Once upon a time a prince and a princess lived in a beautiful kingdom named Berry Lakes. From their castle windows Princess Holly and Prince Aidan could see flowers and streams and groves of trees covered with fruit. They loved to play hide and seek among the trees and splash in the stream on a hot day. They also loved to visit their Grandparents in the kingdom of Prairie Meadows. Instead of the trees and lakes surrounding their home, their grandparent’s castle was surrounded by tall grassy fields that swished in the breeze. It was the perfect place to garden and Princess Holly liked nothing better than to dig in the dirt with her PopPop.
One summer day the prince and princess packed up their suitcases and climbed into the royal coach for a visit to Prairie Meadows. Prince Aidan made sure he had jars of fruit from his Mommy’s kitchen to give to Queen Martha. Princess Holly had packed her outdoor clothes and the special shovel and pail her Daddy had bought for her.
“Do you think MomMom has cookies waiting for us?” Aidan asked. “Of course she will.” She replied. Then she smiled at the thought of PopPop’s garden. “I bet PopPop has all sorts of fresh veggies for cooking too.” The children happily thought about all fun they were about to have.
Before long the gray castle came into view. After being licked all over by their grandparents dogs the children ran inside and unpacked. Princess Holly pulled on her gardening gloves and ran to meet the King in the garden. When she got there he was kneeling on the ground. “What are you holding PopPop?” she asked. Her grandfather smiled and opened his hand. “Today we’re going to plant these sunflower seeds. I bought them special from the garden shop. They’re magic sunflower seeds.” Holly clapped her hands excitedly. “Lets get started!”
They carefully dug holes and placed a seed in each one. Then Holly covered the holes up with dirt and watered them. When she was done sprinkling water from her watering can she stood back and looked at the garden. It looked perfect. She couldn’t wait for the sunflowers to grow.
The next morning at breakfast the prince nudged the princess and asked “Did you notice that huge flower when we got here yesterday? I don’t remember it, but it’s so big that it’s blocking the window.” Holly jumped up excitedly. “It must be the magic sunflowers PopPop and I planted!” The children rushed outside and looked. Sure enough, there were three sunflowers swaying in the breeze. The tops of the flowers were already taller than either of them.
As they looked up Holly thought she saw something catch the sunlight on top of one of the flowers. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing to the sparkling flowerpetals. Aidan squinted at the shimmering light and said “I think it’s a pair of wings. Maybe it’s a dragonfly.” As he spoke the light rose and flew toward them. It was joined by a light from each of the other sunflowers. The shining wings didn’t belong to a dragonfly, though. They belonged to tiny fairies! “Hello! I’m Shimmer.” said the first one. The other two introduced themselves as Sparkle and Petal. “We’re Flower Fairies. Are you the ones who planted our seeds?”
“Yes, my PopPop and I did.” Holly answered. “It’s so nice to meet you!” The fairies looked around. “It’s very nice here.” Petal said. Sparkle nodded. “We were afraid we’d be planted somewhere dark or cold. This looks like a good place to live.” Aidan smiled at the fairies and asked “Do fairies play tag?”
Giggling, Sparkle flew toward him and hollered “You’re it!” Then she buzzed off into the grass. Shimmer and Petal each flew toward Holly and sprinkled her with fairy dust. As she began to float above the ground they pulled on her dress and led her in the other direction. “Hey, no fair flying!” Aidan yelled. Holly laughed and the fairies put her down. “Okay, okay, but I’m still faster than you!” she replied. All five chased each other around the meadow laughing.
After a while the new friends began to tire. “I’m hungry. Why don’t we go inside and have some biscuits with Mommy’s homemade jelly?” Aidan looked at the fairies. “Do fairies eat biscuits?” he asked. The fairies smiled and said “Only if you have milk to wash them down.” “Of course!” Holly replied. With that the happy group headed inside for biscuits and glasses of milk. Or, in the case of the fairies, thimblefuls of milk.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Princess Holly and the Unicorn
Once upon a time, there lived a prince and princess in a beautiful land filled with trees and flowers called the Kingdom of Berry Lakes. Princess Holly had long blonde hair and twinkling gray-blue eyes and was always trying to make her family smile. Prince Aidan was younger than the princess and was very serious. His thick red hair was always in his eyes, which were the color of the stormy sea, and his greatest wish was that he could fly like the birds. He spent most of his time deep in thought staring at the skies.
One day the princess was out in the field in front of her castle picking wildflowers to give to her MomMom, Queen Martha, who lived on the other side of the forest in the Kingdom of Prairie Meadows with Holly’s PopPop, King Jim. It was very hot and so she sat down under a tree for shade beside a stream. She had a basket filled with flowers and in it was her favorite doll, Mary. “You must be hot too, Mary!” she said, as she took Mary out of the basket and set her beside her. Looking around, Holly saw the most beautiful pink wild roses growing across the field. “I must put those in my bouquet!” she thought, and she ran over to the roses. Beside the roses were daisies and violets and before she knew it she had more flowers than her basket could hold.
“Well Mary, I think we’re done! Let’s go home and tell Mommy that we’re going to MomMom’s now.” she said. She looked around but Mary wasn’t with her. Oh, where had she left her? She remembered sitting by the river. She ran to the bank under the tree to get her doll, but Mary wasn’t there! Now, some princesses might have sat down and cried or gone home and given up. Not Princess Holly! She thought and thought of all the places she had gone to look for flowers, but Mary wasn’t anywhere to be found. There was no one else in the field or near the trees by her castle, so she just couldn’t understand where Mary could have gone. Even a strong and hopeful princess like Holly was starting to feel that she’d never find her doll.
Suddenly from behind a clump of oak trees a unicorn came walking toward Holly. The princess was surprised, for she had never seen a unicorn before and didn’t know that any lived so close. It was a beautiful horse with a silvery-purple coat, a lavender mane, and shining horn the color of moonlight. The unicorn came over and introduced herself to Holly. “Hello, my name is Mona. You look so sad. Maybe I can help you.” “You can?” asked Holly. “That would be wonderful! Have you seen my doll Mary? She has blue eyes, a dress with blue flowers, and a matching blue bonnet.” Mona shook her head excitedly. “Yes! I saw a frog jump out of the water right here trying to catch a fly and he bumped something white and blue into the water. It must’ve been your doll.” Holly looked around the bank and at the rocks on bottom of the stream. “I don’t see her here under the water, though.” She said. Mona peered into the water with the princess. “The current of the stream must have carried her away. This stream empties into a pond in the middle of the forest. Get on my back and I can take you there.” With that the mighty unicorn knelt down so Holly could climb onto her back.
Holly quickly agreed and before long they were at the pond. It was a wonderfully peaceful place surrounded by trees and sunlight shone softly down through the leaves, making everything look warm and yellowy green. There, balancing on a rock near the edge of the water, was Prince Aidan. He had a long stick and was leaning over the water as far as he could. He was trying to reach something. Holly and Mona rushed up to him just as he was losing his balance. Mona grabbed the back of his shirt with her teeth and managed to keep him from falling in. At the same time he reached out as far as he could and grabbed a sopping wet Mary from under a lily pad. “Got her!” he cried.
Holly was overjoyed. “Oh Aidan, thank you so much! Aidan, how did you know to find Mona here? I didn’t know you were out playing.” She asked. Aidan smiled at his sister. “I was following a yellow bird, hoping to find his nest when suddenly I noticed something float under that lily pad.” He pointed to where he’d fished out Mary. “But I think I need to thank you!” He said, turning to Mona. “Without you I’d be just as wet as this doll.” Mona smiled and bowed her head shyly. “It was nothing Prince Aidan.” “But why have we never met you before?” Prince Aidan asked. Holly nodded, “Yes, we are always playing and traveling through the forest to see our MomMom and PopPop. Do you live around here?”
Mona smiled. “Yes, I live in a nice cozy cave here in the forest. I’ve always wanted to come and say hello when I’ve heard you both laughing and playing, but I’ve been too shy.” Holly clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh, well, you mustn’t be shy anymore! We’d love to play with you! Will you please be our friend?” Mona looked at both royal children happily. “Do you mean it?” She asked. Holly and Aidan nodded and smiled, and Mona smiled back. “Oh, I’m so happy to have new friends.” She said.
Princess Holly hugged them both, and then hugged Mary tightly, not caring how wet she was. “Now,” she said, brushing at the wet spot on the front of her dress, “let’s go home and get some of Mommy’s cupcakes to celebrate. I hope you like chocolate cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles, Mona.” Mona licked her lips. “Oh, chocolate is my favorite!” With that, the three happily set off towards the castle.
One day the princess was out in the field in front of her castle picking wildflowers to give to her MomMom, Queen Martha, who lived on the other side of the forest in the Kingdom of Prairie Meadows with Holly’s PopPop, King Jim. It was very hot and so she sat down under a tree for shade beside a stream. She had a basket filled with flowers and in it was her favorite doll, Mary. “You must be hot too, Mary!” she said, as she took Mary out of the basket and set her beside her. Looking around, Holly saw the most beautiful pink wild roses growing across the field. “I must put those in my bouquet!” she thought, and she ran over to the roses. Beside the roses were daisies and violets and before she knew it she had more flowers than her basket could hold.
“Well Mary, I think we’re done! Let’s go home and tell Mommy that we’re going to MomMom’s now.” she said. She looked around but Mary wasn’t with her. Oh, where had she left her? She remembered sitting by the river. She ran to the bank under the tree to get her doll, but Mary wasn’t there! Now, some princesses might have sat down and cried or gone home and given up. Not Princess Holly! She thought and thought of all the places she had gone to look for flowers, but Mary wasn’t anywhere to be found. There was no one else in the field or near the trees by her castle, so she just couldn’t understand where Mary could have gone. Even a strong and hopeful princess like Holly was starting to feel that she’d never find her doll.
Suddenly from behind a clump of oak trees a unicorn came walking toward Holly. The princess was surprised, for she had never seen a unicorn before and didn’t know that any lived so close. It was a beautiful horse with a silvery-purple coat, a lavender mane, and shining horn the color of moonlight. The unicorn came over and introduced herself to Holly. “Hello, my name is Mona. You look so sad. Maybe I can help you.” “You can?” asked Holly. “That would be wonderful! Have you seen my doll Mary? She has blue eyes, a dress with blue flowers, and a matching blue bonnet.” Mona shook her head excitedly. “Yes! I saw a frog jump out of the water right here trying to catch a fly and he bumped something white and blue into the water. It must’ve been your doll.” Holly looked around the bank and at the rocks on bottom of the stream. “I don’t see her here under the water, though.” She said. Mona peered into the water with the princess. “The current of the stream must have carried her away. This stream empties into a pond in the middle of the forest. Get on my back and I can take you there.” With that the mighty unicorn knelt down so Holly could climb onto her back.
Holly quickly agreed and before long they were at the pond. It was a wonderfully peaceful place surrounded by trees and sunlight shone softly down through the leaves, making everything look warm and yellowy green. There, balancing on a rock near the edge of the water, was Prince Aidan. He had a long stick and was leaning over the water as far as he could. He was trying to reach something. Holly and Mona rushed up to him just as he was losing his balance. Mona grabbed the back of his shirt with her teeth and managed to keep him from falling in. At the same time he reached out as far as he could and grabbed a sopping wet Mary from under a lily pad. “Got her!” he cried.
Holly was overjoyed. “Oh Aidan, thank you so much! Aidan, how did you know to find Mona here? I didn’t know you were out playing.” She asked. Aidan smiled at his sister. “I was following a yellow bird, hoping to find his nest when suddenly I noticed something float under that lily pad.” He pointed to where he’d fished out Mary. “But I think I need to thank you!” He said, turning to Mona. “Without you I’d be just as wet as this doll.” Mona smiled and bowed her head shyly. “It was nothing Prince Aidan.” “But why have we never met you before?” Prince Aidan asked. Holly nodded, “Yes, we are always playing and traveling through the forest to see our MomMom and PopPop. Do you live around here?”
Mona smiled. “Yes, I live in a nice cozy cave here in the forest. I’ve always wanted to come and say hello when I’ve heard you both laughing and playing, but I’ve been too shy.” Holly clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh, well, you mustn’t be shy anymore! We’d love to play with you! Will you please be our friend?” Mona looked at both royal children happily. “Do you mean it?” She asked. Holly and Aidan nodded and smiled, and Mona smiled back. “Oh, I’m so happy to have new friends.” She said.
Princess Holly hugged them both, and then hugged Mary tightly, not caring how wet she was. “Now,” she said, brushing at the wet spot on the front of her dress, “let’s go home and get some of Mommy’s cupcakes to celebrate. I hope you like chocolate cupcakes with rainbow sprinkles, Mona.” Mona licked her lips. “Oh, chocolate is my favorite!” With that, the three happily set off towards the castle.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Hello
I wanted to have a central space to put the stories I'm writing for my children so their family can see them. I also wanted to have a place to document the stories and events that inspire me and the funny things Holly and Aidan do. How can you not write stories about this kid? Enjoy! :)
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