If you go outside on a dark clear night and gaze at the northern sky, you will easily see the Big Dipper and the North Star. If you look just above the last star on the Big Dipper's handle, and slightly to the left, you will see the tiniest of stars. It is so small that unless the sky is very clear, you may not be able to see it at all. That tiny speck of light, billions of miles away, is really a beautiful, pink, planet named Puffen. At least, that's what the beings who live there call it.

On the planet Puffen, there are two kinds of people; the Heavenlies and the Lowlies. Princess Sassy is a ten year old Heavenly. She looks very much like a human child except that she is only ten inches tall and she has silky, tiger striped, gold, wings that allow her to fly around like a beautiful butterfly. Everyone on Puffen is tiny compared to Earth standards. Even Sassy's parents are only foureen inches tall.

There are two differences between Heavenlies and Lowlies. The first is that Lowlies don't have wings and cannot fly. The second is that only a Heavenly can be a king, a queen, a prince or a princess. Sometimes, even in the same family one child might be born a Heavenly and another one born a Lowly. One day, when she is grown up, Sassy will be crowned the Queen of Fluff. Fluff is the friendly little Puffen kingdom that Sassy’s parents now rule. Sassy has a younger brother, Victor, but he isn't a prince. He was born a Lowly without wings, so he can never be a prince or king. 

It was a beautiful morning. The sky was the color of a thousand flamingos, except for the huge purple sun hanging like a giant grape in the eastern sky. Sassy stood on the palace wall. She took a deep breath and smiled because the air smelled like fresh strawberries. Looking out over the peach colored lake in the village park, she spied Victor, laughing and splashing water as he swam. Victor, is seven-years-old with big brown eyes and curly blonde hair. 

Stepping off the edge of the wall, Sassy sailed down to the lake and landed in the velvety, lemon colored, sand at the water's edge. "Hi, Victor," she yelled.

Victor turned in the water to see who was calling, and hollered back, "Hi, Sassy, just a minute, I'm coming out." He stood up in the shallow water and walked to where Sassy was standing. "I wish you could swim, Sassy. The water is perfect this morning."

"Me too," said Sassy, "but the water would ruin my silky wings. Sometimes, I wish that I had been born a Lowly and could swim with you."

"And sometimes, I wish that I could have wings and sail among the clouds with you."

Sassy couldn't swim and Victor couldn’t fly, but it didn't matter, they were still the best of friends -- at least they were until their cousins, Prince Marvel and Princess Majestic came to visit.

Marvel and Majestic were twins. Their father, King Favor, and mother, Queen Grace, ruled Bounce, the largest, wealthiest and most distinguished kingdom on Puffen. As far back as records were kept, no Lowly had ever been born into their royal family.

Marvel and Majestic liked Sassy but they always ignored Victor. "Why do you play with that Lowly?" Majestic asked Sassy with a sneer.

"He's my brother," Sassy said, "we always play together."

"Aren't there any Heavenlies you can play with here in Fluff?" Majestic asked.

"There are lots of Heavenlies in Fluff, but Victor is a good brother and I like playing with him. 

"But he can't even fly," said Marvel. "How can you be friends with someone who can't fly?"

"We don't need to fly. We walk on the beach, and sit and talk in the garden."

“Well, we’re not playing with him while we’re here,” said Majestic. “When Heavenlies play with Lowlies, the Lowlies begin to think they’re is good as princes and princesses. It's not a good thing.”

This was very hard for Sassy, she loved her brother Victor, but Majestic and Marvel were older and she wanted them to like her and play with her. Sassy had promised Victor, that she would take him to the park, where he could play on his skate board. They both love skateboarding. Sassy had to be careful, because if she'd fell, she might damage her fragile wings, but she was very good at lifting off the skateboard just before she started to tumble. She would simply float upward, then glide back down to the ground without so much as a scuff. Victor didn't have to worry about wings, but neither did he have that safety net when he started to fall. He sometimes left the skate park with scrapes and bruises, but he didn't care. Skateboarding was so much fun that a few bruises didn't even matter. Sassy admired her little brother, because he was a tough little kid, and he rarely cried when he fell. They had spent many happy afternoons laughing and talking while skating up and down the ramps and valleys of the skate park.

On this day, however, Majestic and Marvel had invited Sassy to go to the mall with them. Sassy loved shopping, and she wanted to buy some gold-dust glitter to sprinkle on her wings. Majestic always wore gold or silver glitter, and she sparkled like the stars when she flew. Sassy had never seen anything so beautiful, and she wanted some for herself.

It was a dilemma. She had promised to take Victor to the park, but she really wanted to go to the mall. “I can play with Victor anytime,” she told herself, “but Majestic and Marvel will only be here for a short time. Victor will just have to understand." 

Victor did not complain when Sassy told him that she could not take him to the park, “It’s okay,” he said, “I will pick some fresh carrots from my garden instead. We can eat them with dinner tonight,” but Sassy knew he was greatly disappointed.

Sassy, Marvel, and Majestic flew to the mall on a soft Scarlet breeze. It was a large two-story mall. The main floor contained stores and every kind, carrying all of the supplies that anyone, Heavenly or Lowly might need. Overlooking the main floor was a balcony filled with specialty shops. The balcony was a special place exclusively for Heavenlies. In fact, there were no stairs, escalators or elevators, so no lowly could ever ascend to these elite, fashionable stores.

They stopped first at the glitter store, to sample the various flavors. Sassy purchased gold glitter, Marvel selected a small vial of raspberry glitter, and Majestic chose a lime and strawberry mixture. Next, they visited the salon were Marvel had his wingtips polished and shined. While they waited for Marvel, Sassy and Majestic sat perched upon the railing that surrounded the balcony. They watched the Lowlies going in and out of the various stores, and occasionally Majestic commented on how horrible it must be to live one’s entire life on the ground.

"Yes," said Sassy, "I often wish that Victor could fly. There are so many things we could do together if he had wings."

"It must be a very sad life for them," said Majestic, "but they're not very bright after all, so they probably don't even know what they're missing."

"That's not true." said Sassy, "Victor is very intelligent and he can do many things that I cannot do."

"I cannot imagine anything a lowly does that I would want to do. They always have dust and dirt on their feet and its so disgusting. I don't even like to be around them."

"That is not a nice thing to say, Majestic. You should be ashamed of yourself. Sometimes I wish I were a Lowly, working in the garden, creating beautiful plants, with delicate flowers, and wondrous smells. Victor and the Lowlies always keep our world so beautiful."

"Sassy, you were such a fool. Can’t you see that God created us to be like Himself and the Lowlies were merely an afterthought created to serve us? Of course, they make our world beautiful, but they cannot really appreciate the beauty as we do." Majestic shook her finger at she spoke, making Sassy feel like a scolded Child.

A tear pooled in her eye. Perhaps she was a fool, but she refused to believe that her brother Victor or any other Lowly had less merit than a Heavenly simply because they did not have wings. "You are mean, and prideful," said Sassy. “I should have stayed with Victor. I would rather be with him then with you." And she flew from the balcony, out of the mall and back to her home. That evening, neither Marvel or Majestic would speak to her but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to be friends with anyone who said bad things about Victor. 

The next morning Marvel and Majestic returned to Bounce. “I’m sorry your friends had to go,” Victor told Sassy.

Sassy just hugged him and said, “Friends come and go, but brothers are forever.”

Victor, smiled at her and said, “I love you, Sassy.”

“I love you too,” said Sassy, and they spent the rest of the summer gardening, skateboarding and just enjoying being brother and sister.

End