The Reading Chair
a short Tiny Kingdom story about making room
Prince Dingus lay beside the Queen in the reading chair, his head resting on her lap. A book lay open in her hands, and every few pages her fingers disappeared into his fur.
His eyes were closed, his breathing slow and content.
Princess Guusje slept nearby, making little noises now and then that made the Queen smile and wonder what she might be dreaming about.
Eventually, the Queen got up to make coffee.
When she returned, things had changed.
Dingus had moved just enough to take up more of the chair, and Princess Guusje had climbed in beside him.
The Queen stopped and looked at them.
There was still a little space left for her.
Very little.
She smiled, put down her coffee and began the careful process of fitting herself back into her own reading chair. Guusje shifted an inch. Dingus did not seem particularly concerned.
Eventually, the Queen managed to wedge herself between them.
The book opened again. Soft jazz played somewhere in the room.
Dingus settled against one side of her, Guusje against the other, and the Queen opened her book again.