The Princess and Her Flower

Once upon a time there was a pretty little princess. Her name was Larissa. She had blonde ringlets and blue eyes. Her mom and dad were King and Queen over a very large kingdom, but such matters were not important to Larissa. The only thing that filled Larissa's mind and the only thing she ever really worried about was her garden.

Larissa's garden was the most beautiful garden in the entire kingdom. It had pink flowers, purple flowers, blue flowers, yellow flowers, red flowers, and it even had striped flowers. However, there was one flower that surpassed all the other flowers. This flower was Larissa's most prized possession. This flower's petals were each a different shade of pink, purple, and blue. Each petal was tinged with silver and the leaves were tinged with gold. The stalk of this flower was of the deepest green and its perfume smelled like a spring shower. Larissa called this flower Sunshine.

Everyday Larissa would go out and meticulously tend to her garden always paying special attention to Sunshine. She would sing to her growing plants and she would talk to them because her grandfather used to say, "Plants are like people: they not only require nourishment and love, but they also require conversation". Perhaps this was why Larissa's garden was the most beautiful.

Now, normally, when a story begins with "once upon a time" we expect it to end with happily ever after; however, some stories are not so lucky. Some stories don't have a happy ending they just end. Some have sad endings, but others just end. I'm not going to give away the ending to this story, however. The reader must be left with his or her own conclusions about what type of ending this story has.

One bright sunny day Larissa woke up, ate breakfast, and then headed out to tend to her garden. But little did Larissa know that this day would not stay bright for long. Trouble was brewing in the castle. The King had visitors from a far away kingdom and they were discussing an alliance. This alliance would very soon effect Larissa's life.

Larissa's nurse came out to her and told her that she had to come in. Once inside her nurse gave her a bath, put on her best clothes, and made her look nice. Larissa wondered what the special occasion was. As mentioned before, Larissa did not care about matters of the kingdom and was generally clueless as to what was happening.

Larissa's nurse brought her into the throne room. There were many people there. Her mother was crying a little way off, but when she saw Larissa, she ran up and hugged her. Larissa looked at her father for an explanation and this is what was given to her: "These gentlemen are from a far away land. They have come to seek an alliance with us. I have agreed to their terms. You must go with them and marry their King. I have decided that this was the best course of action, not just for our kingdom, but also for you. If you stay here, I cannot guarantee that you will be married. This way I know that you will be provided for. I love you, Larissa". With that the King gave his daughter a kiss and lead her to the wagon were she would be taken away. Her luggage was loaded and after her mother said goodbye she left. Never to see her family again. Never to see her garden again. Never to see her Sunshine again.

Now I think I'll leave this story here. Right here. I'll give the reader time to digest what just happened to Larissa. Time to think about what will happen. Then I'll finish this story at another time, hopefully tomorrow. Yes, there is another part to this story. No, this story does not end here. Not yet.