In the Land Capo Part I

Once upon a time in the land of Capo, in the region of Caretaking, there lived some elves who really loved their country. They worked together for the betterment of their country and its people. Their king was kind, compassionate, intelligent and was loved by everyone. His words were as sweet as honey and they sweetened even the most bitter words ever uttered by anyone. He was a very special king who had great talents and skills. He was a quadriplegic with a magical flower chair.

The Kingdom was maintained by seven loyal, committed and conscientious elves. They worked tirelessly to ensure that the Kingdom would efficiently fulfill its mission to the people of Capo. The elves were very successful at their jobs. All the people in the land were happy with their standard of living. The elves created policies and procedures and they made sure that all the people were effectively trained to carry out their roles. The elves consulted with the people of Capo on most issues. They provided ongoing feedback to them to ensure transparency in governance. The elves provided opportunities for economical and professional growth and advancement for all Capoans. The people were very satisfied with their roles within the land.

The king of the nearby land, Aspson admired the efficiency of the elves and by extension the land of Capo. Unlike his Kingdom, there was no trash on the streets of Capo or vagrants asking for food. All the people of Capo looked happy, content and well cared for. The King of Aspson visited his friend, the King of Capo, once every week. The King of Capo looked forward to his friend's visit because he wanted to brag about his elves and the people of Capo. The King of Aspson wanted to understand how his friend commanded such respect and love even though he did not rule the people with an iron fist. He wanted to find out how all the people were so happy. He brought the elves bagels and cream cheese as a gift of goodwill. They willingly showed him all their secrets of success.

Then one day, the King became ill and had to be hospitalized. Yappy, one of the elves, became leader of the other six elves and the town. She did not have the charm or the professional knowledge that the King posses. She was, however, a dedicated and quick learner. The people did not care for her to lead them and they were sad about their ailing king. Every day Yappy would be bombarded with questions on the status of the ailing king and what would happen if he died. She tried her best to allay the fears of the people but they sensed that she was hiding something. There was growing unrest among the people.

Even though Yappy was doing a fairly good job, some of the king's advisors were not happy with her qualification. They felt that they were more experienced to lead the Kingdom. The King's advisors started plotting to get rid of Yappy and to replace her with one of their kind. They started withholding information from Yappy. This caused her to make uninformed decisions which had negative implications on the land. The people became even more distrustful of Yappy. Most of the people wanted to get rid of her. They did not understand that this was the doing of the king's advisors who wanted to be rulers of the land.

After a long illness, the King died. Before he died however, he made a written decree that declared that none of his advisors could be king of the land. The people became severely upset. They did not understand what was going on. They thought that Yappy had done this evil thing to leave them without a king. They were very angry about the death of their beloved king and Yappy was the recipient of all that anger. She was banished from the land even before the king was buried. Two elves who were considered her accomplices were also banished from the land of Capo.

The people of the land of Capo were in mourning for seven days. Flags were flown at half mast and the people all wore black clothing. All the schools and universities were closed for a week. All the restaurants and pubs were closed as well. No farmers were tending to their crops; no maintenance crew were tending to the infrastructure. The people of Capo lined the streets day and night. They wept and lamented about the death of their king. Their tears ran along the streets in streams of gushing water. Children sailed small paper boats with pictures of the King on them. The paper boats all changed to multi-coloured flowers and the next day, the streets were lined with rows of colourful flowers.

There were several stories of the sighting of the king; some say that he was seen flying around on his magical wheelchair and flowers were growing out of the sides of the electrical wheelchair. Some people said that he stopped his chair, got out and walked over to them and kissed them on the forehead and whispered "Peace!" As he walked flowers sprang from the place where his feet touched the ground. The people who were touched by the King reported that they immediately felt calm, filled with love and a deep peace; some said that they were healed of many illnesses.

On the day of the funeral of the late king of Capo, there were flowers all over the land. All the daffodils, roses, chrysanthemum and daisies were in full bloom. Every home had brightly coloured flowers growing in their gardens and hanging from the rooftops. Even places where flowers had never grown before were brimming with brightly radiant flowers of the colours of the rainbow. The streets were lined with flowers, along the path where the tears of the mourners ran. The palace garden was completely covered with the most magnificent colours of red, blue yellows, white, pink, orange and purple flowers.

The king's final resting place was covered with flowers. A rainbow was seen stretched across the entire land of Capo. The people looked at it and were reminded of their kind, compassionate and beloved King. "Long live the King!" they all shouted.

As the people of Capo walked to their homes, homes that they had neglected for seven days as they mourned on the streets, they felt a deep sadness. It was a sadness that despite the calmness of their hearts, reminds them that they will always remember their King, their Flower King.

Meanwhile at the palace, the King of Aspson took over the throne that once belonged to his friend. He declared himself King of Aspson and Capo. Both lands had become a Megaland and would be ruled by one King. The people of Capo knew the King of Aspson from his weekly visits to their land, so they considered "The evil you know is better than the evil you do not know." They reluctantly accepted the King of Aspson as their king. The borders between both lands were open and its people travelled freely from one land to the other.

This was not a decision that was accepted by the advisors of the late King of Capo. They privately plotted to overthrow the new King and to seize control of the Kingdom of Capo. They wanted to maintain their sovereignty; they did not want to be apart of Aspson. Within two months of the King of Aspson declaring himself King of Capo and Aspson, he was killed in a hostile take over of the country. The lands of Capo and Aspson were engulfed in civil war.