A bedtime story about checking before you trust

A friendly-looking letter with a subtly-wrong seal; the fierce little Princess eyes it with suspicion.

The Letter That Wasn't From a Friend

A very short story about a letter that only looked like a friend.

  1. A friendly-looking sealed letter arriving at the castle; the two owlets receive it.

    One morning, a letter came.
    It looked just like it was from a friend.

  2. The opened letter demanding the treasure-room key in a hurry, with an uneasy red glow.

    “Quick!” it said. “Send me the key to the treasure room.
    Hurry — and don't tell the owl.”

  3. The trusting Prince reaching for a glowing key.

    The Prince reached for the key.
    The writing really did look like a friend's.

  4. The fierce Princess throwing out a wing to stop the Prince.

    But the Princess stopped him.
    “Wait. A real friend would never say hurry. Or don't tell.”

  5. The Princess inspecting the letter's seal up close, finding it not quite right.

    She looked closer.
    The seal was not quite right — and the words were not quite kind.

  6. The guardian owl holding the letter beside a friendly mask, teaching the owlets.

    “It only looks like a friend,” said the owl.
    “Anyone can copy a face. Almost no one can copy the truth.”

  7. The real friend — a warm, puzzled owl — arriving, who had never sent any letter.

    So they sent no key.
    They asked their real friend — who had never written at all.

  8. The owlets cosy and wiser, the crumpled fake letter set aside, the guardian owl keeping watch under a crescent moon.

    Now, when a letter says “hurry” and “don't tell,” they just smile — and check first.
    And the owl, one blue eye and one crimson, kept watch.
    Goodnight.