Winnifred of Latvia

            In a snow peaked land, known then as
Latvia, there lived a sixteen-year-old princess who was lucky enough to be
called Winnifred. Winnifred was born to a family who had ten children, seven
boys and three girls, when she arrived. However, most of them were married and
had moved to, “homes,” of their own, which were actually luxurious palaces. Since
Latvia was a sliver of a country, it couldn’t afford to pick fights with nations
nearby. As a result of this, each of the ten siblings had married a king or
queen based on a colored map of their parents’ wishes.  

            For
example, the large kingdom of Mullenstein lay to the north. It was colored in
red as Mullenstein had been a threat to Latvia for many years, due to their superior
army. Winnifred’s eldest sister had been a bright and beautiful young lady of
nineteen when she was asked to marry Mullenstein’s dull minded, stout king who
had been married twice. He was an older widower. Winnifred’s eldest sister had
been disgusted at the idea but consented, for peace. “If it is the will of God,
I cannot argue,” she had said. At the wedding, she had looked like a sad angel
in white.

            Now, it wasn’t that Winnifred’s
parents didn’t love their children. Winnifred’s parents felt that they carried
out God’s will as they understood it, for their subject’s sake. Often,
Winnifred’s mother said, “We don’t create wars. We create marriages.” Wars had
erupted in the past and could erupt in the future. But happily, for Winnifred,
she knew nothing of these worries as she grew up. She grew up to be quite a
tomboy. She loved sledding and hiking, fishing and running, raising frogs and
raising hairs in council meetings. Her mother, the queen, allowed this because
Winnifred was often lonely. She had no other siblings to play with. She tried
to play with older people but they seemed uninterested or too busy. It was at
this age that Winnifred came to look upon Jesus as a friend. She had loved
reading about the miracles of Jesus.

Hello
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