The garbage prince

Belinda lay on the beach sunbathing. She wore a pair of dark sunglasses and tried to look attractive. Most of all she hoped to meet a handsome prince who would invite her to a restaurant. Each day she left for the beach and lay there waiting - but no prince appeared.

Many other young ladies lay on the beach. Every now and then a young man sat down beside them. She saw them often leave the beach hand in hand. Belinda sighed and opened another can of soda water, another chocolate bar, and had an ice cream - just for consolation.

By the end of summer there was garbage all around the spot where Belinda sunbathed. She was dark brown all over her body. But under the sunglasses her lonely tears flowed. Had you been there you would have heard her crying.

The cracker boxes, the banana skins, the ice cream sticks, the soda cans and all the other garbage were so sad on her behalf. "Can't we do something to brighten her up?" the sweaty paper asked. "I can't endure her weeping any more." "Not me either," the plastic bag said. "If only a prince could come and release her from her longings."

A small whirlwind came out from the woods, it sneaked up on Belinda whirling up the trash and forming it into a prince's shape. A garbage prince lying down beside her.

He looked awkward with empty cans as arms and legs. He had bottlecaps for nails, a plastic bag as head and old crackers boxes for a neck. With his fingers of ice cream sticks, he shaded the sun and sighed: "Isn't it a wonderful day?" "Yes," Belinda replied, smiling at him. She saw that it was a young man there, but her sunglasses were so dark she couldn't see what he looked like. "It is a beautiful day," she said and laid back again. "But you are even more beautiful," the garbage prince said. "Do you really think so?" Belinda asked, her heart beating fast. "Yes," the garbage prince said. "I've been looking at you all summer. You must be the most beautiful girl in the world."

Belinda sighed, feeling like jelly after hearing such sweet words. "Maybe you want to come with me to the restaurant and have dinner?" the garbage prince asked. Belinda nodded. His voice was so soft and strong that she was sure he must be a prince. "Yes, thank you," she replied and removed her sunglasses to have a closer look at him.

When she saw the garbage prince she jumped, holding her hand in front of her mouth. "But, but, what are you?" "I'm just the garbage prince." "But, I can't go to the restaurant with a garbage prince," she uttered. "Why not," the garbage said sadly. "I don't want to show myself together with a pile of garbage, that's why." "You have promised, remember," the garbage prince said and settled the matter.

Belinda put her sunglasses back on and nodded. "OK then," she agreed. "But only this once." She dressed and left the beach with the garbage prince. Thank heavens for the sunglasses, she thought. He doesn't look too bad through these, and nobody will recognise me.

In the restaurant the garbage prince ordered soup and wine for Belinda. She was still very embarrassed. But when she started to eat, the garbage prince started to sing. He had a wonderful singing voice that made Belinda smile. While he was singing, she saw that he became handsomer and handsomer, even though his skin was of plastic bags and cartons. She was so seduced by his song that she removed her sun glasses.

The garbage prince asked Belinda to dance while the other restaurant guests were pointing and laughing. "Look at her - she is dancing with a pile of dirt." But Belinda didn't hear anything but the garbage prince's song. She thought he was marvellous and her love had made her both blind and deaf to what was happening. She let him stroke her hair with his fingers, let herself be hugged in his soda can arms, feeling passionate vibrations in her body. Feelings of love filled her completely from top to toe and in her eyes the garbage prince was a real prince.

So when the garbage prince bent over to kiss her, she met his ice-cream-paper lips with passion. Just when they kissed a man in the restaurant took a picture of them. The light from the blitz woke Belinda from her love-dream. "What? Where am I?" she stuttered.

Beside her lay a pile of garbage and in front of her a man stood laughing. "Ha, ha, ha, I have a picture of you kissing that garbage, ha, ha, ha." Belinda staggered out of the restaurant and hurried home. She felt hot and dizzy, and could just faintly remember the garbage prince lying beside her on the beach.

She slept heavily that  night, dreaming of a beautiful song, a dance and a kiss. But when she read the newspaper next morning she was reminded of the whole affair. There was a picture of her kissing a plastic bag full of garbage. The picture was subtitled. "Many people get sunstroke on these hot summer days." Her first thought was to throw the paper away, but then she saw a detail in the picture. There was a barely visible contour of a human head in the plastic bag, as if there was somebody inside.

Belinda got dressed and hurried back to the restaurant. It was closed, and she could see through the window that the garbage was all cleaned up. It was probably just my imagination Belinda thought and started to walk home. She then heard a faint voice from the garbage bin. "Let me out, please let me out."

Belinda recognised that voice. She ran towards the bin and opened the lid. "My prince," she shouted and opened her arms. And a prince it was. Out of the garbage rose the most handsome fairy tale prince you can imagine. "Your kiss broke the magic spell," he explained and put his arm round Belindas waist. "But I couldn't get out of the plastic bags before they threw me in the bin."

He started to sing, they started to dance and then he gave her a real prince's kiss.

© Martin Nygaard