King of Stamps - A Story by Ron Smith

Recently and nearby there dwelt an elderly king. He was not well-known, for his kingdom was small, really not much more than the area surrounding his dwelling, but a kingdom anyway. He ruled with absolute authority. In fact, over the years, his subjects had left or simply expired so by this time he was a solitary monarch, which made it easier to rule with absolute authority.
            As mentioned, he was growing full of years and had become decrepit and forgetful. For example, during the present Christmas season he decided to include a card of postage stamps with each of the greeting cards he sent to his friends and loved ones.
            Did he make this small tribute because he knew the postal service was bankrupt and needed a boost? Did he do it out of pride or was he simply moved by an impulse of holiday generosity? It is not known. These are secrets that are buried in the human heart or “God only knows,” as people are fond of saying.
            He would carefully place a bright-red card of postage stamps within each Christmas card, seal and stamp the envelope and move on to the next name on his list. At some point during this procedure our king experienced a ‘senior moment’ – in truth, the lapse must have lasted several moments….
            As he sent a card to another king and his queen who lived in the quiet woods, instead of placing an unmolested card of stamps inside their card, he included the card from which he had been peeling stamps to use on mail. It crossed his mind at the time that he might have done this but silenced the notion: “You wouldn’t do something that dumb,” he thought out loud.
            When the stamp king discovered his mistake he was troubled at first, imagining the royalty at Quietwoods pondering the mysterious enclosure in their Christmas card. (If the sender had been distributing candy bars would he have sent them one half-eaten?)
            There was little time for them to reflect. It was Christmas. So much to do and so much that has to happen with near perfection. The Court of Quietwoods quietly returned the stamps, concluding that indeed, a ‘senior moment’ had occurred. It was a lovely gesture. Our king learned what a pleasure it is to receive postage stamps with a Christmas card. He has lived happily ever since.

12/17/14