I wrote this story for a class assignment a few weeks ago. Our teacher asked us to write a fairly tale using the communication skills we learned from the book we read in class called “How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk” (which I think anyone who has kids or works with kids should read!). So this is what i cam up with. Hope you enjoy!
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Once upon a time, in land far away, there lived two little girls. One was a pour peasant who had nothing at all and yet was as rich as a king. She had shoulder length hair and grey eyes that laughed when she smiled but I will get to her a little later. The other was a princess who lived in a beautiful castle nestled high up on a hill overlooking the quaint village. She was a tall girl of a fair completion. Though she used to be a joyful child, those days had long since vanished. The princess had everything a little girl could ever dream of but somehow, had nothing at all. For you see, all the glorious thing she had paled in comparison to the one thing she hated. That thing that was a secret. A secret so dreadful, she would have gladly traded the entire kingdom to berid herself of it. A secret that started out small but never stopped growing and never went away. A secret that she fought desperately to keep hidden for she knew not what horrific things might befall her should her secret ever be truly found out. The ban of her life was a horrible monster that lived deep inside her. She could not even remember the day the she let it in nor how it had come to reside in her. All she knew was that no matter what she did, she could not get rid of it.
The princess longed to tell to her parents, to finally free herself of the heavy secret she carried, but she knew they wouldn’t understand. One day, the monster was so large and bothering her so much, the girl was afraid she might die if she did not tell someone. Since she was scared to tell of her own secret, she brought up the subject of inner monsters by telling her mother she heard a rumor of a princess who had a monster inside of her. Her mother was so appalled she scolded her daughter, “How many times do I have to tell you stop making up silly stories! No body has ‘monsters’ inside them, especially NOT princesses! Now, go write ‘I will not tell tall tales’ 100 times!” Even so, Madelyn, for that was the princesses’ name, had become immune to her parent’s empty threats of punishment, whenever she disobeyed. Rarely did they ever follow through on their threats and when she did, it didn’t do them any good.
Still, Madelyn did not like displeasing her parents. Yet regardless of her efforts to “behave like a civilized women,” she always seemed to get in trouble. Whenever she did get in trouble, the monster inside her got madder and madder and grew bigger and bigger! The bigger the monster got, the harder it was for Madelyn to ignore it and remain in control. Everyday a battled waged within the small girl. The monster fought to make her do things she never dreamed of doing, and Madelyn fought to hold on to the sweet and innocent girl she once was. But sometimes, the monster became so angry, it made Princess Madelyn yell and scream things she did not mean at her parents. Although she was horrified by her words, Madelyn’s pride was too strong to allow her to apologize. On the occasions she did yell, her mother would tell her, “Why can’t you be a good girl like your sister? She is always so well behaved. Never yells or tells lies about made up creatures! I just don’t know what to do with you.”
On this particular day, Princess Madelyn was having an especially difficult time keeping her monster at bay. Weary from the fight, she wondered to herself how much longer she could keep this up without help. It was then that her father called her over to have a talk. He accused her of willfully displaying inappropriate behavior over last few weeks to spite him and bring shame upon the family name. He went on to lecture her about appropriate royal behavior and the burden all princesses’ carry of acting a certain way. The longer he talked and accuses, the weaker Madelyn’s resolve to fight off the monster became and thus, the stronger the monster grew. Then it happened. After all of his accusations and lecturing, he commanded her to, “start acting like a lady…. Or else!” That was the last straw. Madelyn couldn’t take it anymore and apparently, the monster couldn’t either! She screamed at her father. Throwing all kinds of hurtful darts spewing from months of bitterness and anger. Without waiting for a response, she turned and run out the door, out the courtyard, past the guards on the drawbridge, deep into the forest, and into the town.
Now, the peasant, Bella, lived a life as different from Madelyn’s as night is from day. She lived in a small one-room hovel in the poorest part of the village. Her father and brother worked long hard days tending the Kings fields, while Bella and her mother worked in a near by tavern cooking, cleaning, and serving tables just to keep food on the table. It was a hard life but Bella’s parents always accepted her feelings and understood how demanding their situation was on her. No matter how difficult their circumstances were, Bella knew she could always talk to her parents about it.
Whenever she misbehaved, Bella’s parents helped her learn from her mistakes and showed her how to make amends for errors. Bella was having a terrible time getting home on time for suppertime. She knew the rule but she was only allowed to play with her friends for an hour in the evening. After a long day of work, Bella often got swept away with her friends on an imaginary adventure so exciting, she often lost track of time. Despite Bella’s repetitive tardiness, her mother never once got angry and her or yelled. One day, Bella came running in the door almost an hour late, hastily apologizing. Her mother stopped Bella before she had a chance to tell her mother her excuses for being late. Instead of punishing her, Bella’s mother calmly sat her down for a talk.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!!!” pleaded Bella. “I just got so caught up with my friends.” “Hmmmm sounds like it’s hard for you stop in the middle of your games” her mother replied.
“Yes it is!” pouted Bella
“Well, can I share with you how I feel when you are late?” asked mother.
“Your angry!” accused Bella.
“No darling I am not angry,” said mother with a sad smile, “I am scared.”
“Scared?” questioned Bella in disbelief .
“Yes! I worry about what could happen to you if you stay out past dark. It is not safe for a small girl to roam the streets alone at night. I love you so much that even the thought of losing you scares me” said mother.
“I’m sorry mother… I didn’t think about how it would make you feel” replied Bella.
“Its okay dear. I never told you. I apologize for not being more honest but my fears.” Confessed mother has she hugged Bella. “Now, what do you say we sit down and see if we can think of a solution we both agree on!”
“Sounds good to me!” said Bella excitedly.
So mother and daughter began to brainstorm all the possible solutions for the issue at hand. Mother wrote down all of Bella’s ideas, even if they were very silly. Finally, after talking through all of the ideas, they both agreed that if Bella played outside in the morning instead of the evening, her mother would not have worry if she was late and Bella still could have some play time with her friends. It was on one such day that Bella was walking through the town, on her way to the meadow to pick some flowers for her mother when she met Madelyn. The two literally ran into each other. Madelyn was so angry with her father and with the monster inside her that she yelled angrily at Bella “Watch it! Don’t you ever look where your going?!?!” She was about to storm off when Bella asked, “Are you okay?” Madelyn froze, startled at her words. How did she know? Then she looked down at her fine clothes and then, back up at her surroundings. It was then that realized just how out of place she truly was.
“No” she replied, suddenly very tired.
“Well then, it’s a good thing we ran into each other! Lets go to the woods to find some nice cool shade where we can talk!”
As they walked, Bella asked why Madelyn was so upset. After many months of keeping the terrible monster a secret, Madelyn was glad to have a friend to talk to and spilled out the whole story. To her utter surprise, Bella did not accuse of being crazy her or push aside her story as a tall tale! In fact, Bella listened intently to the entire story. When Madelyn was finished, Bella just sat there is contemplative silence looking very serious and thoughtful. Then she asked, “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course!” replied Madelyn, eager to hear what the girl had to say.
“When I was younger, I had a monster inside me too.” Said Bella very matter-of-factly.
“You-you-you, you did?,” stuttered Madelyn in complete disbelief.
“Yes I did ! And sometimes I still have to fight him off…but its not as hard as it used to be.”
“What did you do? How do you fight it?,” asked Madelyn as her hope began to rise.
“I didn’t do it on my own. My parents helped me! I told them all about the monster and you know what they said?” asked Bella with a mischievous smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
“What!?!?!” demanded Madelyn.
Looking both ways, as if looking for eavesdroppers, she leaned in closer to Madelyn and said in an almost whisper, “They had monsters inside them too!”
“No!!!” exclaimed Madelyn.
“Yup, its true. Whenever they yelled at me or punished me, they felt the monster growing bigger and bigger, too. The bigger their monster got, the bigger mine got. The monsters got so big, that whenever we even talked, all we could think about was our monsters and none of us liked that at all,” explained Bella.
“I feel the same way!!!…. what did you do?”
“We talked about it and listed all the things that made our monsters grow. Then, we came up with a plan of how to avoid those things. It took lots of practice but we worked together. Now, whenever my parents forget and begin to yell at me, tell them that I feel my monster coming back and they choose an alternative to yelling.”
“Oh… well that could never happen with my parents.” Said the princess as her hope receded.
“Of course it can!”
“You don’t know my parents. You see, they’re-they’re, ….they’re the king and queen.”
Now it was Bella turn to be shocked. “But that means you’re a-a-a….”
“A princess? “ interjected Madelyn. “Why yes I am.”
After a thoughtful pause, Bella continued, “I still think if you just talk to them you guys can work it out. Hey! My parents could even go to the castle and help you guys make a plan!”
“But I tried bringing it up once and they didn’t listen!”
“I can see where it would be difficult for you to try again,” consoled Bella, “but you are honest with them I truly believe you guys could work it out! Either way, you would at least get rid of your secret!”
“Well…. Do you really think your parents would help my mother and father?” inquired Madelyn still unsure.
“Of course! Your parents are the king and queen you know! My family would be honored to serve the royal family.”
“In that case… I suppose I’ll give it a try.”
The two girls walked back to the castle hand in hand, planning what Madelyn should say. What happened with her parents you might ask? Just as Bella predicted, they too admitted to having monsters inside that between them and their beloved daughter. When Madelyn asked her mother why she and become so angry when she brought up the monster before and didn’t say anything about her monster, her mother said “I guess it was my own monster acting out of fear of being found out.”
Bella’s parents did indeed assist the royal family in learning how to fight off the terrible monsters that were trying to keep their family apart. It was not an easy battle, but one Madelyn and her parents were willing to fight. The royal family was so thankful that they gave Bella’s parents a beautiful house in the country and more money than they could imagine. Bella’s father and brother didn’t have to work in the fields anymore and Bella and her mother no longer worked in the tavern. Instead, Bella spent her days playing with her new best friend in the safety of the castle walls where her mother no longer had to worry about her safety and where Bella could play to her hearts content. The two grew up together, in loving homes where no monsters were strong enough to prevail. And they both lived happily ever, after.
The End.
