A Grand Celebration - Pt.2

Lao Tze and I were at the botanical gardens at the appointed time for the Black Queen's spaceship to pick us up.  We were welcomed aboard by Black Star himself.

"Greetings," he said.  "I have been sent by the Black Queen to make sure that your journey is as comfortable as possible."

He led us into the visitors' lounge and ordered refreshments for us.  We took off shortly and on the way, I was able to chat with him.  He was quite an amiable fellow and clearly very loyal to the Black Queen.

"Yes, we managed to overthrow Black Eye and his comrades and have thrown them in prison," he said, when I asked him about Black Eye.  "It was a difficult fight but we had the advantage as the Black Queen knew her castle very well, of course and we were able to surprise them by attacking from hidden tunnels and passages."

"That's great, Black Star," I said.  "But can you tell me why the Black Planet is in darkness all the time?  Everything is black and white.  The Black Queen mentioned something about a curse."

"Well, the legend has it that a wicked witch failed to win the love of one of the Queen's ancestors and in revenge put a curse on the planet, turning everything into darkness.  It was already like this when I was born."

"Can't anything be done to break the curse?"

Black Star gave me a strange look, then shrugged and left the room.  I wondered whether I had offended him by  talking about the curse but soon forgot about it as we landed at the Black Planet and were taken to the Black Queen's castle.  We were given a huge room and requested to come down for the celebration at 8 in the evening.  It was most strange to be in an environment where everything was black and white - the curtains, the bed, the sofa.  There was no electricity, only huge torches of fire which lit up the walls.

"Hmm, very creepy," said Lao Tze.  "Look, while we're waiting to go down for dinner, I shall look into my computer and see whether I can find anything about curses."

"Good idea, Lao Tze,"  I said.

By dinner time, Lao Tze was still working away but nothing found. We freshened up and went down to the dining hall where the celebration was being held.  The whole place was filled with black cats and as we came in, they stared hard at me, making me feel quite uncomfortable.  I assumed that this must be the first time they had seen a "coloured" cat and thought no more of it.

The Black Queen was already in the dining hall and as we entered, she came forward to welcome us.

"Aah, my two friends from Earth," she said.  "Welcome!  I am glad you are able to come.  For a moment I thought you would turn me down."  She led us to a long table where food and drinks had already been laid out, and again it was most strange to see food in black and white.  There was also a three tiered black and white cake with pretty decorations standing at the back of the hall.

"I know what you are thinking," said the Black Queen, smiling.  "I assure you the food tastes similar to what you find on Earth, maybe even better!  For you, I have specially prepared vegetarian food - try it, you'll see what I mean."

I gingerly picked up a piece of cucumber and hesitatingly put it in my mouth.  She was right, it tasted just like a cucumber from Earth.

My curiosity was tickled pink.  "But how do you grow these veggies?  You don't have any sun ...."

The Black Queen laughed.  "We have our ways and means - remember necessity is the mother of invention.  Just enjoy yourself and don't worry so much about the food!"

She clapped her hands and a couple of musicians and dancers appeared.  So began the merriment ..

(To be continued)

A grand celebration ...

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