We hold the tale of fairies

To be quite the bedtime stories.

But have we ever heard of how they came to be?

What if we only had a tiny taste of the true cup of tea?

 

How did the Ugly Duckling get in a nest of ducks?

And how did a nest of ducks get hold of the Ugly Duckling’s egg?

 

His mother was the regal princess of swans

A kind swan caught up in her parent’s greedy war

With feathers of snow

And eyes of sapphire blue,

She was a true beauty to behold.

 

She fell in love with the enemy swan’s prince.

A kind swan caught up in his parent’s bloody war

With feathers of ebony dark nights

And black eyes of obsidian stone

He was a true beauty to behold.

 

It wasn’t long before the princess swan became

Gifted with life itself.

And afraid for their darling unhatched duckling to be killed

In their parents’ greedy and bloody war

They set off to find another swan to take care of their own

 

But as they flew high in the air,

Wind whooshing under their wings,

And the sun beating on their backs,

A cry rang out…

 

A hunter swan had grabbed the neck of the prince.

Only night’s dark feathers on the ground

Were what remained of him.

 

Fearing for her unhatched hatchling,

The princess swan spotted a nest filled with

Four eggs belonging to a quacking duck.

And before both families saw,

And before another cry rang out

   -silencing life forevermore-

The princess swan was able to gift

A duck’s nest with just an over large egg.

 

An over large egg who would later become

The Ugly Duckling.