Fairy Tale
by Courtney Whitehead

Once upon a time, in a far off kingdom, their lived a king and queen who were blessed with the birth of a beautiful baby girl. To honor the birth of the princess, a large Christening was held in which each of the princess' godmothers, the fairies from the surrounding enchanted forest, came to celebrate and provide the child with gifts.

The party was beautiful with wonderful foods, the finest china, and the most fragrant flowers. Everything was going well until an old fairy that had been regretfully left off the invitation list, appeared at the event. Angry that she had not been invited, the old fairy muttered under her breath that the kingdom would pay for their forgetfulness. Hearing this remark, a young fairy prepared to protect the precious baby girl.

As all the fairies lined up to provide the princess with gifts, the young fairy hid near by. She observed as the princess was given the gifts of beauty, song, and dance. But as the old fairy approached the child, she braced herself for what was to come. The old fairy put a curse on the child declaring that someday she would prick her finger on a spindle and die. The guests of the christening listened in horror, but were soon filled with hope as the young fairy emerged from her hiding spot, for she had yet to offer a gift to the child.

"Unfortunately, my powers are still too weak to completely override those of my elders," announced the young fairy, "but I can tell you that the finger prick will not kill our princess. Rather, it will send her and the palace inhabitance into a deep sleep for 100 years. After those 100 years are over, she can be wakened by the touch of her rescuer."

Due to the events that had taken place during the Christening, the king banished all sewing spindles from his kingdom in an effort to protect his lovely daughter. And she was protected. She grew up into a beautiful and talented young woman, just as the fairies had promised.

One day, the princess went exploring a tower of the castle in which she had never been. Something drew her towards a particular room in the tower and when she opened the door she saw before her an object she had never seen before, a spindle. Curious, she reached out to touch its slender shape and she was suddenly pricked, causing her to gasp, and release a small drop of that stained her cloths, as she fell to the ground, silenced.

When the fairies became aware that the prophecy had been fulfilled, they went to the palace and laid the beautiful princess in a bed of silk so that her surroundings would be as lovely as she. As the years passed, the castle became overgrown with forest, and the story of the sleeping princess a legend. The 100 years of stillness in the castle at last came to an end, however no on showed any interest in searching the legend for truths and so the silence of the castle continued.

One day, a couple of friends, male and female, traveling the country, approached a near by town. While resting in a tavern, they sat back and listened as the locals told them the story of the princess and her sleeping palace.

The couple decided to explore the legend, before returning to their travels. When they approached the supposed location, they found an incredibly dense and overgrown forest. The man immediately began hacking away at the overgrowth. The woman, however, began walking along the perimeter studying the task before them. She suggested to her companion that he cease hacking and pointed out to him a low clearing through which they could crawl. The man led the way as they easily crawled through the forest. Sure enough, they eventually came upon a long forgotten castle.

Finding the gate, the man began trying to break through the heavy wooden door. Meanwhile, the woman searched the perimeter and found a heavy vine up which they could climb over the castle wall. The man climbed first and their arrival into the castle grounds was a success.

They easily found their way to the room in which they found the peacefully sleeping princess. The man kissed her and held her hand, but nothing seemed to waken her. Suddenly, as the woman passed the princess, her hand brushed the princess' royal silk covered leg, and at once she was awakened. The princess reached out and kissed her rescuer, and told him how grateful she was.