Broken Crowns

You grow up with a crown and a title.

The rule is, “keep your crown perfectly beautiful at all times, and one day that lovely prince or princess will come and take your hand.”

I was given a beautiful crown, and hope for a prince. Never a princess though.

My crown fit perfectly. It sat proudly upon my head and shined like all the rest.

The girls had dazzling diamonds and golds that danced and weaved into the most beautiful pattern. The boys had hard silvers and bronze that stood tall and firm in a more balanced pattern.

We keep them the same, staying the same joyful princes and princesses, as we reach our goals.

But some will end up different. The kids with the ugly broken crowns end up falling below the rest, while the kids that manage to keep them intact become more stunning. 

Mine never seemed to break or become ugly, but it never seemed to become more stunning.

I watched the kids with broken ones fall below, I wonder, “why break something so beautiful?”

They didn’t break them themselves.

I watched the kids with stunning ones stand above, I wonder, “what’s so wonderful about theirs?”

Their crowns have chosen to shine. Mine never did decide at first

Then it did. I didn’t try and break it. The kids with stunning crowns did. They tore it off my head with no shame and broke the crown down till it was only a few scratched-up diamonds and gold. Most of them renounced my joyfulness of being a princess and I just watched it happen.

I never noticed my crown broke though. I would follow the kids who broke it around, still admiring their shine. They were smart. They used me to break other crowns.

I never noticed. But it only took one from above me to knock me back down.

My crown was broken. I had nothing at this point, but if someone saw your crown broken, that wouldn’t be very ladylike.

So I hid the fact it broke. It worked well for some time, no one else broke it more

but it just… kept breaking on its own. No one touched it.

How was it breaking? I could never figure it out until it was gone entirely. I know now what happened.

You can’t break your own crown at first. Someone else has to.

I’ve seen crowns being broken by so-called “friends”, bullies, and even parents. After one hit from someone else, you're breaking it. The kids with the stunning crowns took one hit at mine and that’s when I started to break it.

I broke it because they broke me.

By the time you’re all grown up, you either have a stunning beautiful crown or none at all.

I ended up with none.

Your crown is not a crown. It’s your mind, your feelings.

How broken, sadden is your crown, your mind?