Once Upon a time...

Once upon a time, there was a young princess who no longer wanted to live in a castle with her royal parents.  She dreamed of running and playing and dancing in the forest at the edge of the clearing with the woodland nymphs.

She would sit at her balcony window every afternoon in the tallest tower, and watch as the nymphs sparkled and shone so brightly between the trees as they played.  The princess wanted so badly to live with the nymphs that she decided one night, that once her parents had fallen asleep, she would creep down the great hall, tip toe down the large royal staircase, and sneak out the west servants entrance and run across the lush grass to the forest at the edge of the clearing.  There she was certain she would be welcomed with open arms to her new nymph family where a great celebration and feast would take place in her honour. 

All day the princess excitedly waited for night fall, and went to work carefully packing her most prized possessions to take with her.  She had her dress up fairy wings, so the woodland nymphs would recognize her as one of their own, and her sparkly tiara, because she knew she wouldn't be able to sparkle on  her own just yet, as everyone knows a nymph doesn't get their sparkle until they are a year old in nymph years (which is 10 years in human years, and the princess was only 9).  She also packed a juice box, and a tuna sandwich just in case the Nymphs were having liver for dinner- which she hated. 

Finally, the sunshine started to fade, and the castle grew quiet as everyone put on their sleeping caps and crawled into bed for a nights slumber.  The princess could hardly contain her excitement as she slipped her tiara and fairy wings on, and began her journey to her new home.  She whispered goodbye to Molly the doll, and Jingles the stuffed panda, and promised she would come back to visit one day when she was a nymph, and then she quietly slipped out of her room. 

The great hall seemed longer than ever before, and the Princess felt like she had walked forever to get down it.  Then she reached the royal stair case which seemed to have grown in the darkness and the princess got so tired that she stopped midway to drink her juice box.  Her legs were tired, and her eyes were burning from trying to peer into the darkness.  Eventually the Princess  got to the bottom of the staircase, and slipped out the west servant entrance into the cool evening night. 

As the Princess traveled across the clearing she thought to herself that she should have brought a blanket or cloak to wear in the chilly night air.  She had never been outside once it had gotten dark, and suddenly the shadows and trees looks so much more frightening than ever before.

As she approached the trees, she bravely called out to the Woodland Nymphs "Hello Nymphs, I have come to live with you as your sister"  but there was no answer.  The Princess walked further into the trees and called again "I am here to join your Nymph family!"  But still there was no sound in response. 

Frustrated, the Princess sat down and began to cry.  She cried out of fear of the forest, and she cried out of sadness that the nymphs would not answer her, and she cried out of exhaustion.  It had been a long walk to the forest, and the princess had never been up so late before.

The Princess was so busy crying, that she didn't notice the light that was growing around her, or the tiny voices that whispered in her ear to dry her tears.  When she finally looked up, she saw in front of her the Queen of the Woodland Nymphs smiling warmly.  She said quietly "child, dry your eyes".  The princess was shocked, and immediately stopped crying and looked around in bewilderment.  She responded to the Queen "I'm sorry my Queen, I was scared of the forest, but I'm not anymore." 

The Queen held the Princesses head in her hands and said "There, there Child, Don't cry, we hate it when our food cries"

And with that, the Nymphs tore the Princess apart, and celebrated her arrival with a big feast in her honour. 

The End.