"Just one bite...and all of this...will go away..."
The sun shone down through the broken window of Giselle’s former house. It gleamed so brightly that not even Nancy could escape it by throwing the covers over her face. Disgruntled that the happy-sunshine filled land of Andalasia would not let her sleep in, she let out a displeased yawn. She hadn’t even remembered climbing into Giselle’s bed, much less when she fell asleep. All she could remember was that last she was talking to Pip and that he serenaded her ala Frank Sinatra-style.
Nancy stretched out her arms in another big yawn and then rubbed her eyes. She observed that Pip was sleeping at the foot of the bed, snoring loudly with a bubble blowing from his nose. Nancy giggled at the sight…it was so…cartoonish.
“Come on Nancy ol’ girl…you gotta get used to this place.” Nancy said to herself as she examined her cartoonish hands, “Its better this way…”
Nancy arose from the bed and looked around at the torn up bedroom. It was truly a shame that it was such a mess. Nancy felt inspired to clean it up and do small patchwork on the house. But Nancy was never good about fixing things other than clothing, and like Robert she too had her messy streak; although, she wouldn’t let the mess in her old apartment get out of hand.
“Well then,” Nancy said as she rolled up her sleeves, “Where should I get started?”
She decided to tackle all the dangerous plasters of wood lying about the floor. She grabbed them carefully and tossed them out the window onto a pile of logs lying conveniently 10 feet away from the entrance. After removing the big pieces from the floor, she fetched a broom from downstairs and took it upstairs to sweep up the dust and remaining floor debris. While sweeping, she did not notice that Pip awoke and was watching her clean. Nancy nearly had the place clean, except the window was still broken.
“I don’t think I can undertake this thing…”
“Sweetheart! This place looks like new!” Pip exclaimed, startling Nancy. “I’m confident you could fix that window!”
“Well I don’t know about that…” Nancy began.
“No I’m serious! You didn’t even call for any help!” Pip said with amazement.
“Call for help?” Nancy asked, she was a bit confused.
“Yeah! When Giselle needed help with cleaning, she’d call me or some of her other animal friends!” Pip explained.
“Really?” Nancy said without much surprise, “Where I come from people use cleaning supplies to clean. I saw that Giselle had a normal broom so I figured I could use it.” Nancy raised her eyebrow playfully, “Was she too lazy to do normal chores?”
“Oh never!” Pip defended, this time with no bitterness in his tone of voice, “She would be scrubbing and singing alongside the rest of us!”
“Clever little brat…” Nancy muttered.
“What’s that?” Pip asked.
“Never mind,” Nancy replied quickly. “At any rate I don’t know how to fix the window. I’d need to call a repairman for that…”
Nancy halted, realizing something important she had almost forgotten. “Call someone…my phone! Pip! Do you have my phone?”
Pip suddenly looked very nervous. “Uh…um…why do you ask?”
“Pip please!” Nancy begged. “I apologized last night…please don’t hold a grudge! I really need my cell phone back! I need to call people back from home and let them know that I’m okay!”
“Nancy…”Pip began, gulping as he avoided looking into her eyes.
“What is it?” Nancy asked, immediately worried that something went terribly wrong.
“I couldn’t bring myself to tell you…but the cell phone…it…it…”Pip couldn’t take it as he burst into tears. Nancy scooped him up and cuddled him in her arms. “There, there,” Nancy said comfortingly. “Just tell me what happened…”
“Nancy…you’ll kill me if I tell you…”
“Trust me I won’t…” Nancy said with a short laugh.
“Well…it was stolen!”
“Stolen?! By who?”
“By some nasty old hag! I don’t know where she was from…but she reminded me of the old hag who pushed Giselle down the well!” Pip described.
“Well it couldn’t have been that evil Queen.” Nancy pointed out, “She was destroyed the night of the ball!”
“That’s what I thought too! But…it scared me so much. At the time I figured it deserved you right…”
“PIP!” Nancy rebuked.
“Ok ok!” Pip said cowering in fear. “I’m just saying ya know…at the time I thought it was right…but last night I came here and I felt so ashamed. I felt about as lousy as Nathaniel AND Queen Narissa! Then you arrived and well…now I don’t even feel worthy to deserve your friendship.”
“Don’t ever say that!” Nancy chastised. She let out a huge sigh. “We’ll have to find that old hag. I don’t know where you’d even start in a place like this!”
“Not to worry!” Pip reassured, suddenly bouncing back with life. “We just need to ask the locals if they’ve seen someone suspicious in the forest! They’ll lead us to her in no time flat!”
“That’s great!” Nancy exclaimed as she grabbed Pip in a hug. “We must hurry then!”
Nancy and Pip ran outside of the house and looked from side to side. Pip whistled and out of nowhere, an assembly of animal heads popped out of the surrounding bushes. They moved closer to Nancy once Pip motioned for them to come forward.
“What is it that you need Pip?” a raccoon asked.
“We better not be playing pin the tail on the turtle again,” added a dopey-faced turtle.
“No! We’re not here for playing folks!” Pip said sternly. He crawled up to the top of Nancy’s shoulder and pointed to her face. “See this lovely gal here? She lost something very valuable and I’m trying to help her find it! Some old hag took it from her and I was wondering if any of you have seen a strange looking hag!”
All the animals looked at each other with uncertainty.
“We haven’t seen an old hag in this here forest for weeks!” a rabbit replied.
“She was carrying my precious cell phone!” Nancy added. “It was small and looked like a black box.”
“A black box?” a blue jay piped up.
“Yes a black box.” Nancy nodded furiously. “Did you see it?”
The blue jay scratched her head with a solitary wing in a classic thinking position. “I remember seeing one yesterday…but an old hag wasn’t carrying it. Someone in a hooded cloak was holding one…”
“That’s it!” Pip affirmed. “The old hag was wearing a cloak too!”
The blue jay shook her head in disagreement. “It wasn’t an old hag though! Her hand was not wrinkly so she couldn’t have been old!”
“But I know what I saw!” Pip defended.
“Well I saw a ferocious troll monster with a small black box!” piped up a fox.
“That’s not true!” a skunk yelled. “I saw a black box being held by an old man! He wasn’t even wearing a cloak!”
Pip ruffled his fur in frustration. “They can’t all be right…and I certainly know who stole from me!”
Nancy sighed. “Look, if it makes you ALL feel better; we can all search for who we thought took the cell phone. Let’s split up and report back here if and when we find the cell phone, alright?”
All the animals nodded with glee. It amazed Nancy that they were so eager to help. One by one they scattered, singing some “Adventure song” as they left. Only Pip and Nancy remained outside the house.
“I’ll go with you Nancy. Besides, you hardly know your way around the forest!” Pip said with a touch of crass.
Nancy just smiled, “Thanks Pip, I appreciate it.”
Pip smiled back and off they went searching in the forest.
Meanwhile, Prince Edward was continuing his quest to rescue Nancy. He prayed that she was not in the dark clutches of some evil villain. Villains were dastardly and always ruining happily ever afters for the citizens of Andalasia. His hope was to rid the kingdom of all villains once he was crowned King. He wanted to create a safe place so the citizens of Andalasia could enjoy their happily ever after.
Casting all fears aside Prince Edward pursued onward. He had searched the whole village and found nothing. He even traveled into the forest and found nothing. It had not dawned on him to look near Giselle’s house.
It was already late morning and his search kept him up all during the previous night. He had not slept and was beginning to feel very fatigued.
“No! I must ride on…Nancy…must be rescued…” Prince Edward said valiantly as he tried to sit proudly atop Destiny.
Then a thought occurred to him, pushing his energy into adrenaline-mode. “Step-Auntie Assiran!” Prince Edward said, “She would know how to find Nancy!”
So with all the energy that he could muster he led Destiny on a different course. Their journey brought them to a huge waterfall in a vast clearing of the forest. The water shimmered with a multitude of colors that caught light when the sun hung slightly north east of the waterfall. Black Koi fish swam the bottom of the waterfall’s frothy pool. On a hill that jutted out over the waterfall sat a wood-thatched cottage built of industrial brick. Prince Edward loved the natural surroundings except for the cottage. He never liked the décor…but his Aunt Assiran was a tad strange.
“At least she’s not as strange and horrible as dear sweet…” Prince Edward shuddered at the thought, “Step-mother…”
Prince Edward dismounted Destiny and tied him to a nearby tree stump. He approached the cottage and knocked on the door. “Hello! Is anyone home?”
An annoyingly nauseating voice screeched through the door. “Ho-boy! Is that my darling nephew?”
“Yes!” Prince Edward affirmed as he smiled. “It is I, Prince Edward of Andalasia!”
The door opened, revealing a woman that resembled Queen Narissa in almost every way imaginable. Assiran, however, was not wearing dark sinister clothing. She was wearing a red dress that glittered with topaz and rubies. She embraced Prince Edward in a hug.
“My dear boy! You look so tired! Come on in and have a cup of hot cocoa!” Assiran invited.
“Not today my dear Aunt.” Prince Edward politely declined. “I need your help. I need you to look into your crystal ball and help me find my love!”
Assiran took a few steps back. “What do you mean? You haven’t found…” Assiran gasped, “You haven’t found…your true love! Why…my dear sister would never have let you get married!”
“Tell me about it…” Prince Edward chided as he entered the cottage. He paced the entryway in search of the crystal ball. “But I have found the love of my life and I think she might have been stolen. You must help me…as your future King of Andalasia!”
Assiran looked confused. Hardly any of the inhabitants of Andalasia knew that Queen Narissa was dead, except for the servants and knights of the castle. “Dearest, why haven’t you asked Queen Narissa for help?” Assiran implored, maintaining a feigned expression.
“Because she is dead.” Prince Edward replied through clenched teeth. Assiran seemed shocked. “No…it can’t be…”
“Yes…your sister was a murderous traitor who wanted to take my true love away!” Prince Edward responded slowly. “And she succeeded…” Prince Edward added with a touch of sadness.
Assiran was even more puzzled. “But then, how can you be looking for your true love?”
“Because I believe I have another chance in Nancy.” Prince Edward said. He lifted his head to look his Step-Aunt straight in the eye. “I’m not going to lose her again!”
“But I have lost my sister…” Assiran retaliated, weeping harshly.
“Aunt Assiran…” Prince Edward began.
“I cannot look for your loved one…I must mourn the loss of my sister…” and without another word Assiran ran outside of the cottage. Prince Edward, astoundingly, didn’t try to stop her. He knew that his Aunt was unstable and overtly emotional. He could not sympathize with her, but at least he knew that she was not a villain like her sister.
…Or so he thought…
Thirty minutes had passed when Assiran reentered the room. Her appearance completely changed like she hadn’t been crying at all. Her hair literally changed from its black hue to red.
Assiran walked further into the cottage and noticed that Prince Edward was not in the living room but close to the kitchen looking at an object on her counter. She realized what it was and leapt to that side of the room, snatching the item from Prince Edward’s hands.
“Hey!” Prince Edward yelled.
“That’s mine! How dare you!” Assiran yelled accusingly.
“No it’s not Aunt Assiran!” Prince Edward countered. “I’ve seen this object before and it BELONGS to Nancy! You must have seen her! I know you’re upset about mother but you MUST tell me where she is!” Prince Edward begged.
Assiran licked her lips and her hair unexpectedly changed back to its black color. “Oh that’s right…your…”Assiran chuckled, tasting the words as if they were rotten, “One true love.”
She handed the cell phone back to Prince Edward. She then went to fetch her crystal ball from a cupboard in the kitchen. She set the ball on her dining room table and covered it with a purple cloth. She mysteriously waved her hands over the glass ball.
“Can you help me?” Prince Edward asked, hopeful that his Aunt would come to her senses and help.
Assiran smiled and nodded. She gestured for Prince Edward to sit at the table as she removed the cloth from the crystal ball, revealing a swirl of clouds enveloping inside. She continued to wave her hands over the ball as she chanted, “Speciosis, formosis, preclarius!”
The clouds in the ball parted, unveiling an image of Nancy near the wishing well.
“Nancy!” Prince Edward exclaimed as he grabbed the crystal ball. “She’s back home!”
Assiran laughed under her breath. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow as if she knew his hopes were about to be dashed.
“Wait a moment…” Prince Edward realized as he watched Nancy dangle her feet over the well. “Stupid Edward...he thinks I really love him…he’s just a cartoon is all. Well I’ve had my fun!”
Prince Edward sat stupefied as he watched Nancy jump into the well and disappear.
“Nooooooooooooooooooo! Nancy!” Prince Edward cried.
“Oh dear me…it looks like she’s not your one true love after all!” Assiran said tauntingly.
“How can you say that?” Prince Edward said as he clenched his fists. He pounded on the table. “This cannot be true. I refuse to believe it is true!”
“Come on dearest. You should know by now that all women are vipers when it comes to love.” Assiran said with forked tongue.
“That’s not true…” Prince Edward said, this time with so little hope. He was so baffled; he never lost hope. He was always good about being optimistic. It was all he never knew how to do. But now that he watched his true love jump down the wishing well…he almost wished he’d never given up on Giselle.
“There has to be a way…to bring her back.” Prince Edward said. He looked at his step-aunt with a look of desperation. “I’ll do anything to get her back! Anything!”
Assiran had a look of absolute delight, her hair changed green as a result. “Oooh! Did I hear anything?”
Prince Edward sighed, “Yes…I believe what Nancy did was a mistake…I cannot believe she would say such hurtful things. I must reassure her of my feelings…please…I’d do anything to bring her back!”
Assiran snapped her fingers. “Fine then!”
The mood of her household drastically changed and even the clouds from the crystal ball seemed to burst forth into the entire room. Prince Edward looked around dazedly. He was so exhausted by this point, but common sense was telling him not to fall asleep.
For Assiran was breaking into song:
“I fortunately know a little magic
It's a talent that I always have possessed
And here lately, please don't laugh
I use it on behalf
Of the miserable, lonely, and depressed-- Pathetic!
Poor unfortunate souls, so sad, so true
They come flocking to my home
Crying spells, Arissan, please!
And I help them, yes I do”
“Great then! So you will help me!” Prince Edward exclaimed passionately.
“Yes…” Assiran responded, stopping her song short. “You must however…resign your lordship of Prince over these lands.”
“It’s a done deal.” Prince Edward responded without skipping a beat. It surprised Assiran.
“Really then? Well, that was pretty easy!” Assiran bemused. She swirled her hands in the clouds that were fogging up the room. They faded away, unveiling a spinning wheel with a needle set up sans thread. “Touch the needle, and when you wake up, you will find your blushing bride by your side!” Assiran instructed.
Prince Edward stared at the ominous spinning wheel. He remembered as a child that his Step-Aunt would frequently spin wool and cloth to make him fabulous clothing. How was this spinning wheel going to bring him back to Nancy? It made no sense…
Prince Edward quickly shook away any “logical” thoughts about the spinning wheel. He couldn’t believe that since Nancy had arrived that he was starting to think for himself. He never questioned much in this world because it was so simple.
But it seemed as if even the simple things had darker secrets.
He walked over to the spinning wheel and paused. An eerie green glow surrounded it. He almost reached to brandish his sword because of the vileness of that glow. But he heard the encouraging words of his Step-mother in song:
“You poor unfortunate soul
It's sad, but true
If you want to cross a bridge, my sweet
You've got to pay the toll
Take a gulp and take a breath
And go ahead and touch the pole!”
Prince Edward almost laughed. He was sure she meant to sing touch the needle. But that just wouldn’t have rhymed now would it?
Entranced by the light he touched the needle and fell down to the ground. Assiran let out an evil cackle. She knelt down and touched her step-nephew’s forehead. A green light surrounded her hand as it enveloped all of Prince Edward’s body. All of a sudden Assiran herself changed shape. When she stood to look down at Prince Edward, he was lying dead asleep on the floor. She walked over to the crystal ball and gaped at her reflection. Then slowly and sinisterly she laughed, impressed that her plan succeeded...
For she had just transformed into Prince Edward…
TO BE CONTINUED
Nancy stretched out her arms in another big yawn and then rubbed her eyes. She observed that Pip was sleeping at the foot of the bed, snoring loudly with a bubble blowing from his nose. Nancy giggled at the sight…it was so…cartoonish.
“Come on Nancy ol’ girl…you gotta get used to this place.” Nancy said to herself as she examined her cartoonish hands, “Its better this way…”
Nancy arose from the bed and looked around at the torn up bedroom. It was truly a shame that it was such a mess. Nancy felt inspired to clean it up and do small patchwork on the house. But Nancy was never good about fixing things other than clothing, and like Robert she too had her messy streak; although, she wouldn’t let the mess in her old apartment get out of hand.
“Well then,” Nancy said as she rolled up her sleeves, “Where should I get started?”
She decided to tackle all the dangerous plasters of wood lying about the floor. She grabbed them carefully and tossed them out the window onto a pile of logs lying conveniently 10 feet away from the entrance. After removing the big pieces from the floor, she fetched a broom from downstairs and took it upstairs to sweep up the dust and remaining floor debris. While sweeping, she did not notice that Pip awoke and was watching her clean. Nancy nearly had the place clean, except the window was still broken.
“I don’t think I can undertake this thing…”
“Sweetheart! This place looks like new!” Pip exclaimed, startling Nancy. “I’m confident you could fix that window!”
“Well I don’t know about that…” Nancy began.
“No I’m serious! You didn’t even call for any help!” Pip said with amazement.
“Call for help?” Nancy asked, she was a bit confused.
“Yeah! When Giselle needed help with cleaning, she’d call me or some of her other animal friends!” Pip explained.
“Really?” Nancy said without much surprise, “Where I come from people use cleaning supplies to clean. I saw that Giselle had a normal broom so I figured I could use it.” Nancy raised her eyebrow playfully, “Was she too lazy to do normal chores?”
“Oh never!” Pip defended, this time with no bitterness in his tone of voice, “She would be scrubbing and singing alongside the rest of us!”
“Clever little brat…” Nancy muttered.
“What’s that?” Pip asked.
“Never mind,” Nancy replied quickly. “At any rate I don’t know how to fix the window. I’d need to call a repairman for that…”
Nancy halted, realizing something important she had almost forgotten. “Call someone…my phone! Pip! Do you have my phone?”
Pip suddenly looked very nervous. “Uh…um…why do you ask?”
“Pip please!” Nancy begged. “I apologized last night…please don’t hold a grudge! I really need my cell phone back! I need to call people back from home and let them know that I’m okay!”
“Nancy…”Pip began, gulping as he avoided looking into her eyes.
“What is it?” Nancy asked, immediately worried that something went terribly wrong.
“I couldn’t bring myself to tell you…but the cell phone…it…it…”Pip couldn’t take it as he burst into tears. Nancy scooped him up and cuddled him in her arms. “There, there,” Nancy said comfortingly. “Just tell me what happened…”
“Nancy…you’ll kill me if I tell you…”
“Trust me I won’t…” Nancy said with a short laugh.
“Well…it was stolen!”
“Stolen?! By who?”
“By some nasty old hag! I don’t know where she was from…but she reminded me of the old hag who pushed Giselle down the well!” Pip described.
“Well it couldn’t have been that evil Queen.” Nancy pointed out, “She was destroyed the night of the ball!”
“That’s what I thought too! But…it scared me so much. At the time I figured it deserved you right…”
“PIP!” Nancy rebuked.
“Ok ok!” Pip said cowering in fear. “I’m just saying ya know…at the time I thought it was right…but last night I came here and I felt so ashamed. I felt about as lousy as Nathaniel AND Queen Narissa! Then you arrived and well…now I don’t even feel worthy to deserve your friendship.”
“Don’t ever say that!” Nancy chastised. She let out a huge sigh. “We’ll have to find that old hag. I don’t know where you’d even start in a place like this!”
“Not to worry!” Pip reassured, suddenly bouncing back with life. “We just need to ask the locals if they’ve seen someone suspicious in the forest! They’ll lead us to her in no time flat!”
“That’s great!” Nancy exclaimed as she grabbed Pip in a hug. “We must hurry then!”
Nancy and Pip ran outside of the house and looked from side to side. Pip whistled and out of nowhere, an assembly of animal heads popped out of the surrounding bushes. They moved closer to Nancy once Pip motioned for them to come forward.
“What is it that you need Pip?” a raccoon asked.
“We better not be playing pin the tail on the turtle again,” added a dopey-faced turtle.
“No! We’re not here for playing folks!” Pip said sternly. He crawled up to the top of Nancy’s shoulder and pointed to her face. “See this lovely gal here? She lost something very valuable and I’m trying to help her find it! Some old hag took it from her and I was wondering if any of you have seen a strange looking hag!”
All the animals looked at each other with uncertainty.
“We haven’t seen an old hag in this here forest for weeks!” a rabbit replied.
“She was carrying my precious cell phone!” Nancy added. “It was small and looked like a black box.”
“A black box?” a blue jay piped up.
“Yes a black box.” Nancy nodded furiously. “Did you see it?”
The blue jay scratched her head with a solitary wing in a classic thinking position. “I remember seeing one yesterday…but an old hag wasn’t carrying it. Someone in a hooded cloak was holding one…”
“That’s it!” Pip affirmed. “The old hag was wearing a cloak too!”
The blue jay shook her head in disagreement. “It wasn’t an old hag though! Her hand was not wrinkly so she couldn’t have been old!”
“But I know what I saw!” Pip defended.
“Well I saw a ferocious troll monster with a small black box!” piped up a fox.
“That’s not true!” a skunk yelled. “I saw a black box being held by an old man! He wasn’t even wearing a cloak!”
Pip ruffled his fur in frustration. “They can’t all be right…and I certainly know who stole from me!”
Nancy sighed. “Look, if it makes you ALL feel better; we can all search for who we thought took the cell phone. Let’s split up and report back here if and when we find the cell phone, alright?”
All the animals nodded with glee. It amazed Nancy that they were so eager to help. One by one they scattered, singing some “Adventure song” as they left. Only Pip and Nancy remained outside the house.
“I’ll go with you Nancy. Besides, you hardly know your way around the forest!” Pip said with a touch of crass.
Nancy just smiled, “Thanks Pip, I appreciate it.”
Pip smiled back and off they went searching in the forest.
Meanwhile, Prince Edward was continuing his quest to rescue Nancy. He prayed that she was not in the dark clutches of some evil villain. Villains were dastardly and always ruining happily ever afters for the citizens of Andalasia. His hope was to rid the kingdom of all villains once he was crowned King. He wanted to create a safe place so the citizens of Andalasia could enjoy their happily ever after.
Casting all fears aside Prince Edward pursued onward. He had searched the whole village and found nothing. He even traveled into the forest and found nothing. It had not dawned on him to look near Giselle’s house.
It was already late morning and his search kept him up all during the previous night. He had not slept and was beginning to feel very fatigued.
“No! I must ride on…Nancy…must be rescued…” Prince Edward said valiantly as he tried to sit proudly atop Destiny.
Then a thought occurred to him, pushing his energy into adrenaline-mode. “Step-Auntie Assiran!” Prince Edward said, “She would know how to find Nancy!”
So with all the energy that he could muster he led Destiny on a different course. Their journey brought them to a huge waterfall in a vast clearing of the forest. The water shimmered with a multitude of colors that caught light when the sun hung slightly north east of the waterfall. Black Koi fish swam the bottom of the waterfall’s frothy pool. On a hill that jutted out over the waterfall sat a wood-thatched cottage built of industrial brick. Prince Edward loved the natural surroundings except for the cottage. He never liked the décor…but his Aunt Assiran was a tad strange.
“At least she’s not as strange and horrible as dear sweet…” Prince Edward shuddered at the thought, “Step-mother…”
Prince Edward dismounted Destiny and tied him to a nearby tree stump. He approached the cottage and knocked on the door. “Hello! Is anyone home?”
An annoyingly nauseating voice screeched through the door. “Ho-boy! Is that my darling nephew?”
“Yes!” Prince Edward affirmed as he smiled. “It is I, Prince Edward of Andalasia!”
The door opened, revealing a woman that resembled Queen Narissa in almost every way imaginable. Assiran, however, was not wearing dark sinister clothing. She was wearing a red dress that glittered with topaz and rubies. She embraced Prince Edward in a hug.
“My dear boy! You look so tired! Come on in and have a cup of hot cocoa!” Assiran invited.
“Not today my dear Aunt.” Prince Edward politely declined. “I need your help. I need you to look into your crystal ball and help me find my love!”
Assiran took a few steps back. “What do you mean? You haven’t found…” Assiran gasped, “You haven’t found…your true love! Why…my dear sister would never have let you get married!”
“Tell me about it…” Prince Edward chided as he entered the cottage. He paced the entryway in search of the crystal ball. “But I have found the love of my life and I think she might have been stolen. You must help me…as your future King of Andalasia!”
Assiran looked confused. Hardly any of the inhabitants of Andalasia knew that Queen Narissa was dead, except for the servants and knights of the castle. “Dearest, why haven’t you asked Queen Narissa for help?” Assiran implored, maintaining a feigned expression.
“Because she is dead.” Prince Edward replied through clenched teeth. Assiran seemed shocked. “No…it can’t be…”
“Yes…your sister was a murderous traitor who wanted to take my true love away!” Prince Edward responded slowly. “And she succeeded…” Prince Edward added with a touch of sadness.
Assiran was even more puzzled. “But then, how can you be looking for your true love?”
“Because I believe I have another chance in Nancy.” Prince Edward said. He lifted his head to look his Step-Aunt straight in the eye. “I’m not going to lose her again!”
“But I have lost my sister…” Assiran retaliated, weeping harshly.
“Aunt Assiran…” Prince Edward began.
“I cannot look for your loved one…I must mourn the loss of my sister…” and without another word Assiran ran outside of the cottage. Prince Edward, astoundingly, didn’t try to stop her. He knew that his Aunt was unstable and overtly emotional. He could not sympathize with her, but at least he knew that she was not a villain like her sister.
…Or so he thought…
Thirty minutes had passed when Assiran reentered the room. Her appearance completely changed like she hadn’t been crying at all. Her hair literally changed from its black hue to red.
Assiran walked further into the cottage and noticed that Prince Edward was not in the living room but close to the kitchen looking at an object on her counter. She realized what it was and leapt to that side of the room, snatching the item from Prince Edward’s hands.
“Hey!” Prince Edward yelled.
“That’s mine! How dare you!” Assiran yelled accusingly.
“No it’s not Aunt Assiran!” Prince Edward countered. “I’ve seen this object before and it BELONGS to Nancy! You must have seen her! I know you’re upset about mother but you MUST tell me where she is!” Prince Edward begged.
Assiran licked her lips and her hair unexpectedly changed back to its black color. “Oh that’s right…your…”Assiran chuckled, tasting the words as if they were rotten, “One true love.”
She handed the cell phone back to Prince Edward. She then went to fetch her crystal ball from a cupboard in the kitchen. She set the ball on her dining room table and covered it with a purple cloth. She mysteriously waved her hands over the glass ball.
“Can you help me?” Prince Edward asked, hopeful that his Aunt would come to her senses and help.
Assiran smiled and nodded. She gestured for Prince Edward to sit at the table as she removed the cloth from the crystal ball, revealing a swirl of clouds enveloping inside. She continued to wave her hands over the ball as she chanted, “Speciosis, formosis, preclarius!”
The clouds in the ball parted, unveiling an image of Nancy near the wishing well.
“Nancy!” Prince Edward exclaimed as he grabbed the crystal ball. “She’s back home!”
Assiran laughed under her breath. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow as if she knew his hopes were about to be dashed.
“Wait a moment…” Prince Edward realized as he watched Nancy dangle her feet over the well. “Stupid Edward...he thinks I really love him…he’s just a cartoon is all. Well I’ve had my fun!”
Prince Edward sat stupefied as he watched Nancy jump into the well and disappear.
“Nooooooooooooooooooo! Nancy!” Prince Edward cried.
“Oh dear me…it looks like she’s not your one true love after all!” Assiran said tauntingly.
“How can you say that?” Prince Edward said as he clenched his fists. He pounded on the table. “This cannot be true. I refuse to believe it is true!”
“Come on dearest. You should know by now that all women are vipers when it comes to love.” Assiran said with forked tongue.
“That’s not true…” Prince Edward said, this time with so little hope. He was so baffled; he never lost hope. He was always good about being optimistic. It was all he never knew how to do. But now that he watched his true love jump down the wishing well…he almost wished he’d never given up on Giselle.
“There has to be a way…to bring her back.” Prince Edward said. He looked at his step-aunt with a look of desperation. “I’ll do anything to get her back! Anything!”
Assiran had a look of absolute delight, her hair changed green as a result. “Oooh! Did I hear anything?”
Prince Edward sighed, “Yes…I believe what Nancy did was a mistake…I cannot believe she would say such hurtful things. I must reassure her of my feelings…please…I’d do anything to bring her back!”
Assiran snapped her fingers. “Fine then!”
The mood of her household drastically changed and even the clouds from the crystal ball seemed to burst forth into the entire room. Prince Edward looked around dazedly. He was so exhausted by this point, but common sense was telling him not to fall asleep.
For Assiran was breaking into song:
“I fortunately know a little magic
It's a talent that I always have possessed
And here lately, please don't laugh
I use it on behalf
Of the miserable, lonely, and depressed-- Pathetic!
Poor unfortunate souls, so sad, so true
They come flocking to my home
Crying spells, Arissan, please!
And I help them, yes I do”
“Great then! So you will help me!” Prince Edward exclaimed passionately.
“Yes…” Assiran responded, stopping her song short. “You must however…resign your lordship of Prince over these lands.”
“It’s a done deal.” Prince Edward responded without skipping a beat. It surprised Assiran.
“Really then? Well, that was pretty easy!” Assiran bemused. She swirled her hands in the clouds that were fogging up the room. They faded away, unveiling a spinning wheel with a needle set up sans thread. “Touch the needle, and when you wake up, you will find your blushing bride by your side!” Assiran instructed.
Prince Edward stared at the ominous spinning wheel. He remembered as a child that his Step-Aunt would frequently spin wool and cloth to make him fabulous clothing. How was this spinning wheel going to bring him back to Nancy? It made no sense…
Prince Edward quickly shook away any “logical” thoughts about the spinning wheel. He couldn’t believe that since Nancy had arrived that he was starting to think for himself. He never questioned much in this world because it was so simple.
But it seemed as if even the simple things had darker secrets.
He walked over to the spinning wheel and paused. An eerie green glow surrounded it. He almost reached to brandish his sword because of the vileness of that glow. But he heard the encouraging words of his Step-mother in song:
“You poor unfortunate soul
It's sad, but true
If you want to cross a bridge, my sweet
You've got to pay the toll
Take a gulp and take a breath
And go ahead and touch the pole!”
Prince Edward almost laughed. He was sure she meant to sing touch the needle. But that just wouldn’t have rhymed now would it?
Entranced by the light he touched the needle and fell down to the ground. Assiran let out an evil cackle. She knelt down and touched her step-nephew’s forehead. A green light surrounded her hand as it enveloped all of Prince Edward’s body. All of a sudden Assiran herself changed shape. When she stood to look down at Prince Edward, he was lying dead asleep on the floor. She walked over to the crystal ball and gaped at her reflection. Then slowly and sinisterly she laughed, impressed that her plan succeeded...
For she had just transformed into Prince Edward…
TO BE CONTINUED