Once upon a time, there was a king who was in love with love. He was addicted to the sweet words his subjects spoke to each other and how they danced and sang when they found their lover. He knew that a kingdom full of love was the kind he wanted to rule.
The thing is, kings can rule over many things but love is not one of them. People got bored with each other, knowing every little wrinkle, every little birthmark… It was only a matter of time before they started to look for variation. Instead of joyous laughter, the king had to deal with the ugly cries of disillusion.
‘You know what, if it’s the face that bores them, I will let them cover it. This way they will all love each other and nobody can see enough to ever get bored,’ the king said to himself. And so, from that day on he ordered every single person to wear a sheet that covered every inch of their skins.
This worked quite well for a while. The songs of love might not have been as loud, but at least the king didn’t have to hear the weeping of heartbreak. There was just enough love between every faceless subject to keep everyone happy.
One day, however, a boy was born into the king’s faceless world. He was not lacking love. His sweet, melodic voice brought out the care and kindness of all the people around him. It was never enough for him, though. How warm can a hug be if you can’t know the full person giving it? How exciting is it to meet a new person, if they are nothing but voices coming from white silhouettes?
As the boy started to look for his own lover, it always ended up the same. He heard a voice or smelled a scent that drew him, but then could caress nothing but fabric, the rough outline of the person he had fallen in love with.
He had enough of it.
‘Let’s take this off,’ he said.
‘I want to know every inch of your skin and I want you to know mine.’
The girl moved away from him.
‘But when you get to know every inch, you will get bored and stop loving me.’
‘That might be true,’ the boy answered.
‘But how can I even start to love you if everything you are is covered in layers? Is it better to continue a love that never truly came to be?’
The girl took a deep breath and then looked up at him.
‘But I’m scared. Nobody ever touched my skin. Nobody ever got to know every part of me.’
‘You know what,’ the boy said.
‘We will explore each other step by small step. Every time a bit more, leaving always something new to discover. Let’s go on an adventure of discovery together.’
And so, from that day on, the king and everybody in the kingdom could hear the sweet songs of love again, but this time combined with excited sighs of discovery.