New Friendships

The following is a Writer's Cramp entry: 1,000 words or less in 24 hours

New Friendships

Inside Castle Craig a small gray fox sat inside a little red wagon. It wasn’t a painted wagon, of course, but a wagon hewn from a redhue tree, so it looked as red as a slightly unripe cherry- the day before it turned a deep, rich burgundy. The wagon had big wooden wheels and squeaked when it moved. The handle on the wagon had been smoothed and polished first by the hands of peasants and later by repeated usage of generations of royal children.

The king’s youngest daughter, Princess Teablossom, was using it at that moment. She was attempting to pull it forward, but it was badly stuck on the muddy path of the drawbridge.

“Oh, no!” the princess cried out, for she was absolutely not supposed to be anywhere near the outermost portion of the castle, and especially not on the passageway into the village. Her father would rage if he knew. Her mother would faint. And each of her seventeen tutors, guards, and servants would be sent to the dungeon for inaptitude.

But it wasn’t their fault, the princess mumbled, still yanking at the handle of her wagon. She’d dodged the watchful eyes of her tutors. She’d hidden from the guards. She’d jumped over the castle’s outer rails and unwoven each of the spells and charms.

Teablossom wasn’t normally an unwily child. She wasn’t naughty usually, nor stupid. She really was aware that a visiting knight might at any moment come thundering across the deep-rutted wooden bridge, a knight who might not see her rust-colored reddish-hair or her sparkling green-eyes. He might not have the time to call her “adorable” as everyone in the castle did. His galloping steed could plow her down, trample her, or even worse, cause her to fall into the moat where the two ear-flapping hippos lived.

Inside the little red wagon, her pet fox, Chloey, yawned and shook his head. He didn’t care if Princess Teablossom took him into the Cavern of Mysteries. He was actually quite content to snuggle down in the corner of the wagon and take a long pleasant nap. He yawned a second time, a yawn so large for his dainty mouth, it actually turned into a small sneeze. Then the fox turned about three times, and before another yawn could hit him, lay down on the princess’ warm gray sweater. With a final peek of his left eye to check to see what Princess Teablossom was doing, the fox let himself drift off into sleep.

“Chloey, don’t you dare!” whispered Teablossom, but it was already too late; the little fox was snoring softly.

The young girl gave the wagon an earnest and frantic tug and a half. She buckered down and pushed at the wagon with all her might, but the wagon still wouldn't budge. It sank deeper into the mud, getting more and more stuck.

Princess Teablossom sighed. She was very strong for a little girl of five. She should have been able to move the wagon, but she hadn’t been able to. There was only one answer to that, she decided -- the wagon had to have been magicked.

She brushed a tear aside angrily, raised her slightly freckled nose and stared up at the sky.

Grayish, black clouds were thickening. A damp wind had sprung up, rattling nearby tree limbs and chasing stray crinkled orange and brown oak leaves. Teablossom wished for her sweater, but she didn’t want to wake up her fox. Besides she’d promised to take him to the Cavern of Mysteries, and now it didn’t look like they’d be going anywhere.

“Oh, what am I going to do?” the princess cried out.

“Ah, how sweet. A little child,” said a creaky, high-pitched voice.

Teablossom turned to look. It was the Witch of Thunder, she with the crinkled brow, twisted nose, and warts dotted here and there, like the map in the Great Hall, which showed villages and towns with brown-onion ink blots.

The Witch of Thunder wasn’t a bad witch; Teablossom’s father wouldn’t have allowed an evil witch to live in their kingdom, but still Teablossom was afraid of her. Wasn’t ugliness always a sign of evil intent?

However, even though her knees might have quaked a bit, Teablossom greeted the witch cordially.

The witch again cackled evilly. “Where are your guards?” she asked the princess, her eyes darting about in search of them.

The princess sighed. The Witch of Thunder would probably tattle to her father. Then Teablossom would be grounded for years and years and probably never ever get to see the Cavern of Mysteries.

The princess shot a quick glance up at the witch, trying to count the number of warts on her wrinkled old face. She shuddered when she realized that the Witch of Thunder was even uglier up close. Perhaps instead of taking her back to her father, the witch was going to do something truly evil like feed her to the hippos, change her into a frog, or even worse. . .

The princess dabbed at a tear.

“Now don’t cry, little one,” the witch said. “Why I have a cure for this problem. I’ll just dab a bit of this on the rut.”

Teablossom stood up to watch. Whatever magic potion it was, the stuff poured out of the witch’s hand like sand in an hour glass. Teablossom took up the handle of her little red wagon and started to pull.

“Now, wait, little one,” the witch cackled. “It’s never wise to go at such a thing by yourself.”

So saying, the witch moved closer. Her broken and blackened teeth grinned at Teablossom, mere inches from the young princess’ nose. Teablossom shivered, but her veins held royal blood. She gripped the wagon’s handle and waited for the witch to help her.

A heave ho later, the wagon was once more being pulled across the bridge, but this time in the direction of the castle. When the tutors, guards, and servants finally found Teablossom, they saw the young princess laughing and chatting comfortably with the ugly old witch.

Although Teablossom and Chloey didn’t get to see the Cavern of Mysteries that day, one can be assured that on a perfectly beautiful sunny day in June, another chance will come. Then, with her friends, the Witch of Thunder and the little gray fox -- Chloey, Princess Teablossom will journey across the drawbridge -- past the ear-flapping hippos -- straight through Peasant Village, a romp across the soft, blue-green pastures of Meadow Larken, and finally a hop and a skip further until they finally reach the far away Cavern of Mysteries where they will have the most amazing of all adventures.

Now 1,111 words.


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