Princess Beena Weena's Tattered Dress

Princess Beena Weena sat on the front porch with her hands set defiantly on her chin and elbows in her lap. She kept her knees held tightly together supporting her thin arms, and from the knees down her gangly legs jutted in an A shape. The skirt of her faded, tattered dress billowed softly in the cool breeze showing off her scrunched down pink socks and well worn sneakers.  A silver colored tiara atop her head, once shiny and bright, was now tarnished.  Its brilliant glass stones were now milky and dull.  But, the young princess was not concerned about how she looked.  Unlike her cousin, Princess WooWoo,  Princess Beena Weena didn't care if she got dirty or looked like a street urchin. A favorite expression of Mommy's.  She loved to run and play outside, climbing trees and stomping in puddles.  She enjoyed trapping turtles and collecting frogs too.  Things her mommy thought of as “boyish” and “unladylike”. “Especially when wearing a dress”, her mommy had said. So, it wasn't that Mommy wouldn't let her do those things she loved to do, but Mommy said she would have to change into a shirt and jeans first, and Beena didn't understand why. The dress was the shabbiest one she owned.  What difference would it make if it got a little shabbier? 

The young princess was sulking about just that as she sat on the porch of her family's two story home; her castle.  Why should Mommy get so angry about getting an old dress dirty?, she thought.  Well I'm not going to do it, she decided.  I like this princess dress, and I don't want to wear some ole' jeans and shirt.  Mommy just doesn't understand anything!, she thought. The young princess also wondered about not listening to her mother and running off to play in the dress anyway.  But, she also pondered  what would happen if she did. Beena Weena would certainly be punished. She would be grounded for the week. Or worse, grounded through the whole weekend.  That meant no ballet classes, no visit with her cousins Princesses WooWoo and Jazzie,  and no princess party.  That would be horrible! 

Mommy poked her head out from the screen door as the young princess considered her options.  “Well princess, are you ready to go play?” Mommy asked. 

Beena Weena turned toward her mother's voice, hoping Mommy meant she could go as she was dressed, that she didn't have to change her clothes.  Beena Weena seemed to search Mommy's face for the answer she wanted.

Mommy could see the question lurking in Beena's large blue eyes  and quickly shattered the idea before Beena could make a plea in her own behalf.  “What I meant to ask” , Mommy corrected, “was are you ready to change into more appropriate clothing for playing outside”? 

“Humph”, Beena Weena scoffed, then turned her back toward her mother's soft voice.  As if addressing the large oak tree in front of her, Beena added, “I don't want to change my clothes, you're just being mean, that's all!”  At the very big girl age of six,  nearly seven, Beena felt her mommy was being very unreasonable. 

“That's not true” Mommy told the stubborn six year old..  “Your princess dresses are for wearing around the house” she explained.  “Besides”, she continued, “that dress is fairly ruined from playing outside.  Its torn and ragged. It doesn't look like something a true princess would want to wear” she teased. 

“Mommy!” Beena whined.  “All my friends will be wearing their dresses. I'll be the only one without a proper dress on. I can't be a real princess if I'm not wearing a princess dress! I'll be just plain old Beena!”  With that, she folded her arms across her lap dramatically, dropped her head onto her arms, and began to sob. 

Beena Weena's mother quietly stepped outside the screen door onto the porch, sat down and placed a warm hand on her daughter's shoulder. “I'm sorry” Mommy told her.  “Of course you can't be a proper princess without your dress,  I don't know what I was thinking”.

Beena Weena lifted her head from her lap and roughly swiped tears from her cheeks with the backs of her hands.  The tarnished tiara now sat lopsided on top of Beena's head. The tilted crown had pushed a large section of her hair up awkwardly, making Beena Weena look just a little bit silly. Mommy smiled at her, leaned down and gently kissed the beautiful girl's puffy eyes. She softly wiped the remainder of Beena's tears away with gentle hands, then removed the upset tiara, smoothed the beautiful auburn tresses and set her daughter's royal head wear back in place.

“Run along and play with your friends Beena” Mommy sighed. “Oh, I'm sorry” Mommy said, “I should have said run along and play with your friends Princess Beena Weena”, as she lightly laughed. Been ignored her mommy's teasing.  She was just overjoyed that her mommy finally changed her mind.

Beena's face lit up with a smile from ear to ear.  “Really”?, she asked. “Oh Mommy, I love you”! Beena exclaimed.  “You are the best mommy in the whole world,” she added with a hug before jumping off the porch and running towards her waiting friends next door.  As an afterthought Beena stopped after only a few strides, turned back and ran toward her smiling mommy. She greedily wrapped her spindly arms around Mommy's neck and kissed her warm cheek.  Thanking her mommy for the renewed freedom, before turning again in the direction of the other neighborhood princesses.