The Mushroom King

Synopsis

Deep in the forest, hidden away from prying eyes, lives a king. As the ahapatriarch of these woods, he has lived for hundreds of years and has never wavered in his duty to his people and kingdom, save once. When a young woman of unsurpassed beauty begins to spend time in his woods, his interests change. He begins to experience an emotion that he had not yet felt in his many years. A human emotion, love.. He vows that every day for a month he will bestow upon her a new and exotic treasure in exchange for her love. Upon the last day, they will meet face to face for the first time. The girl, quite taken with the notion of a king being in love with her, continues to visit the forest every day to receive her gifts.

At first, all is well. The girl, as well as her entire village, is happy and content with the Mushroom King's lavish and magical gifts, but through the weeks, a change takes place. Greed settles into the village and its citizens hunger for more. The once quiet and peaceful village now filled with desire, begs the King for even more and greater gifts.

Even his beloved has changed. The once sweet, and innocent girl has become hardened and selfish.

With only one solution, the Mushroom King decides that the time has come for them to meet. Without hesitation, the girl agrees, ready to claim her rightful throne as queen. However, the girl becomes horrified at the site of her love, and rejects his affections, doing nothing to disguise her disgust. Hurt and broken, the Mushroom King devises a new plan to win her heart and see the error of her ways.

The Mushroom King is a dark fairy tale, which twists together elements of fantasy and human emotion. Love, rejection, loss, and pain as seen through the eyes of a fairy king, are what create the first in a series of tales written and illustrated by Gary Laib.