Once upon a time, there was a cute, bubbly and fairly intelligent girl; we'll call her Cinderella, from a generic city in the United States. She was mommy and daddy's little princess but she had hopes and dreams of being much more. So one day, she swallowed her fear, let the Department of Defense poke her with needles and test her urine and assess her intelligence to determine if she was qualified to become a sailor for the United States Navy....
Upon physical and intellectual approval, she was sent to a camp, where she learned, along with hundreds of other princes and princesses (some with a little more complex than others) how to shine boots, fold clothes, march, and manage time. The 2 month camp was an attempt to transform the royal civillians into self-disciplined mercenaries.
Cinderella made it through the camp with less hassle than she had expected, and realized that she was a little stronger, and a little more capable than she had been previously aware.
Following the ceremony to celebrate their achievements, the newly transformed princes and princesses were dispersed to their appropriate schools, for training in the fields granted to them according to the needs of the Navy.
Cinderella had long ago lost her princess complex. She knew she was no longer a spoiled girl with a golden spoon; she had elected to lose that title long ago. She was prepared for the future.
The future was quite astonishingly different from what she had expected, though. Cinderella put on her uniform, learned her trade and followed the rules. She cleaned and cleaned and learned and learned and adhered to the strict curfew.
She, among the other members of her battalion, had been warned several times a day, every day, of the potential consequences of missing curfew...
And she hadn't worked this hard to become a pumpkin. So she knew the rules must apply; despite the lack of logic that may exist from time to time....
Cinderella worked and worked and cleaned and cleaned and learned and learned and showed up on time. She shined her boots and ironed her blouse and polished her collar devices. She studied on the weekends, stood watch in the middle of the night, learned to be louder than ever before and sing cadence louder than the callers. She strived for excellence because that's what chief expected of her. None of it was with reward, other than the simple feeling of self-gratification; accomplishment, success.
Cleaning and learning and looking proper and acting proper and making the right decisions did not come without a price. For, not everyone shared her philosophy. Most of the mercenaries strived for excellence, but there were a few un-transformed princes and princesses that were starting to stench of rotten pumpkin. In an attempt to keep the pandemic from spreading, the chief decided to make school and home rules more strict. He didn't want the rotten ones to spread their disease.
The strict expectations set upon Cinderella and the rest of her battalion in an attempt to protect them from the spreading disease, grew them tired and weary. No reward or recognition were manageable characteristics of their new lives as mercenaries. But having no chance to escape the curse set upon them from the rotting pumpkins was something to cause morale loss. The sailors were starting to stench of another disease all together; resentment.
The sailors needed a chance to escape the reality and the lack thereof in their new and overbearing lives. They tried many different ways to find temporary escape.
Cinderella, from recommendation of her roommate, was set up on a date with Prince Charming. She was weary of the set up. Her hair was short, she was tired and stressed and it was not a good time to meet the prince. But then she discovered that the prince was also a mercenary. And he had escaped the tightly bound rules of A school long ago.
So just for one night....the two mercenaries could be a prince and a princess again. She agreed to the arrangement, and hoped that he was as charming as his name.
She was so nervous to escape the tight binds of her new life for fear of becoming a pumpkin. But she knew if she didn't escape, she would rot of resentment and loss of morale. Cinderella and a fellow shipmate drank beer at the mercenary's bowling alley until Prince Charming arrived in his coach (Dodge Ram).
Through time, Cinderella and Prince Charming met more often on days when cleaning was light and learning was over. They had a chance to get out of their uniforms and into their prince and princess outfits; the ones they knew and loved. They would walk through the park, drink coffee and talk, sip sake and contemplate peace. They shared every moment together until the hour rolled around for Cinderella to return to the barracks, to avoid the pumpkin curse. They kept this trend going, for the sake of both of them. Cinderella knew they were lonely together. But being lonely together was far better than being lonely alone. They knew it could only last as long as she was within the compounds of her mercenary training center. Soon enough, they'd both move on, as mercenaries do.
Cinderella still cleans and learns and marches and sings and folds and obeys the rule of the land. But between Prince Charming and her fellow shipmates, she does so while still remembering...
The Princess still exists. And she will always be a princess; but she will always be a sailor first.
The promise of relief is the primary incentive for Cinderella to wax the floors, shine the boots and learn her special trade.
The moral of the story: You can take the prince and princesses out of their promise land.
You can turn a prince and a princess into loyal servants.
But the prince and princess can never lose sight of who they really are; or your loyal servants will become complacent, depressed, and lack the morale to serve properly....
Or even worse, they can become pumpkins.
