again. This time, he felt more energized, like he could run for miles without getting tired. So he filled his jar again and drank for the last time, and by then, he began to shrink -- smaller and younger by the second -- until he was back to being an infant.

The fairy knew that she had succeeded. She went to the fountain at once and took the baby in her arms. She went back to the palace and introduced the child as her own son. He was raised with good values, without any memory of his previous life, and grew up to be a good man and a faithful servant of the palace.