My mother passed last winter, and I have been grieving. But though grief is born from death and loss, it is a powerful reminder and affirmation that the bereaved are still alive.
And in this life, I am so grateful for the amazing friends and readers I have met…the communities that have welcomed me, the support that I have received.
I am very lucky, indeed.
This was a self-published piece that I did many years ago.
And so, as a token of my gratitude, I thought that I would transfer it from saddle-stapled chapbook to Substack post and share it as a holiday present to all of you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you always…
Much love, Ryka
Once upon a time, not too terribly long ago, a lonely little girl named Jessica wanted more than anything else to have a magic pony she could ride into the forest, and find a prince who would have tea parties with her and maybe even style her hair.
Every night she wished upon the first star she saw for the magic horse, and every morning she looked outside, hoping that her magic pony would suddenly appear. Sadly, the pony never appeared, and as Christmas approached, Jessica found herself wondering if her prince would ever come.
One Christmas season day, Jessica was in her kitchen, making a sardine sandwich for her sick father, who was told by his doctor to increase his vitamin D and calcium intake. She took a sardine can from the cupboard, pulled off the top, and was startled to hear a tiny voice cry out.
“Oh, that feels so good. Thank you, young princess, for setting us free.”
She looked down, and one of the sardines was looking at her. It squiggled a bit, and hopped out of the can onto the kitchen counter.”
“My name is Maxwell,” it said, bowing its head. “I am a magic sardine. I was caught by mistake and have been stuck in that can for months.”
“H-hi—my name is Jessica,” Jessica said.
At the sound of her name, the can squiggled again, and the other sardines hopped onto the table and began to sing,
“Thank you Princess Jessica.
you have set us free!
Magic sardine gratitude
is warmly given thee!”
Jessica blushed. “Oh, I’m not a princess, I’m just Jessica.” Suddenly, she remembered her father. “Oh—what am I to do? My father needs to increase his vitamin D and calcium intake, And now I have no sardine sandwich to give him.” She began to cry.
“Don’t worry, Princess,” said Maxwell. “If we go to the Kingdom of Sardines, we can give you the Secret of Calcium and Vitamin D.”
“Really?”
“Of course! Why do you think doctors are always telling sick people to eat us?”
“Oh!” Jessica nodded.
So Maxwell and his friends circled around Jessica and began chanting.
Oh we wish to go back home
to the Kingdom of Sardines
beneath the sea we yearn to roam
we’re not garbanzo beans!
Over and over they chanted this, and suddenly the room began to spin and froth. Jessica looked down and saw Maxwell sprinkle her with a sparkly dust just as she began to faint…
***
“Yay! The Princess is awake!”
Jessica woke up and saw Maxwell and his friends standing over her. She shook her head and stood up. To her surprise Maxwell and the other sardines were almost as tall as she was!
“Maxwell! How you’ve grown!”
Maxwell chuckled. “Oh no, Princess Jessica, we’ve simply made you our size so you can explore the city with us.”
Jessica remembered the sparkly dust. “Oh, so that was magic dust! That’s why I can breathe underwater. And that’s why there’s no overpowering fishy smell!”
Maxwell nodded, “Oh we’re as fishy as ever—but thanks to magic, now we smell like daisies to you!”
“Well! We’ve got lots to see! Hang on!”
Jessica held on to Maxwell’s fin, and the two began exploring the mystical, magical Kingdom of Sardines. Jessica was shown the sardine public library, the sardine shopping mall and multiplex theater, and a wonderful tour of the magical sardine botanical gardens, which were divided into seven sections featuring authentic sea vegetation from each of the seven seas.
They had just left the sardine Indian Ocean Casino and its renowned international buffet when Jessica remembered why she was there.
“Maxwell, I am really worried about my father, who needs the Secret of Calcium and Vitamin D,” she said.
Maxwell looked at her and smiled sadly, “You are right, Princess, we need to save your father. I just was having so much fun…Umm…Maybe one day you can visit again?”
Maxwell seemed to blush a little, and Jessica had never seen a sardine blush.
It was cute!
Jessica nodded, “I would like that very much! I had no idea that the life of a sardine could be so interesting! And the holiday decorations are simply superb!”
Maxwell smiled, and there was a sparkle in his eye.
The Magic Sardine Castle was not very far away, and after a quick stop for some authentic herring hot champurrado, which Jessica found to be the best she’d ever tasted, they came to the mighty palace of the King of the Sardines. Outside, the castle sardines were decorating a large Christmas tree and singing Christmas songs.
It’s a merry sardine Christmas
We’re the happiest fish in the sea
All the world’s sardines can live
in perfect harmony!
Next to the tree was a giant menorah, where the Jewish fish gathered and sang, as well.
It’s a happy sardine Hanukkah
We are G-d’s chosen fish,
As neither meat nor milk,
we can be served with either dish!
Maxwell and Jessica approached the King’s throne room. The King sat with his back to them, looking out at his Kingdom below.
“Enter,” he said.
Jessica was frightened, but Maxwell smiled at Jessica and nudged her forward.
“What brings you to the Kingdom of Sardines?” the King asked. His voice was strong and regal, but not unkind, and Jessica felt much less afraid.
“Your Highness, I am here because my father needs Vitamin D and calcium. He is very sick.”
“I see…” the King paused. “So you love your father very much?”
“Yes, your Highness.”
“Hmmm… But also Prince Maxwell has told me that you enjoyed your stay in my kingdom, no?”
“Yes, your Highness.” She turned to Maxwell, stunned, “You didn’t tell me you were a Prince! So the king is your father? ”
Maxwell laughed and shook his head. “I come from the sporty, yet sensible Sardine Waters to the east,” he said.
“So why did we come here instead of there?” Jessica asked, very confused.
“Because I asked that you be brought here,” said the King. “Tell me, did you think this Kingdom beautiful?”
“Yes, very much.”
“And the Indian Ocean Casino, is the buffet as good as I remember?”
“Yes, your Highness.”
“Ahh, that place can be dangerous when you’re watching your weight, especially the cheesy meatballs.”
Jessica swooned, then remembered her sick father. “You Highness, I don’t know why you asked for me, and I am grateful for your hospitality. But I really must get back to my father, with the Secret of Calcium and Vitamin D, for he is very sick and all alone.”
“No, he is not alone.” The King began to laugh—not an evil laugh, but a laugh that Jessica recognized. Suddenly the King turned around, and there was her father!
“Father—y-you’re the Sardine King?”
“Yes, my daughter. I am King, and you are my Princess Jessica.”
He touched her hand, which became a fin and when she looked at him he was a sardine, and she knew immediately that she was a sardine, too, but instead of feeling peculiar, she only felt happiness.
“The King and his Princess are home! Let the celebration begin!” Prince Maxwell shouted.
Trumpets blared and sardines all gathered around as the royal palace turned into a giant party. It was Christmas, but even better—for the King and Princess Jessica were home. Amidst all the celebration, the Jessica and her father swam to a quiet part of the palace.
“I’m sure you have all sorts of questions, Jessica,” he said.
“Yes, father,” said Jessica, who was still getting used to being a sardine. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier that I was a sardine?”
“Because, technically, you’re half sardine and half human. Your mother was a beautiful woman, and I wish you knew her better . We met one day while she was gathering mussels, and we started talking... and well… I decided to leave my Kingdom for true love. We had a good life together, then we had you. But it was a rough pregnancy.” The King paused, and wiped his eye with his fin. “She asked me to give you whatever you wanted, and I promised her I would.”
He looked at her, sadly. “Jessica, I heard you every night wish for a magic pony, and for a prince who would help you do your hair. For all my magic, there are no ponies under the sea…and, well, as for hair…sardines don’t have any. So every night, I wished with you with all my might.
“Finally, this Christmas, I couldn’t bear to see you wish for something I couldn’t give you, and decided maybe your mother’s spirit wouldn’t mind if I shared with you what little I had.”
Jessica looked at her father in wonder. “You mean, all these years?”
“I wanted your wishes to come true.”
“Father!” Jessica cried and squiggled next to him, “I don’t need a magic pony or a prince or even beautiful hair. I want to be with you, here, in the Kingdom of Sardines.”
It was now the King’s turn to cry, “You know, as a half sardine, you can travel back and forth to the surface all you want. For the rest of us, it takes a lot of magic—you’re lucky that way!
“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner, and that I had Prince Maxwell take you on that tour of the Kingdom. But I was worried that if you found out your father was a fish right away, you’d never want to see me again. You can return to the surface any time—I never want you to feel trapped here—but this is my home, and I just didn’t want you to think poorly of your fishy old dad.”
“Never! Oh Father! Never!”
The two sardines held each other’s fins and started swimming back to the party—then the King took Princess Jessica around the back to a secret royal garden. There being tended to by Prince Maxwell, was the most beautiful iridescent sea horse Jessica had ever seen.
“Merry Christmas, my dearest Jessica,” said the King of Sardines.
A Final Note On Pilchards
The terms "sardine" and "pilchard” are not precise, and the preferred term varies with the region. The United Kingdom's Sea Fish Industry Authority, for example, classifies sardines as young pilchards.
In this book, I used the term “sardine,” throughout, as it is the term with which I am most familiar. However, should any pilchards take offense at being referred to as “sardines,” this author offers her most humble apology.
-Ryka
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Lovely tale Miss Ryka. I cannot think of anyone that could be offended at a misuse of the term sardine v. Pilchard, but if there are such individuals…..I don’t want to meet them
Those merry and joyful--I'm going to look at my dad a bit meanly when he eats his Christmas tin of sardines tho! 😂
Lovely tale Miss Ryka. I cannot think of anyone that could be offended at a misuse of the term sardine v. Pilchard, but if there are such individuals…..I don’t want to meet them