Jen Desmarais

A fairty tale, by Dragon Desmarais

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Suzy who was six years old and loved cats.

One day at recess, Suzy found a hole in the ground and fell in. When she got to the end, she was in another world! She knew it was another world because she could see the sky, and it was black, so she thought it was nighttime.

She walked over to a big glowing pink thing that looked like a tree. She sat down and started to think about how to get home.

Suddenly, a unicorn appeared. “Good morning,” they said. “What are you doing?”

Suzy was surprised that it was morning, considering it was dark. She replied, “I came from another world, and I don’t know how to get back.”

“Hmm,” said the unicorn. “How about you talk to the queen? She’s the most likely person to be able to help you.”

“Where can I find the queen?” Suzy asked.

“She’s normally in her garden. You just need to go straight until you see a fountain, and then turn left.”

“Thank you!”

The unicorn galloped off.

Suzy started in the direction the unicorn had pointed out. She walked for a long time before she saw the fountain. The garden was just beyond a hill to the left.

She was surprised that the garden was just like one on Earth, except for the pink trees. There was a figure that looked like a bee and had a crown on her head.

The unicorn was right that the queen would be in her garden! she thought.

Suzy greeted the queen with a curtsy. “Hello. Can you help me get back home? I’m from another world.”

The queen said, “Yes, I can help you, but first you must complete my three trials to show that you are worthy.”

“Anything to get back home.”

The garden seemed to shift, until it didn’t look like a garden anymore. It looked more like a training ground.

“For the first trial, you have to run around this bush until you catch yourself.”

Suzy wasn’t afraid, because she was really fast. But she was a little worried about out-running herself. She ran around for a while, and she couldn’t catch herself, but then she realized that she could outsmart it. She walked until the hologram of herself was right behind her, and then quickly turned around to touch it.

As that part of the training ground turned back into the garden, the queen said, “Good job. You completed the trial of cleverness. Next, you must cross a field of lava.” She gestured at a pit.

Suzy crept to the edge and saw the lava below. There were pillars of stone creating a path across the field, and they were slowly shrinking.

She had no time to lose!

Quickly but carefully, she anxiously jumped from pillar to pillar, until she suddenly remembered her age. She was only six! It was unlikely that the queen would put her in mortal danger, especially when holograms were available. The lava was fake. Hopefully.

This gave her confidence and courage to finish the trial.

As soon as she finished, the field of lava reverted to the garden.

“You have now completed the trial of courage,” the queen told her. “For your last trial, you must lift four weights: one on each shoulder and in each hand. This is the trial of strength.”

Suzy walked over to the weights that the queen had indicated. She had just shouldered two of the weights when she spotted a kitten in one of the pink trees. She couldn’t resist a cute kitten. Dropping the weights, she climbed the tree to rescue the animal.

When she got to the ground with the kitten, she heard the voice of the queen from behind her.

“Good job. You have completed the trial of kindness. I can now send you home. Close your eyes and turn in a circle three times.”

Suzy did what she was told, and when she opened her eyes, she was back in the playground at school. When she looked for the hole, it had disappeared!

After school, she told her parents all about the magical world she had discovered. Of course they didn’t believe her, but it was nice to tell them.

The End?