Magical Reconciliation: Max’s Gesture of Peace 

By: Danielle Harris

Born from the deaths of King Christian and Queen Margaret, a new union formed between their widows, King Patrick and Queen Silvia. Each pair had one child, King Christian and Queen Silvia having Thomas-Grant and Queen Margaret and King Patrick having Maximillian. The castle would only ever be able to describe the day Maximillian and Thomas-Grant met as a disaster waiting to happen. Maximillian and Thomas-Grant Thorpe were never really the type of people to get along with one another. The two young boys were seldom spotted being friendly with one another, specifically on Thomas-Grant’s part. Thomas-Grant reveled in pushing Maximillian, breaking his toys, and “accidentally” ripping his clothes. Max, as his dad lovingly called him, thought that the accidental tears in his clothes looked more like the precise work of a pair of scissors, but that’s neither here nor there. The torment only got worse as they grew older. 

Max had attempted to talk to his father about it in the past, but every time his father would respond, “Please, give him some grace, Max. He lost his father.” Max felt like all he had been giving Thomas-Grant was grace, but he would try for his father. The days the boy turned 16 looked very different from one another. A party was thrown in Max’s honor with seemingly the entire kingdom in attendance. On Thomas-Grant’s birthday, seeing him outside of his room was a miracle. 

“Why would I want a party if the one person I want there can’t go?” he asked his mother when she checked on him for the umpteenth time. She could only sigh, wishing she could bring back his father and bring a little bit of happiness into her son’s life. As time passed, Max could only feel sorry for his brother. Realistically, he knew that if someone else were to be in his position, they probably wouldn’t feel the same way after everything they had to put up with. Max never liked the thought of giving up on anyone, though. So, in the middle of the night, when all was calm and quiet in the castle, Max enlisted the help of his dearest friend, Isabel. 

Isabel was a beautiful hand-crafted stuffed animal gifted to Max at a young age from his mother. After her passing, Max’s father would tell stories of her and how the bear was something he should always keep close to him. Not only would it keep the memory of her alive, but it also supposedly had magical powers. Max never really believed that last part, but he hoped that since it could comfort him when he was missing his mother, it could comfort his brother. He snuck into his brother’s room, placed the stuffed animal on his bed, and snuck back out, hoping that the teddy bear could work its supposed magic. When Thomas-Grant was getting ready for bed, he noticed the new addition to his bed. Thinking it was just, once again another gift from his mom, he shrugged it off and went to sleep. 

Thomas-Grant typically didn’t have dreams, especially none as realistic as the ones he had that night. It really felt like flashes more than anything else, blurry images flying past him trying to fit together into one whole puzzle. It took a while, or maybe only a couple of seconds. Thomas-Grant couldn’t tell. Eventually, though, everything came into focus. What he saw surprised him. It was Max crying at his mother’s funeral. Thomas-Grant felt the urge to try to reach out to him but it was as if he was stuck in place, unable to do anything else but sit back and watch. A gust of wind rushed past him and the next thing he knew, he was listening to a conversation between Max and his dad. 

“I swear, I didn’t take his necklace. I have no clue how it got in my room but I promise, I didn’t touch it. I know how much it means to him; I wouldn’t even dream of doing that.” his father sighed. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

“Look, son, I believe you, but you’re going to have to figure out a way to get along with him. I know it’s not easy, but it’s important to show him that you being an addition to his life isn’t a threat. Try a peace offering, see if that helps.” Another gust of wind and he was pulled into a different scene. 

There was a knock on the door and opening it revealed Max, “Hi, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. If I’m being honest, I’m not sure what exactly I’ve done wrong but I want to apologize anyway. I never meant to hurt you or step on your toes. I just wanted to give you this flower as a peace offering. My mother always said seeing these flowers was a sign that something good was coming your way, so I wanted to take the opportunity to hopefully spread good your way.” Max said all of that with a smile on his face and hope in his heart. Thomas-Grant remembered that moment very well, even down to ripping the flower out of his brother’s hand, tearing it apart, and slamming the door in his face. Thomas-Grant swore he could feel the tear that ran down his brother’s cheek at that moment. 

He decided he wasn’t like this dream one bit, so he attempted to wake himself up. He tried everything in the book, shaking himself, pinching, squeezing his eyes shut as tight as they could be, but alas, nothing seemed to wake him up from what he would now call a nightmare. The guilt he felt was overwhelming. He knew he was never fair to his brother, but he never realized just how much his attitude affected him. All he could do was collapse into a ball on the floor, crying his little heart out, wishing this nightmare would end. Suddenly, the room changed. He was back in his bedroom, but it still felt like he was asleep. He tried pinching himself again, hoping anything would wake him up. 

“If it didn’t work the first time, what makes you think it would work the second time?” Thomas-Grant heard a voice from above him and screamed. Well, he tried to, but no noise would come out. Hanging above him was a little teddy bear with the name, “Max” stitched into the side of it. He hadn’t noticed it before, but now he knew that this wasn’t a gift from his mother, it was Max’s teddy bear. 

“Great, now there’s a talking teddy bear in my nightmare.” 

“You should be thankful for this talking bear.” Isabel retorted. 

“Really? Why is that?” 

“Without me, you probably would have never realized just how much you affect your brother’s life. Not only with your words but with your actions.”

 Thomas-Grant looked down, not knowing what to say. “You can fix things, you know. Once you wake up, you have the choice whether or not you continue to make your brother feel he’ll never be able to form a relationship with you, or you can do the right thing and apologize to him. The choice is yours.” Thomas-Grant was silent for a moment. Isabel could tell it wasn’t because he was debating his options, but it was because he would have no idea how to even apologize for everything that he’s done. 

“I’m sorry is all it takes,” she reasoned. With that, Thomas-Grant nodded his head and he woke up. He was surprised to find out it was morning, but quicker than he could process that, he was out of bed and knocking on his brother’s door. The minute he opened it, he walked straight in and started spewing out whatever was on his mind. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so incredibly sorry for all of it. My reasons why I treated you the way I did will never be an excuse. You were only trying to make me feel loved and I sidelined you. You didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry,” he was practically out of breath when he finished. All Max did in response was smile and hug him. The strangest thing was, it felt exactly like the hugs his dad used to give him. That only made Thomas-Grant hold on tighter.