Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful noble lady whose name was Thione. She was loved and cherished by all of her people, and her wisdom was prized for miles around. Her husband also was a brave and noble man, and loved by his people just as much as his wife. His name was Lord Paul, and he was lord over many of the king’s provinces. And so when the king invited him to a feast to celebrate his own marriage, Lord Paul had to attend, and his wife, Lady Thione, stayed to govern the castle during his absence. The journey was hard, but after weeks of travel, Lord Paul and his retinue entered the king’s palace. The feast was indeed as great as the king had said in his letter of invitation, and the splendor and aroma of the food made even the pickiest of the courtiers’ mouths water. There was fruit in abundance, meat stews, beef, pork, and chicken, a great variety of cheeses and breads, and wine that came specifically from the king’s cellars in honor of his bride. Yet happy as he was, Lord Paul also felt lonely for his fair Lady Thione, for he felt that the beauty of the new queen did not rival her, and soon this loneliness shown forth not only in his heart, but in his face, and the king, being keen of eye, noticed, and being slightly drunk from the overabundance of wine, was offended and inquired of his lord’s woe. The king could not believe his eyes, for there was the arrow, right in the center of the wreath “How can I be happy, o my king,” Lord Paul answered, “when I long for my own wife whose wisdom is famed in the provinces and whose beauty goes unrivaled?” Then the king was furious for he felt that his wife’s beauty would surely surpass any who dared to boast in such a way. Therefore, he, in anger, had Lord Paul sent to the dungeons, until “the woman of whom he boasted should prove her wisdom to be greater than his queen’s.” So he sent his decree to Lady Thione, convinced that nothing could rescue Lord Paul from his sentence. * * * Yet, as always, Lady Thione thought wisely and devoted all of her time to thinking of a way to rescue her husband on the king’s terms. Many days and nights she stayed in her tower, thinking and praying, till on the morning of the third day she emerged with a scheme. Quickly she commanded that a great and beautiful bow, inlaid with gold and silver, be made, along with a quiver of arrows of equal workmanship. Then she called to the blacksmiths for gauntlets and leggings of mail to be made, along with an iron helmet. Then she and her maids set to work on the finest embroidered shirt and tunic that could be made out of fine silk and velvet, stitching in many patterns, making it as beautiful an attire as possible. For one entire month they worked, none knowing what she was scheming. Finally, on the first day of spring, Lady Thione and her maids finished the strange-looking garment. She arrayed herself with the heavily embroidered shirt and tunic, tying them in place with a green silk sash into which she thrust two foreign knives. Then she did up her hair and put on her helmet, along with the chain-mail leggings and gauntlets, and a few articles of gold, Finally slinging on her bow and quiver. In that strange array, she looked like a young formidable prince from a far land, and her presence struck awe into her servants’ hearts. So she mounted her black mare and rode to the king’s palace. * * * The king could make nothing of the lordly stranger, except that he must be a great prince from a faraway land. His display of wealth was either the rashness of a fool, or he did not fear that anything would be stolen. The king decided upon the latter when he recognized the youth’s quiet, cold, yet courteous attitude. So he politely invited the travel-stained lordling into his hall, and asked him why he had come. The disguised Thione replied using a strange accent, “I have journeyed for many miles, as it is the custom of my country to learn of those who live beyond our great borders.” The king was nonplussed. But his wife was a little more suspicious and, whispering to the king, said, “O my king, I would be wary of that one, for something in me says that that is no man, but a woman who lies beneath that barbarian apparel.” The king looked at the waiting prince and softly replied, “Perhaps, Queen, but I feel inclined to test this noble stranger before making such a judgment. If it would ease your heart, then I shall have you devise what three tests should be given him.” To this the queen agreed, and the king turned again to the foreign prince. “In honor of your stay, we shall hold a feast, and events appropriate shall be named, of which I hope you will partake.” The strange nobleman nodded and the king continued. “Should you win all three of these events, I will grant one wish to you.” The prince bowed, and the king dismissed him to be guided to his quarters. The feast was held the next day, and the food was indeed great to behold. But the prince did not eat with his hands but withdrew from his sash a pair of wooden sticks that were pointed on one end and dull on the other. Positioning them like claws in his hand, he ate his meal in that fashion, much to the surprise of the court. All doubt that had been in the king’s mind until then was gone in that instant. The prince not only looked different, he acted different! The first event
Fantasy
October’s Flight
Glancing out the window again, Cammie felt lighthearted Cammie pushed aside her sunshine-yellow curtains to stare out the window. Ghosts, princesses, and superheroes were just starting to file onto Lemon Lane. She turned from the window to look at her reflection in the full-length mirror. Cammie’s curls bounced up and down gleefully in rhythm with her sparkling plastic antennae. A frilly ballerina leotard overlapped lavender tights. Matching wings glittered under the incandescent light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Perfect, she thought. Glancing out the window again, Cammie felt lighthearted. It seemed almost as if she could fly. In fact, now she was flying. She was flying through her window, out of the neighborhood, and into the limitless sky. The moon smiled down on her. Cammie looked down, only to find the most beautiful flowers below her. They came in every color of the rainbow and were speckled with tiny intricate drops of dew. Cammie longed to go down to the flowers and so her wings obeyed and she drifted downward. Landing on a petal, she thought, How odd. These petals feel like bedsheets. Cammie, suddenly feeling indifferent to the petals, decided to taste some of that juicy nectar that allured her. As she bent down to sip, the nectar seemed to leap out of the flower and it splashed Cammie’s face. The moon abruptly became a light bulb. “Wake up, sleepyhead,” said her obnoxious sister, who had evidently poured water on Cammie to rouse her. “You don’t want to miss Halloween, now, do you?” Cammie rolled over in bed and put on her costume. She was a shimmering butterfly. Cammie looked in the mirror and thought, I could almost fly… Zoe Kayton, 12Palm City, Florida Sage Asakawa, 11Lafayette, Colorado
Daydreamer
Wings back, eyes forward,feet pointed towards the clouds, and I dive Splash! A clap of water crashes to my cheek. But I don’t even think about that. I think about how my arms and legs are moving—well, mostly my arms moving up and down but also going side to side. I feel like a bird, a bird soaring into the gray misty sky. The heat licking at my wings, but I am free, don’t have to care about school or anything else. As I soar I see a medium-sized shadow sprint through the water as it sees my big body soaring above it. My eyes narrow in closely, trying to see the direction of the fish. I can feel it, and just as it is trying to turn around, I dive. Wings back, eyes forward, feet pointed towards the clouds, and I dive, I slice into the water like an arrow and catch my prey I begin to eat it, and then I realize that I am still underwater. But then the strangest feeling pops over me, and I am not gasping for air. In fact my body begins to shift, shift into the shape of a fish, a silvery shimmering fish, gliding through the water, towards a group of smaller fish, doing fish-like errands. I swim around and around this area, and my tail begins to feel funny Suddenly the oysters at the bottom sure look delicious. But, I need some air. I pop to the top, slapping my heavy—heavy?—well, slapping my heavy tail against the water. And then I realize—wait a second—I’m an otter. And suddenly every single oyster on the bottom looks s000 scrumptious. And then, I dive. Dive down deep, trying to get them, but just as I do that, a huge wave slaps against me and pushes me off course. So huge, the biggest wave I’ve ever felt. I swim back, forgetting the delicious oysters that just lay under my eyes. Forgetting everything except that my life depends completely on me getting out of this wave. I try kicking and steering my body to the side. I have never kicked this hard before—I will probably go limp. My heart nearly sinks as I feel the water steepen a little ways and turn my head to see a waterfall. My only chance of life is to find something that I can hold on to. And then, I see it, a rock, sticking up, just a little ways, I only have one chance to grab it, and I reach out and I let out the first real breath that I have taken in a long time, when I feel the smooth surface of the hard rock. But just as I shift to get into a more comfortable position, one of my paws slips and I hit my head on the rock. For a second, I feel pain, ear-splitting pain, sucking my whole body into the feeling. But then, I remember. I’m just daydreaming, again. And I’m not an animal—in fact, I am a normal girl, and I swim back to my father waiting for me by the diving board. Hannah V. Read, 9Austin, Texas Aditi Laddha, 11Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
