Six years ago, my plane crashed in the heart of the Sahara. I was all alone, surrounded by a thousand miles of nothing but sand that shimmered like gold under the sun. I was a man of logic, a pilot with a broken engine. But as night fell, the desert whispered secrets that no grown-up could understand. I wasn't just fixing a plane; I was waiting for a miracle.
At dawn, a small and ethereal voice woke me up. 'Please... draw me a sheep,' it said. I jumped as if struck by lightning. There, standing on the dunes, was a little boy with golden hair and a scarf dancing in the wind. He didn't seem lost, hungry, or scared. He didn't want a map or water; he wanted a drawing. He wanted a piece of my imagination.
I drew three sheep, but none were right. One was too sick, another too old. Frustrated and eager to fix my engine, I scribbled a simple box with three holes. 'The sheep you want is inside,' I said. To my surprise, the boy's face lit up. 'It's exactly how I wanted it!' he exclaimed. At that moment, I understood that for him, the invisible was more real than the visible.
Soon, I learned that his home wasn't a country, but a tiny planet called Asteroid B-612. It was a world so small that a man could watch the sunset forty-four times in a single day just by moving his chair. A place where three little volcanoes reached up to his knees and where space was silent and pure. To adults, it was just a number; to him, it was everything.
But even a small paradise has its shadows. The Prince told me about the Baobabs: monstrous trees with roots like tentacles. If you don't pull them out when they're small, they grow until they pierce the heart of the planet and destroy it. 'It's a matter of discipline,' he said. We must clear the weeds from our soul every morning before they become giants.
For a long time, there were only simple flowers on B-612. But one day, a mysterious seed sprouted. The Prince watched it grow with wonder. This flower was unlike the others; it took its time dressing in the dark, choosing its colors carefully. When it finally opened its petals at dawn, it was so beautiful that the Prince fell to his knees. 'Oh! You are so lovely!' he whispered.
But the Rose was as difficult as she was beautiful. She demanded a screen for the wind and a glass globe for the night. She boasted about her four thorns as if they could protect her from tigers. The Prince spent his days serving her, but her pride began to weigh on his heart. He didn't know then that her tantrums were just a mask for her fragility. 'I was too young to know how to love her,' he would confess later.
One morning, the Prince decided it was time to leave. He cleaned his volcanoes and pulled up the last baobab sprouts. As he said goodbye to the Rose, she didn't complain. 'I have been foolish,' she said softly. 'Try to be happy.' He didn't understand her silence until he saw a flock of wild birds passing by. He grabbed onto their golden threads and let them carry him into the endless sky, leaving behind his little world... and his heart.
The first planet was inhabited by a King who believed he ruled the universe. But his only subjects were the stars, and he only gave orders that they were already going to obey. The Prince realized that for some, power is just a disguise. True authority must be based on reason, not just a crown.
On the second planet lived a Vain Man. He didn't want to rule; he wanted to be admired. To him, everyone else was just an admirer. The Prince learned that praise is empty when there's no one there to truly see you. 'Grown-ups are definitely very strange,' he thought.
The third planet was the saddest. It belonged to a Drinker who drank to forget that he was ashamed of drinking. The Prince left with a heavy heart, seeing how humans often build cages with their own regrets.
The fourth belonged to a Businessman so busy he didn't even look up. He counted stars and claimed to own them. 'I am useful to my rose,' said the Prince, 'but you are not useful to the stars.' The Prince discovered that wealth is useless if you can't touch what you own.
The fifth planet was the smallest; it only had room for a streetlamp and a Lamplighter. The planet spun so quickly that the man had to light and extinguish the lamp every minute. 'This is the only one who doesn't seem ridiculous to me,' thought the Prince. 'Because he thinks of something other than himself.'
The sixth planet was ten times bigger, inhabited by a Geographer who had never seen his own mountains. He told the Prince that his Rose was 'ephemeral,' destined to disappear. Terrified for his flower, the Prince asked for one last recommendation. 'Visit the planet Earth,' said the Geographer. 'It has a good reputation.'
Upon landing on Earth, the Prince was surprised not to find anyone. He was in the Sahara. The first creature he met was a snake, thin and golden like a moon ring. 'It's a bit lonely in the desert,' said the Prince. The snake replied, 'It's also lonely among men.'
Wanting to see the whole world, the Prince climbed a sharp mountain. But from the top, he only saw rocks and dry sand. 'Hello!' he shouted. 'Hello... hello... hello...' echoed back. He thought men had no imagination because they only repeated what they were told. He missed his volcanoes and felt smaller than ever.
After much walking, he found a garden full of roses. He was frozen. They were all exactly like his flower. He believed his rose was unique, and now he found five thousand just like it in a single garden. Overwhelmed by sadness, he lay down on the grass and cried.
When he felt most alone, a Fox appeared. 'Come play with me,' invited the Prince. But the Fox said, 'I can't, I'm not tamed.' He explained that 'to tame' means 'to create bonds.' Without bonds, they were just a boy and a fox among thousands. With bonds, they would be unique to each other.
Day after day, the Prince returned. He sat a little closer each time. He learned that love requires patience and 'rites.' The Fox looked at the wheat fields: 'The wheat is useless to me. But since your hair is golden, the wheat will now remind me of you. I will love the sound of the wind in the wheat.'
The time came to leave. The Fox gave him his secret: 'Goodbye,' said the Fox. 'Here is my secret: "Only with the heart can one see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."' The Prince repeated the words so he wouldn't forget them. He understood that the time he had 'wasted' on his rose was what made her so important.
Before leaving, the Prince returned to the rose garden. 'You are beautiful, but you are empty,' he told them. 'No one has tamed you.' He thought of his Rose on B-612. She was unique because he had watered, protected, and listened to her. Now he was responsible for her forever.
The Pilot and the Prince had been walking for eight days, and the water had run out. 'The desert is beautiful,' said the Prince, 'because it hides a well somewhere.' As the Pilot carried the sleeping child under the moon, he realized that what makes a landscape beautiful is something you can't see.
At dawn, they found it. It wasn't just a hole, but a village well that seemed to be waiting for them. 'We woke to this well, and it is singing,' said the Prince as they drank. It wasn't just water; it was a feast for the heart, born from effort and the stars.
The time for return came. 'It will seem like I'm suffering... like I'm dying,' the Prince warned the Pilot. 'But it's only because my body is too heavy to take to my star. It's just an old shell.' There was a yellow flash near his ankle. He fell gently, like a tree falls, without even making a sound in the sand.
The Pilot returned, but he was never the same. Now, when he looked at the sky, the stars seemed like five hundred million bells laughing with the Prince's voice. Because somewhere, a child looks back. 'Look at the sky,' he tells us. 'And ask yourselves: did the sheep eat the flower? And you'll see how everything changes.'
