**CHAPTER 1: NEW BEGINNINGS**

"Grandad, will you play with me?"
Duncan smiled at the little girl while he closed his book. His voice was chipper, as per usual. "Of course! What do you want to play?"
She gave him a mischievous look. "Will you play dolls with me?"
He grinned. "Of course, Sweetheart."
The minutes passed by far too fast while Duncan spoke in a high voice, and dressed Only Hearts Club dolls many times over. The two were so engrossed in their play that they didn't hear the knock on the front door, nor did they notice when the visitor let himself in.

“Edlen will not be King.”

Oh, how those words rang in my ears as I cried myself to sleep. Oh, how they haunted my dreams as I tossed and turned that night!

My grief was not from wanting the power of the throne and being denied it. Far from it. I did not particularly want the throne for its power. I did not even want to be King at all. But I wanted to do what was right, and I knew that meant to embrace my position as the crown prince of Oren, and to rule justly and bravely when I was King. And if life were to run its normal course, I knew I would one day be King.

I stared at the blank paper in front of me, wracking my brain, searching for something, ANYTHING to write about, but to no avail. I had nothing to write. Nothing to say.

I looked around my little studio. One chair, one desk, and a computer were the only things in it, so calling it a “studio” is rather generous. Regardless, it was the best studio I had. I stood up and left the pithy room back into my house. I threw a hot dog onto a frying pan, and rolled it around over the heat as I zoned off. What was I going to write about?

Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23

What happens to the seeds?

1. Fell on the wayside; birds eat them
2. Fell on stony places and sprang up quickly; scorched in the sun
3. Fell among thorns; choked by the thorns
4. Fell on good ground; yielded a good crop

What's interesting is that, when Jesus explains this parable, the seeds are planted in each case. The seeds start to grow whether thrown on the wayside or on good ground. What differs is whether or not those seeds continue growing.

What is morality? How do we know what is right and what is wrong? Where did morality and moral standards come from? Or who made them, if anyone? I had never pondered these questions until I recently got the question to study, “Can morality exist without God?” It’s a rather tough question when you think of it. But through research, I’ve been able to come up with an answer. No set standard of morality can exist for everyone without the existence of God; in fact, the very presence of morality is rather an additional proof to the existence of God.

Why do I love God?
I don't know.
But he has done a lot of things for me,
He put me in a great family.

Why do I love God?
He answers prayer,
That way I know he's really there.

Why do I love God?
This I know.
He sent his son to die for me,
so I could be a part of Gods family.

Why do I love God?
Now I know,
He has made my heart as white as snow.
He's given me a new life that I can know.
I'll live with him in heaven one day,
"I love you, Lord," each day I'll say.

Kindle the flame,
Spark the fight.
Spread the wings
Of darkest night.
Tooth and claw,
Scaly might.
Swirled together,
Dark and light.

Sinuous strength,
Ice and fire.
Silent as death,
Beware his ire.
Come the flame,
Come times dire.
This black giant
Is the crier

Eyes of gold,
Spine-tipped tail.
As black as night
Is every scale.
Great broad wings
and blackest mail.
A shift of pinions
Creates a gale.

My forefathers didn’t ever see
This golden carpet, bright unfurled,
The pictures in its tapestry
The lights and lives of the moving world.

Other beauty to them was given,
Though our joys are one it seems,
For this delight that I am living
Was woven from their dreams.

Here I hide all alone, clenched tight with fear
in a dark little box, nothing to see
My situation's reasoning is indeed quite queer
A hunter is searching ruthlessly
My hunter is my friend, who I held quite dear
Her betrayal is as difficult as can be
I did not make a sound that she could hear
But my hunter spotted me visually
She looked down at me, her face looked sincere
For now the person who's "It" is me