(Exposition) Once upon a time, a curse was put on the Crimson Kingdom. They were known for their fancy ways and didn't care about the poor people in their kingdom. People were out on the streets, sick, but the king and queen didn’t care. They were too full of themselves to believe that people were struggling.

This curse was put on this kingdom by the Grand Fairy as punishment for their selfishness. As she cast the curse she declared, “Only a true act of honor will break the curse.” For the next decade, the kingdom became poor, all of its soft soil dried up, and people didn't have enough food to eat. Those who were once rich were now begging for food. Even the King and Queen struggled. 

Having lost all hope, the King goes to a fortune teller for help. She looks into her crystal ball and says, “Do not fret, in 2 years a hero will be born and your kingdom will be saved.”

2 years later, the Queen gave birth to a daughter. The King and Queen believed she was their hero, so they trapped her in the castle to make sure no harm would come her way. The Kingdom loved the princess dearly because she was the Kingdom’s hero and she gave the people hope, believing that she would one day bring the kingdom back to what it was before.

Stop that dragon!

I got it your majesty!

(Conflict Introduced) After the princess’s birth, the kingdom lived in hope. Until, one night, a dragon breaks into the castle and the princess goes missing. The King recruits one of their best knights to go find her. They send a knight that is young, but very skilled. His orders are to find the princess and kill the dragon. The knight is excited because this is his chance to prove his worthiness to the princess and possibly marry her. He had been crushing on her from afar for a while now. Not only would he be known for saving the kingdom, but this was his chance to become the next King as well.

 (Rising Action 3) The night begins his long journey. After searching for days, he meets a monk meditating under a tree. The knight approaches the monk mistaking him for a hungry beggar and offers the last piece of bread he has left. The monk opens his eyes, squinting, he says, 

“You have disturbed my piece.” 

“I’m so sorry,” replies the knight.

“What are you searching for, young man?” the Monk asks.

“I’m in search of the dragon who took my princess? Have you by any chance seen the dragon anywhere?”

“That dragon lies in the cave on top of the mountain, but what do you plan to do with the dragon?”

“Well, I plan to kill it of course?” replies the knight

“You will be making the biggest mistake of your life!!” The monk yells.

Listen to me young man

The Monk tells the knight, “You see in Buddhism, we follow the eightfold path which are steps people take to find their true selves and live a happy life. One of the parts of the eight-fold path is Right Livelihood which means don’t harm others (Rahula). Whether it is animals, plants, or people, you must never hurt or bring them any harm. When it comes to your job, you must stay away from tasks that make you hurt others (Castro). If you want something, you must get it the right way, without fighting or using tricks like lying. (Castro). This is because what you do changes people around you too (Castro). If you are looking for happiness, that can be found by living an honest, kind life (William). Living a life where you can follow what your heart tells you to do is what happiness truly is (William). So when you go up that mountain, listen to your heart young man.

I can't do it

After his conversation with the monk, the knight makes his way to the cave. He sees the big dragon and the princess deep in the cave. He finds it strange that the princess is smiling and playing with the dragon. He had never seen her smile this brightly before. At first, he feels scared, he remembers his mission, to kill the dragon and save the princess but the knight is unable to forget the monk’s wise words. He can’t bring himself to kill the dragon. In the end, the knight chooses to not kill the dragon because it does not deserve any pain and is not hurting the princess.  

(Rising Action 4) The knight returns to the Crimson Kingdom. He decides to be honest with the King, remembering that the monk had told him that to live a happy life, he cannot lie.  The knight kneels before the King and tells him he was unable to kill the dragon. Before the Knight says another word, the King cuts him off yelling “You useless Knight!” “Our Kingdom is now doomed” “What are we going to do without our hero” “You are a fool for not being able to kill the dragon!”

Eventually, the whole kingdom hears about what the knight did and turns against him. They lock him up for betraying the kingdom. They decide that they will all go together to kill the dragon themselves and save the princess. Citizens from all over town join and march towards the dragon’s cave. They bring pitchforks, shovels, and anything they could find. 

Lock him up!

Get up!

Meanwhile, the Knight sits in prison feeling like he should give up. He doesn’t see a point in trying anymore. His good intentions got him put in prison. As the Knight sits in prison, a small little bird flies by. 

The bird whispers “Hey! What are you doing? Get up!” People are hunting the dragon as we speak!” “You should do something before it’s too late”

“There’s no point!” “I got myself stuck in prison anyway”

“You have to remember that it’s important to maintain the balance of the world. I’ve flown all over the world and the most important things I learned were from the Cherokee tribe in North America. They reminded me that life is like a circle, filled with generations of your family line (Karen). What you do with your life is key because it shapes your circle (Karen). The way your circle is shaped will change your future family’s lives as well, so make your choices wisely (Karen). In Cherokee beliefs, you will always be awarded for good actions (Western Cherokee). Do not worry about the evil that is out there because they will always be punished (Western Cherokee). It’s your responsibility to take care of your world so that your future children and grandchildren don’t have to struggle (Western Cherokee). Do what's right and save the dragon or the balance between nature and humans will be broken. 

“You are right!” “Just like how the monk told me, I should follow the path to end suffering, doing the right thing and saving this dragon will keep my future kids from suffering. I should at least try my best to save the kingdom. What matters is that I tried, and who knows, maybe I’ll be rewarded with the princess’s hand in marriage!"

Everybody stop!