Week 2 Story: The Princess and The Pauper... Kinda

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Once upon a time, in a land far, far away there once lived a princess named Ellie, and a pauper named Cat. Princess Ellie was the prettiest of the pretty. She had long blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, fair skin, and freckles that looked as if angels had kissed her cheeks. Every girl wanted to be her, and every boy wanted to be with her. While Ellie was a “sight” for sore eyes, Cat was more of a “fright”. Her dull, frizzy hair, pale skin, and hunched back made her less of a desired choice. If people only cared about what was on the inside and not the out, Cat would be considered more beautiful than Ellie could ever be. But that wasn’t the case in the land that was far, far away. In order to help pay off her parents debts to the royal family, Cat had to work as a servant for Ellie. Day after day Ellie ordered Cat around, and paraded her around as her own personal ‘freak show’. After months, and months of this public humiliation Cat broke. She ran into her room crying, and praying for some Fairy Godmother to come and save her from the miserable life she was living. As the tears fell and the prayers were prayed, the room remained empty. It was then when she realized if she wanted things to change, her fate was in her own two hands. Cat had all the power in the world to have revenge on Ellie if she truly desired. She prepared Ellie’s hair, makeup, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and knew every nook and cranny of the castle, but revenge was not what she desired. What Cat desired was a change in Ellie’s heart. So she scribbled away at paper with her pen for hours thinking of how to make Ellie nice. After hours, and hours she finally had it, Cat was going to pretend like the world was going to end. Surely if Ellie thought the world was going to end tomorrow, then she would stop being so mean to people.

So the next morning Cat woke up at dawn in order to put her plan into motion. As she watched the sun rise over the hilltops, creating a orangery-pink glow, she felt within her that it was going to be a good day. Once she made it to Ellie’s room she burst through the doors frantically screaming, “ELLIE. ELLIE. YOU HAVE TO GET UP. YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE.. OH MY GOSH. ELLIE!!”. Irritated Ellie pulled off her eye mask and yelled at Cat. She had never been disturbed in that manner before, and was furious her beauty sleep had been interrupted. Huffing, and puffing, Cat began to tell her story of how the world was ending. She said earlier that morning she had heard a crash in her room and when she looked down the floor was splitting. She followed the crack all the way to the road that lead straight to the castle doors. Ellie stared at Cat confused. She said “Cat, what on earth does an earthquake have anything to do with the world ending?” And Cat said “Don’t you know that people say when the world ends the earth will be split in half, and people will be separated by the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’? And the bad people will fall into the cracks of the earth and never be seen again?”. Ellie was then struck with fear. She looked at Cat and said “I DON'T WANT TO DIE. I’M GOING TO FALL INTO THE CRACKS FOREVER”. So to calm her nerves down Cat reminded Ellie that they had 24 hours before the end of the world really happened, which gave Ellie 24 hours to change her fate.

Instantly, Ellie had a light bulb go off in her mind. If she were nice to Cat for the next 24 hours surely she wouldn't fall into the cracks. So, with her sweet blue eyes she looked at Cat and apologized for all she had done to her. Cat being as sweet as she is accepted the apology, but reminded Ellie that actions spoke louder than words. So Ellie took Cat in as her best friend for the day. The two girls did everything together. Ellie fixed up Cat’s frizzy hair, hunched back, and gave her new clothes to wear. She paraded through town with Cat on her arm and told the whole world Cat was the coolest girl in town. The strange thing was, as the girls continued their day together, Ellie forgot more and more what her initial intentions were with Cat. She actually started viewing her as a friend. By the time evening came around Ellie looked at Cat and said, “Cat. I truly am sorry for parading you around as a ‘freak show’. At first today I was just being nice to not fall into the cracks forever, but now I really do consider you a best friend. I hope you can forgive me ”. Cat was filled with excitement and gave Ellie a big hug, because her plan actually worked! Ellie was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. The two girls went their separate ways and had a peaceful nights rest. The next morning when Ellie realized the world hadn't actually ended she ran to her friend Cat’s house, and gave her a huge hug while screaming, “CAT. CAT. CAT. THE WORLD DIDN’T END! WE STILL GET TO BE FRIENDS”. And the two girls in the land far, far away lived happily ever after.

Image Used: Castle Image, 

Story Source: The Foolish, Timid, Rabbit, from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

Authors Note: So the story of the Foolish, Timid, Rabbit is mainly centered around a rabbit who thinks the world is going to end because a coconut fell from a tree, but he thought it fell from the sky. He then frightens all the animals and convinces them the world is 'breaking', until the lion comes along and realized it was just a coconut that had fallen. I personally was not a fan of the quick story that ended in the humiliation of the Rabbit and everyone making fun of him. So instead I created a story of a 'least of these' character who wanted her bully to have a change of heart, so she convinced her the world was going to end to do so. I think fairytale type stories always allow for simple, fun creativity so I decided to go that route!