THE TWO LITTLE PRINCESSES

Once upon a time, there lived two princesses; Ellen and Tanya. They both had short brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. They were seven years old and quite clever. The girls lived in a castle that was in a big forest. They weren't like other princesses. They didn't wear long dresses and jewels, or crowns and tiaras. They wore ordinary clothes. They liked things that other princesses would think unprincesslike. They liked to swim in a lake that was by their castle. They also liked exploring in the forest. One day their exploring led to the Dragon's castle. A dragon lived there. He had a fence of human bones around a black brick castle. He was a bad dragon, and like most dragons, he liked to eat princesses. He spit out their clothes and tore them. Then he hung the clothes on the castle with swords. Ellen and Tanya went to that castle for an adventure. They didn't know that a dragon occupid the place. Their father had warned them NEVER to go there! NEVER! But Ellen and Tanya went there looking for an adventure. The dragon had people cages that were above the ground. They were meant only for princesses. The girls went there and this is what happened. Ellen and Tanya were exploring when suddenly Tanya called, "Ellen! Ellen! Look at this!" Ellen came. "What is it?" she asked. "It's a castle," replied Tanya. "Let's go in!" said Ellen. "Okay," her sister said. But just as they were nearing the fence, a cage trapped them! Tanya bagan to cry as they were lifted up toward the castle tower. She knew something terrible was happening! Finally they were dumped on the damp floor. The only furniture there was a stool and a table. There was also . . . Mulfire the dragon! He sneered at the two scared girls. They could see his sharp teeth, and the red in his mouth. It was a horrifying sight. Mulfire grinned, showing more of his gleaming teeth. "Yum, yum!" he said. "Two princesses for lunch!" He blew fire across the room. Ellen hid her face and started to cry as hard as Tanya. With tears streaming down their pale cheeks, they turned and stared at Mulfire, their eyes wide open. He grinned." I'm not hungry just yet," he said. The girls uttered a sigh of relief. But Mulfire continued, "You will have to stay here." Before the children could cry out, he was gone. "Now what will we do?!" cried Tanya. Ellen thought for a second. Then her face lit up. "I can stand on the table and I bet we could get out." Tanya looked glum. "No we can't," she said. "The window is closed." "No, it isn't," Ellen said gleefully. "The glass is shattered!" So it was. Tanya gave in at once! Ellen and her sister pushed the table under the window. Ellen stood on it and climbed in the window. She smoothed out her white t-shirt and looked down. "There's a moat!" she whispered. "And alligators!" she added with horror. "I'll go first," said Tanya. "Fine with me," said Ellen, shivering. Just then, both of them heard the same thing. Heavy, lumbering dragon steps! "Jump!" yelled Tanya. Ellen jumped. There was a splash as she hit the water. Tanya crawled out on the window ledge and jumped just as the dragon appeared. She was falling. Tanya screamed and closed her eyes. She hit the water with a splash. Then she heard Ellen's voice. "Over here, Tanya!" Tanya looked up and started to swim toward land. When she got out she was shivering in her wet clothes. Ellen was cold and wet too. They took hold of each others hands and ran home, where they told the king all that had happened. He hugged them and said how glad he was that they were safe. Everyone lived happily ever after, except the dragon, who had to be killed, but that's another story!

Copyright 1997 by Chantessy