15Once upon a time, there was a kingdom. It was a very small kingdom, actually. It consisted of only one single town called Toad-Town… and that town itself wasn't even very big to begin with. There were only four buildings in the whole town: A normal house, a house that doubled as a shop, a train station and a castle. This was the Mushroom Kingdom.
Unlike bigger countries, such as Italy or France, there weren't too many people living here. In the castle lived the peace-loving ruler of the kingdom, the gentle and demure Princess Peach, together with her personal steward Toadsworth, and her maid Toadette. She had a small park behind her castle, in which her best friend and royal pet lived, a green dinosaur called Yoshi.
In the house with the shop, a small mushroom boy named Toad was living. He was in charge of the only shop on the island. If anyone wanted to buy anything, it could be found in Toad's store. It was well known that Toad had a massive crush on Peach's maid, Toadette, but the two little mushroom retainers believed that their love was a well-kept secret.
In the normal house, the two brothers Mario and Luigi were living. They were plumbers and did not only take care of the kingdom's plumbing, but also of all the necessary repairs and other technical works. They had constructed a big network of pipes underneath the town that allowed everyone to reach each place within a matter of seconds. No one really bothered telling them that this network was useless, since each building could be reached within seconds on foot from each part of the kingdom… but since the Mario Brothers were so proud of their work, nobody dared telling them the truth.
They lead a quiet, but happy life in their little kingdom. On holidays, Peach sat down on Yoshi's back and rode through her whole kingdom, while her subjects cheered and the Mario Brothers threw their caps up into the air with joy.
One other important thing should be said about the Mushroom Kingdom. It is strongly advised not to walk across the kingdom's borders… as anyone who did that would instantly have wet feet. The reason: The whole kingdom was situated on a tiny island, in the middle of the wide ocean.
Once or twice a week, Mushroom Island was visited by the mailman, a pelican named Pete. As the kingdom was so isolated, they rarely got any exciting mail. Princess Peach loved the peace and quiet and had almost no political contact to any other countries.
The inhabitants of the little island were happy with their lives, and would have most probably never left their island… if not for a notable event that would change all of their lives forever.
One day, Pete the mailman arrived in Toad-Town with a very stern expression on his face, which was pretty unusual for him. "Does someone named 'Miyu Too' live on this island?"
Mario looked at Luigi, Toad looked at Toadette and even Princess Peach came out of her castle. "My dear Pete," she said sweetly, but with a hint of sternness behind her words. "You've been bringing us our mail for more than five years now, and you know me and every single of my subjects. You should know that there is no one called 'Miyu Too' living in my kingdom."
"But Your Highness," Pete said. "Please, read for yourself, Your Highness!" And he gave her the big parcel he was holding. It was completely wrapped in packaging paper, and on the bottom, someone had written the mailing address with huge, scrawly letters:
'TO: MIYUU TOO
OLD STREAT 88
THIRD FLOAR ON THE LEFD
M. ISLANT'
Peach read the address loudly, and everyone scratched his or her head thoughtfully. "That is… strange, very strange," Toadsworth spoke up.
Peach nodded. "Indeed, it is. But I think Pete is right: 'M. ISLANT' can only be our Mushroom Island."
"What about a return address?" Toad asked.
Mario took a look. "All I can see is a big, red R on the back."
"Very strange indeed…" Peach said again.
"But princess…" Toadette protested. "There is no Old Street here in Toad-Town."
"That is right, admittedly," Peach nodded.
"And we also don't have a house number 88," Luigi added.
"That is also correct," Peach said.
"And especially no building with three floors," Mario concluded. "As this town's only plumber, I know every household. Maybe Pete just made a mistake…"
The pelican looked pretty offended after hearing that.
"But think about it…" Peach suddenly got very excited. "If he didn't, then I have another subject… a subject I knew nothing about! Oh, this is so exciting…"
And while Peach ran back into her castle and tried to call every household in her kingdom via telephone, Mario took the parcel from Pete, sat down on Yoshi and rode across the whole island, shouting: "Mr. Miyuuuuu! Here's a parcel for yoouuuuuu!"
But of course, nobody answered.
In the end, they couldn't find him. And since Peach was the kingdom's ruler, he allowed her to open the parcel, so they knew what was inside. Soon enough, everyone stood around Peach as she was in her room in the castle and tore the packaging paper away from the parcel.
"As soon as we know what's inside, we're gonna know more about this whole matter," Toadsworth proclaimed.
When all of the packaging paper was removed, they all could see that there were air holes in the box. Peach opened it… and there was a smaller box inside. In that one was an even smaller box, and then another one, each with air holes in it. The smallest was about as big as a shoebox.
The princess then opened the last one… and there was a small baby lying in the box, with a small tuft of blonde hair atop its head, looking at them with big eyes.
"A baby?" Luigi wondered.
"If I may, I think this is a little boy," Toadsworth said.
"Awww, how cute!" Toadette gushed.
"How strange…" Toad murmured. "Look, there's a small, golden triangle on his left hand…"
Mario, however, was getting angry. "Who in their right mind would put a small, helpless baby into a box and send it away in the mail? If I imagine what could have happened to the little guy…"
Mario's loud voice scared the baby boy, so he began to cry. Peach quickly picked him up and tried to calm him with soothing words. Mario looked at the floor in shame. He didn't want to scare the little guy.
Peach, however, couldn't be any happier. For a long time, her biggest wish had been to be a mother, and it seemed that now, this dream was coming true.
Pete was actually happy with that solution. He didn't know where else he could have brought the baby. He didn't know any other island that started with an M, and the R on the back of the box didn't really give any clues on who had mailed the baby away. In the end, everyone agreed that he could stay on Mushroom Island.
"How are we gonna call him?" Toadette suddenly asked.
Mario smiled as he looked at the baby boy in Peach's arms. "Well, I suggest calling him Link, because of that triangle on his left hand… and since left means 'links' in German…" He carefully held his right index finger in the baby's direction. "Hello, Link!"
And Link touched the plumber's gloved finger and laughed. From that day on, they were friends.
Author's Notes:
Pete the pelican is the mailman from the Animal Crossing games.
This story is based on the book of German author Michael Ende, 'Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer' (English title: Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver).
More chapters coming soon.
