Prince Orimar was born looking for the sky.
When he lay on his back he pointed at the clouds.
When he sat up he threw pebbles at the clouds.
When he started walking he flew kites into the clouds.
When he started talking he asked what was beyond the clouds.
He used his hands to make mechanical wings.

He was always testing his machines.
Usually he jumped off the mountain and fell in the lake.
But one day he actually stayed in the air and flew away.
No one saw him go.
They had all stopped watching his dives a long time ago.
Prince Orimar got blown around but he kept flying higher.

A flock of ducks emerged in front of him.
He followed the ducks south.
Orimar wanted to see the sun.
He also wanted to ask the sun a question.
He wanted to know why the sun never shone on his kingdom.
But he didn't know how long his fuel would last.

It started getting warmer and Orimar started sweating.
Then suddenly the sheltering clouds disappeared.
Orimar blinked in the brightness but kept his eyes open.
The sun was more dazzling than he had ever imagined.
Orimar was so overpowered he was afraid to speak.
But the sun noticed the unusual looking bird right away.

"What kind of bird are you?" asked the sun.
"Are you talking to me?" asked Orimar.
"You answered me" said the sun.
"I'm not a bird but a prince" said Orimar.
"I am the first person in my kingdom to see your face.
Could I persuade you to pay us a visit?"

Suddenly there was a thunderbolt and the clouds started to rain.
"I think I know where you're from" said the sun.
"When I think of it I am so sad I don't want to shine anymore."
"You don't want to shine on my kingdom?" asked Orimar.
"When I think of it I don't want to shine at all" said the sun.
There was another great thunderclap and the clouds started to hail.

Orimar thought the clouds were closing in on him.
"It seems to me that you must keep shining" said Orimar.
"What could make you so sad that you don't want to shine?"
The sun paled and spoke in a quavering voice.
"There was a time when I visited your kingdom every day.
There was a young girl there who rose every morning to greet me.

She was the baker's daughter.
She took my golden glow and put it in the muffins she sold.
Everyone who ate them was happy and filled with love.
One day the prince came into the shop himself to buy a muffin.
When he saw my golden glow shining in her face he fell in love.
She was honored and gave her heart to him freely."

"Why should that make you sad?" asked Orimar.
He was worried he was going to crash into the water soon.
"Because the king told the prince he should marry a princess.
After that the prince only saw her apron and not her warm smile.
Soon he married a forest princess and forgot the baker's daughter.
But she never forgot him."

There was another thunderclap and the clouds started to sleet.
Orimar was buffeted around by a fierce wind.
The sun got even paler.
"Don't people everywhere get broken hearts?" asked Orimar.
"Why should you stop shining on my kingdom just for that?"
"She stopped rising in the morning to greet me" said the sun.

"The Prince became King and he stayed indoors counting his money.
He didn't notice that his subjects stopped smiling and weren't happy.
They weren't happy because her muffins became ordinary.
Then she stopped baking and went to sleep and didn't wake up.
"You mean she died of a broken heart?" asked Orimar.
"She didn't die" said the sun, "she's still sleeping.

She has dreams filled with clouds and rain and no one can wake her."
"But I never heard of her" said Orimar.
"Everyone forgot about her a long time ago" said the sun, "but not me.
I won't shine there again until she rises to greet me."
"Where is she sleeping?" asked Orimar.
"She is in a house all covered in vines, in the forest" replied the sun.

Just then a gust of wind thrust Orimar back into the clouds.
The motor for his wings started to make strange sounds.
His fuel ran out.
He went crashing down into the forest.
He was lucky that his wings got caught in the branch of a tree.
He had to detach himself and jump down from there.

Orimar looked around.
Somewhere in the forest the baker's daughter was sleeping.
He thought he could probably search for her the rest of his life.
But it turned out he had landed right at her doorstep.
He cut away the vines and entered.
Sure enough a beautiful woman was lying in a bed.

Without hesitating Orimar kissed her on the lips.
Her eyes fluttered open and she looked into his.
Orimar looked so much like her prince that she thought he was.
"I knew it was all a dream" she said "and that you would return.
We are all princes and princesses in the kingdom of love."
Orimar was overcome by her words and the music in her voice.

"My lady" he said, "I would never be parted from your good will.
If you would rise to greet the sun by my side, I would be honored."
She took his hand and rose from her bed.
She followed him all the way to the mountain top.
When she looked up the clouds suddenly disappeared.
The whole kingdom came outdoors for the first time in memory.

She went straight to the kitchen and started baking muffins.
The prince told the king that he intended to marry the muffin maker.
The king said he had arranged for the prince to marry a lake princess.
Orimar told him that he had to marry the muffin maker.
If he didn't marry her the sun would stop shining again.
Orimar offered the king a muffin and the king ate it.

The king smiled for the first time in his life.
He liked the way it felt and decided he wanted to keep smiling.
So the king agreed to let Orimar marry the muffin maker.
They lived together happily and one day became king and queen.
They still rise every morning to greet the sun and bake bread.
To this day Orimar's kingdom is now the kingdom of love.