A bedtime story about how a home is built well

The cloud castle raised on five great glowing pillars, the two royal owlets and the owl looking up.

The Castle Stands on Five Pillars

A very short story about the five pillars that hold up a home.

  1. The Prince and the Princess, two crowned owlets, with their guardian owl at the foot of the pillars.

    High in the clouds stands a castle — home to a Prince and a Princess.
    “Every castle that stands for a long, long time,” said their owl, “stands on five great pillars. Come and see.”

  2. A mighty pillar standing firm as a storm swirls around it; the Prince rests a wing on it.

    “The first pillar holds us up when the storm comes.
    It does not shake. It does not fall.”

  3. A strong pillar guarding a great door; the fierce little Princess stands proudly before it.

    “The second keeps our doors strong, so only friends come in.”
    The fierce little Princess liked this one best.

  4. The kind little Prince reaching up to dim one glowing window where no one sleeps.

    “The third uses only what we need.”
    So the kind little Prince turned down a light in a room where no one slept.

  5. A streak of light flying tower to tower across the castle while the owlets watch.

    “The fourth makes the castle quick — a message flies tower to tower before you can blink.
    No one ever waits.”

  6. The guardian owl tending a pillar, mending a tiny crack, as the Prince looks up fondly.

    “The fifth is tended every single day — someone who knows every stone, and mends the small cracks before they grow.”
    “That’s you,” whispered the Prince. The owl said nothing. It was true.

  7. The Princess looking up and asking a question as one pillar glows with a faint warning.

    “But what if one pillar is weak?” asked the Princess, who was never afraid to ask.
    “Then the castle leans,” said the owl. “So we check all five — again, and again, and again.”

  8. The two owlets looking up at their castle on five pillars under a crescent moon, the owl keeping watch with blue and crimson eyes.

    The Prince and the Princess looked up at their strong, straight home. Five pillars, holding up the sky.
    And the owl — one blue eye, one crimson — kept watch over them both.
    Goodnight.