The Empress with a Sapphiric Touch

There was once an empress who had a room full of sapphire. Sapphire was her favorite stone for it was her birthstone. Blue, pink, yellow, green, and purple sapphires, she had it all, even the rarest sapphires of the Earth, she had. But she was never contented of it, she wanted more and more, although she had a room as big as a hectare full of sapphire.

One day, as she was counting her sapphires in her room, a god of wishes appeared. She said, “Who are you? How did you got in to my room?” “I am the god of wishes, I can grant wishes. Do you have a wish?” The god said. “I want sapphire and more sapphire, I want that all I touch shall turn to sapphire!” She said without thinking. “Think about it thoroughly, you might regret it.” The god said. “I am pretty sure of that.” The empress said. The god was astonished that she never thought of her son and daughter, Blue and Sapphire. But to teach her a lesson, he granted the empress’s wish. “You shall have the sapphiric touch. Wake up very early this dawn and bathe into the Lacus Sapphirus, the lake of sapphire. When the sun rises tomorrow, you shall have the sapphiric touch.”

She then went outside looking for things she could touch could turn it into her favorite stone, sapphire. She then remembered their garden with full of blooming flowers. She then took the path leading to the garden and touched her garden full of blue violets. She touched them, one by one and they all turned into sapphire. After everything became into what she wanted. She then looked at it and was satisfied of what she saw.

She then remembered her children. “Oh! I’ll inform and tell my kids this amazing and wonderful view.” She thought. On her way back to the palace she saw this fresh flower that reminds her of what her daughter, Sapphire who is humble and kind and doesn’t want many riches, likes. She then picked the fresh flower, a violet one, but when she touched it, with a blinked of the eye the flower turned into sapphire. She tried to picked as many violets in that area but all of them turned to sapphire. It just became sapphire, hard and blue. This time, the empress was sad. She couldn’t pick a fresh flower for her daughter.

She then look at the flowers with a sad face. While looking at the flower, her attention was caught of a little thing that rolls on the ground. When she focus on it, she found out it’s her son’s ball. She then walked to it and picked it up thinking that she’ll carry it inside the palace to give it back to her son. Maybe he only forget the ball here yesterday. But when at the time that she touched the ball, it turned into sapphire. “Oh no!” she said. She forgets that her touched had the capacity to turn things into sapphire. And that made her right now very sad. “I couldn’t pick fresh flower as gift to my daughter and I can’t also picked the toys of my son.

So the empress did what the god told her. She woke up very early and bathed in the Lacus Sapphirus. She went to sleep again and woke up at sunrise. She tested if her wish came true, and lo! Her pillow became sapphire! She touched her clothes, it became sapphire too! She smiled and thought to herslf, “Now the empress had a sapphiric suit”.

While she’s thinking of the event and the consequences of her wish, Sapphire came by and asked, “Mom, why did the flowers turned into sapphire? I can’t almost find fresh flowers everywhere. The empress was silent. She don’t want to tell her about her sapphiric touch so she said, ”We will now have a garden of sapphire my daughter.” While she smiles at here.

While she’s telling her daughter about the beauty of the blue that they saw Blue, her son, running towards them. And he stopped panting. Grasping for breath to calm himself before he said, “Why did my toys turn to sapphire mommy? I can’t carry them already because they’re heavy and they only have one color. I like toys with many color and real ones.” He added.

“Oh, baby, is it things you see are that good? They are all blue, same as your name, Blue?” she said smiling to them willing them to believe and appreciate what she had done to all the things. “We’ll now have a house of sapphire.” She added. But Blue and Sapphire said, “We just wanted a simple life mommy. We don’t want as much sapphire as this. You have so many sapphires already.” “I say to you: I am doing this for your own good, my dear.” She replied. So Blue and Sapphire, who respect and love their mother went as what their mother like and excuse themselves to go back to the house and get some food.

The empress got hungry too. She remembered the sappihiric

Minutes pass and an idea came to her thoughts. She went back to her room where she’d seen and met the god of wishes. And searched for her. “What is it? Is there any trouble with the sapphiric touch?” he said. “I don’t want it anymore. I don’t want the sapphiric touch anymore, not anymore!” “So you don’t want the sapphiric touch anymore?” “Yes, not anymore.” “Tonight before you sleep, go to the Fluminis Aquam Mundam, the river of clean water, and bathe there. Take some river water with you, and pour it over to the things you turned to sapphire, and see what will happen. Never bring sapphire with you, for if you bathe there with sapphire, all that bathes there will turn to sapphire.” So the empress bathed at the river of pure water and brought some water with her. She poured it to the flowers, her suit, and her food and to Blue and Sapphire. Lo! They returned to normal and asked what had happened. The empress never told they turned into sapphire. And that's because of her. Not at all!