Fairytale by Sarah (good summer reads TXT) 📕

Running through the forest, dancing around that putrid aroma, clearing my thoughts, this is what I do when I’m confused or upset. But, alas, i can’t do this because Caspian has caught up to me.

“What do you want?” I ask, annoyed.

“Only your time,” He replies.

“You have,” I pretend to look at my watch… that I conveniently forgot on my bedside table, “60 seconds.”

“Okay--” I interrupt him.

“Starting 60 seconds ago.” And turn away, as if to leave. All of this is a practiced attitude that I use to get people to ‘spit it out’.

“You are a princess!” He yells at my retreating back.

“NO DIP, SHERLOCK!” I allow the wind to assault his ears with the sound of my voice.

“But not just a human one.” I whirl on him.

“What are you talking about? I am a human princess…” The human part is a lie… I actually am a monster, I guess. I frown. “Or… I rule over humans, at least.”

“No, you don’t rule over humans.” He sniffs the air. “Can you not smell that pungent aroma? That is how we are alerted of our own kind.” So he can smell me? EWW! Wait, ‘our’ kind? I think, does that mean that he, too, is a monster? I look everywhere but at him, afraid of what will happen if our eyes meet.

A butterfly flutters by my head and a paw replaces my hand as I playfully swat at it, giggling like a school girl. He stands by, watching. I look at him and he smiles. Not a smirk or a laughing-at-you smile, just a smile of someone who is genuinely happy. I stand up and give him a friendly bear hug.

“Caspian,” I whisper. He shouldn’t have been able to hear me, but his heart rate speeds up, and that’s my indicator that he had.

“We must go home, to our pack, the main pack.”

“Must we? Can’t we just stay here, in this place? I love it here!” I twirl, my arms spread, and laugh at the sky. He just shakes his head and shifts.

His animal is nothing like what I shifted into. He looks like a wolf, whereas I was a real monster of the legends. I stood on my hind legs with razor sharp teeth and fur like a flame dancing in the wind. I just look at him, now a beautiful creature, with wide eyes.

“I looked nothing like that.” I whisper, “You are gorgeous! I looked like a monster.” His soothing voice echoes between my ears.

“No, you are powerful and majestic, Princess Stephanie."

“Nah!” I say sarcastically. “But,” I continue, “You have to say that so you don’t get beheaded. And don’t call me ‘Stephanie’” I spit out my birth name as if it was an unappetizing dish.

“My princess,” says Caspian, “You may behead me all you want, you may get the devil to do your bidding but I have been hired for my honesty.” I start walking and he rushes to catch up. “Transform. You will get a lovely surprise.” I sigh.

“Oh, all right, if you insist. Now turn around.” I make a loop in the air with my pointer finger. He gives me a confused look, but turns anyway. “I feel… naked.” I blush, “You know, when I transform.”

I start the transformation and it is nothing like it was before… My bones make popping noises, much like when I crack my fingers. The feeling I get when I transform is like nothing you could imagine. My human body dissolves and it’s like being without a shape, just air. It’s the best thing you can imagine, having no body. It’s also the scariest. Being without shape is like having nothing to anchor you to earth, like at any given moment, you could just… float away. I am the breeze flowing gently through the leaves, gently picking them up, teasing them lightly, and then floating away. I am the water, rushing, hurrying, hustling toward my destination, but my destination is a surprise, even to me. I am nature itself.

And then it’s over. My knowledge and freedom is ripped away from me and the impact of forming a body and hitting the ground knocks the breath out of me. I raise my snout tentatively and look around at the long wild grass as it dances with the breeze.

(This story is a work in progress but PLEASE comment because I work hard.)THANKS <3!!

“Wow…” I whisper. “That’s me?”

“Yes, princess,” He says back and I realize I just talked in wolf form.

“How did I do that?” I question breathlessly, completely hypnotized by my wolf’s appearance.

“What do you mean,” He asks, “It’s you, of course, your wolf evolved in the few times you used her…” I have a hard time comprehending his words, but soon, it sinks in, it was me. For those of you reading my story, you may understand, my wolf has a sort of ethereal beauty, and it couldn’t have been me, but, it was!

The men who took me! I should ask Caspian who they were. I voice my question in wolf-talk.

“They were part of a rogue pack. Their situation is particularly special because normally rouge wolves are ones who leave the pack to fend for themselves, practically suicide.” At this, his eyes turn into deep, sad pools of blue. “In addition to being a rogue pack, they are completely lawless to both the human and wolf laws. What’s more, they absolutely hate the royal family, and in turn, you.” He turns vicious and possessive. “That is why they took you, and threw you away to fend for yourself in a homicidal setting.” I turn away and pace for a few minutes before turning human and sitting on a nearby large rock.

A chill goes through me. I am going to die, I think. “Well, is there going to be a war?” I turn my face toward Caspian who also turned back to human from wolf.

“Yes,” Is his simple reply. I continue to look at him, trying to pry information from him with my eyes, but it doesn’t work. He looks away guiltily. He is withholding important information! When he looks back, his face is wiped of all emotion once again.

“Is…” I say in a small voice, speaking through fears. “Is it going on now?”

“Yes,” He says again in his annoyingly calm voice and sighs, sadness breaking through his recently applied passive façade. “Yes, it is.”

“Oh, it must be awful!” I address the elephant in the room, “Do you know anyone in it, or has anyone you know been in it?” His demeanor changes dramatically as he turns proud.

“My parents both served in the war.” He stands up and walks away, leaving me alone in the woods. I get up to follow him, but his abruptness threw me and I ended up getting more lost by straying from the flattened-grass path. I sit down and think about his words, also fuming due to his actions. I then realized that I was callous in my casually bringing up the subject. His parents, whom he spoke about in a past tense, must have died defending me. Wow... Taking in the information has left my head spinning and I stand up to go find shelter for the night. He expects me to go to a "magical castle" and he abandons me in the woods! What a jerk...

Text: Me, Sarah
Publication Date: 03-23-2012

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Dedication:
To my friends and family <3 you guys!!