The Queen’s Avocado Face
A Tiny Kingdom Tale
It was an ordinary morning in the Tiny Kingdom. The Queen was sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee, working on plans for the Kingdom, while Prince Dingus enjoyed one of his increasingly long naps. Princess Guusje had settled into her favourite spot on the back of the sofa, just behind the Queen, where she could keep a watchful eye on everything going on around her.
After a while, the Queen disappeared into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she returned wearing a face mask which, according to the packet, contained avocado. With a fresh cup of coffee in hand, she settled back onto the sofa to continue her work.
Behind her, Guusje lifted her head.
Her little black nose gave the tiniest twitch.
Then it twitched again.
The Queen turned just in time to see the most wonderful expression appear on the Princess’s face. Her eyes widened in utter astonishment as that tiny black nose began wiggling this way and that, sniffing with such earnest concentration that the Queen couldn’t help but smile. She watched in delight, quite enchanted by the sight of that impossibly small nose working away beneath those wonderfully puzzled eyes. Whatever Guusje had smelled, she clearly couldn’t believe her discovery.
Then, judging by the sudden determination in her face, the Princess reached a conclusion.
Food.
The Queen had food on her face.
Guusje leaned forward, stretched her neck towards the Queen’s cheek and prepared to give it a thorough lick.
“No, Guusje!”
The Queen turned away and gently pushed her back, only to discover that her little princess had already found another way around her hand.
“Guusje, you cannot eat my face!”
This seemed a perfectly reasonable thing to say, although Guusje clearly disagreed. As far as she was concerned, the Queen had covered her face in something delicious and was now being extraordinarily uncooperative about sharing it.
What followed was a rather comical struggle on the sofa.
Every time the Queen managed to turn her face away, Guusje appeared from another direction. She stretched herself across the Queen’s shoulder, tried to squeeze her nose past the defending hand and, when that failed, simply tried again with even greater determination.
The Queen was laughing by now, which made the whole business considerably more difficult. She twisted sideways to escape another enthusiastic attempt, pushed herself farther along the cushions and suddenly realised that she was perilously close to falling off the sofa.
All because of one small white dog who wanted to lick her face.
Prince Dingus opened one sleepy eye to see what all the fuss was about. He watched his little sister making yet another determined attempt to reach the Queen’s face, while the Queen struggled to keep herself on the sofa. After a moment, he gave a small, contented sigh, tucked his nose back into his comfortable spot and drifted off to sleep again.
Eventually, after considerable effort and much laughter, the Queen managed to reclaim her place on the sofa.
Guusje settled back onto the cushions behind her, although she continued to watch the Queen’s face with considerable interest. Her little nose gave another hopeful twitch. She had clearly not abandoned the idea that something perfectly edible was going to waste.
The Queen picked up her coffee, which had miraculously survived the entire affair, and glanced over her shoulder.
“Honestly sweet girl, it’s just a face mask.”
Guusje looked at her with those innocent dark eyes, her little black nose still pointing hopefully towards the avocado.