The Return of the Young Prince by A. G. Roemmers

Author:A. G. Roemmers
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780749570
Publisher: Oneworld Publications

‘So should we give up all our memories?’ the Young Prince suddenly cut in, I suppose because the memories of his flower and his friend were very important to him.

‘No. All the good memories and gratifying experiences you carry with you can be of comfort in difficult moments, or when you feel alone. What you should avoid is clinging to that past, that secure place, because you could end up trapped in it and stop yourself from living your experiences in the present. The past is secure because it’s closed, dead. Despite that, some still prefer the peace and security of death to the uncertainty of life, with all its possibilities for joy and suffering.’

A moment later, I added, ‘Another way that memories conspire against your happiness is in making you want to feel things you have felt in the past, that will never happen. Just as the water in a river is never the same, situations in life are never repeated in exactly the same way. Despite that, it’s amazing to see how many people get trapped trying to relive the same experiences. It stops them enjoying new ones that might be just as good or better. This is where a person is just like an animal that goes back again and again to a place where it once found food, until it dies of hunger simply because it never explored a little further afield.’

For a long while, the two of us were lost in our thoughts, with nothing to interrupt them, as that landscape is graceful enough to remain respectfully in the background.

When the Young Prince finally spoke, he took me by surprise.

‘Thank you,’ he said.

‘Why are you thanking me?’ I asked.

‘For saving me from unhappiness,’ he replied.

‘What do you mean?’ I wanted to know.

‘Well, I’ve been thinking about what you said and I’ve discovered I had a thought deeply rooted in my mind: I would never be truly happy again until I found another friend like the aviator I miss so much. However, that thought contains all three obstacles to happiness that you mentioned before. First of all, the need for “someone like him” that would stop me from considering other people, different from him but perhaps just as interesting and noble. Secondly, the question of “security”, because I’d never be totally secure in the thought that I’d found someone identical to him. And thirdly, “the search”, which would make me focus on the future, on someone I might yet meet, and not value the people already around me.’

‘I can see that you’ve understood me perfectly,’ I conceded, with the pride of a master who has found his best pupil.

‘You can never be attentive enough,’ said the Young Prince.

‘No, never,’ I repeated, and we both smiled.

In the silence that followed, I could tell there was something lingering in his expression that tied him to the past, but I decided to wait before I was sure.

While the car carried on calmly devouring the road as though it were

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