A/N: This story is a collection of Harvest Moon stories (that I made up, of course), all based on fairy tales. Each story will, supposedly, last for a few chapters. By the way, the T rating is only because I think I might have one story that will need it. The first golden turnip, a.k.a. fairy tale, is called 'Wake Me Up Later'. It's based on Animal Parade. I'll say what fairy tale it's based on at the end of the story.


Golden Turnip #1: Wake Me Up Later

Chapter 1: Chocolate Cake is My Best Friend.


Once upon a time there was an island ruled by the regal King and Queen, Jake and Colleen. More than anything in the world, they wanted a child, so when the Queen finally gave birth to a baby girl, their joy was unsurpassed.

Queen Colleen regained health quickly and said she wanted to spread the joy she felt to the inhabitants of the island. So everyone was invited to meet the newborn Princess.

And she was called Maya.

All the islanders gathered in the glorious King's castle and said that Maya was just so cute. Even the Wizard who King Jake didn't really trust had showed up due to the invitation, but he was just lingering around the edge of the room.

As all the invited enjoyed the festivities, also known as free food, Queen Colleen sighed with joy that everyone was as happy as herself.

But then, with nothing but a thunderclap and lightning flash across the clear blue sky, the Witch Princess appeared. The King and Queen turned around to see her enter the castle.

"King, Queen, you didn't invite me!" the Witch Princess boomed.

Queen Colleen moved to protect Princess Maya who was lying in her crib a few feet away, but the Witch Princess was faster. In a moment, the Witch Princess stood above the crib, holding Princess Maya in her arms. "Stop right there," the Witch Princess commanded, a malicious sparkle in her eye.

"Since you didn't invite me," she continued, "I'm going to place a curse on your daughter."

From somewhere in the crowd of islanders, there was a gasp.

"No matter how hard or how long your daughter trains for, she will never cook a single meal right!"

For a moment there was awkward silence. Then King Jake saw the Witch Princess was smiling, but not spitefully. And the King realized it was a joke.

The Witch Princess's sense of humor was strange, but at least his daughter was alright. Who cared if she couldn't cook?

The Wizard leapt forward and said, so quickly it seemed unnatural for someone who hardly ever talked, "I'll fix this terrible tragedy, Your Majesty! I can't completely undo the Witch Princess's curse, so I'll just change it. In one hundred years, your daughter will meet a prince, and when they meet, everything she cooks will be perfect! But so she lives for another hundred years, I'm going to have to put her into a deep sleep. And so she has people to look after her when she wakes up, I'll put everyone on the island to sleep as well!"

The room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. Slowly, the King came to terms with his anger, and shouted, "What have you done! You moron, you fool! What have you done?"

Princess Maya opened her eyes and looked up at the Witch Princess. She could hear her father screaming and she started to laugh.

The Witch Princess felt awkward so she put Maya back in her crib. Just as she did this, King Jake chased Wizard around the room, trying to strangle him.

And then, all of a sudden, he collapsed to the ground, asleep. So did all the other islanders, the Queen and Princess Maya as well.

Only Wizard and the Witch Princess were left awake.

"That has got to be the stupidest thing you've ever done," the Witch Princess said.

"It was an accident!" Wizard replied.

"By the way, a prince? What are they going to do, get married? Ha! How cliché! And if they do get married then consider this; the Princess is still a baby so he'll have to be a baby, or one hundred years old," the Witch Princess pointed out.

Wizard had nothing to say.

And so the terrible curse came to pass. The Wizard and the Witch Princess surrounded the castle with a thicket of vines and shrouded the island in fog, hoping that nobody would come there until the hundred years had passed.

-Rhyme 1-

With every day and every year,

The Princess Maya grows more fair.

But don't forget, yes, be aware,

Maya's still a baby… oh dear…

-And Then?-

Ninety years have passed since the curse was placed. Inside the King's castle, the Witch Princess waits alone, watching the sleeping fallen.

The Witch Princess hummed to herself, "When Princess Maya at last awakes, the world will adore the food she makes… Or will they?"

The Witch Princess was stunned into silence when the castle's doors burst open.

"Who the heck are you?" she asked the man standing at the door.

"Who are you?" he questioned in reply.

"This is the Kingdom of Castanet. Welcome. I'll tell you more when you tell me who you are," the Witch Princess said.

"The name's Calvin," he said, and was about to say more when he saw the crib the Witch Princess was standing beside. Something inside him drew him towards it, until he standing above Princess Maya.

"Are you a prince, by any chance?" the Witch Princess asked.

Calvin looked at her when he answered, "No, I'm an archeologist."

"Then get out of here. You're ten years too early anyway," the Witch Princess said.

"…What are you talking about?" Calvin asked, and looked back at baby Maya.

Suddenly, Princess Maya opened her eyes, and stared up at Calvin.

"What have you done!" the Witch Princess shouted as Maya gurgled.

"How should I know?" Calvin replied.

Everyone in the castle started to moan and open their eyes.

"I'm so hungry!" King Jake shouted.

The Witch Princess grabbed Calvin's hand and led him outside. And there she explained the curse and everything.

"From what you've told me, I've done nothing wrong," Calvin said after he learnt the story. "The Wizard never said that Maya was supposed to sleep for one hundred years. I think it was destiny that I came here… or something."

"Actually, that explains everything. You must be right," the Witch Princess said after considering it all for a moment.

Suddenly, the King ran up to the Witch Princess and shouted, "Where is that bloody Wizard?"

"It wasn't his fault, really! And he ran away half way into the curse… so that's forty years ago, now? He was worried that when you all woke up, you'd be angry with him, oh, and what a surprise!" the Witch Princess explained.

Queen Colleen followed her husband out of the castle, holding Princess Maya in her arms. She stood next to her husband as he sighed and shook his head.

"And it doesn't matter that much. Everything's exactly the same as it was before the curse… except ninety years have passed. But you'll adapt! Well, I'm not so sure… I don't know how to say this but, you kind of are the King of an island that doesn't really exist anymore… so you won't be considered a King anymore… You're as ordinary as the rest of us, including your daughter…" Calvin mumbled on and on.

"This curse seems more pointless as time goes by… Don't we have to wait ten years until it's actually fulfilled?" the Queen added.

"I know, but I think it's supposed to be like that! Because you're daughter will be ten by then, and she won't be a baby, and all," the Witch Princess said.

And after this, they went back to normal life. Well, they tried to.

It was a little hard, considering they weren't even on any map yet. But Calvin helped them out, and eventually came up with a plan for them all.

They cleaned up the island and made it a tourist attraction! With tales of mystery and adventure on Castanet, the Island Paradise, the tourists flocked there.

A boat route was set up and soon every day, people were coming and going.

King Jake, Queen Colleen and Princess Maya became Jake, Colleen and Maya. And no matter how many times Jake blamed the Wizard; he wouldn't get his life back.

As their lives became routine and the island began to settle, interesting food was brought to the island. And Maya loved to eat them all.

When she was a baby, she loved to stuff her face with creamy cakes. And it didn't change as she got older. She always seemed to have a cake with her, wherever she went.

One day, Colleen noticed that her little daughter… wasn't so little.

"Jake," she said to her husband, "have you noticed it too?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jake replied, sorting through stacks of paperwork, as he was stuck with a lot of the island's business.

"Our daughter… Maya is… kind of chubby," Colleen said.

"I know. I think it makes her even cuter!" Jake said, in a creepy way.

"But she won't just be chubby if she keeps eating like that," Colleen said.

"…I've been thinking about that too. It's just not a good image for a princess, and even though she isn't considered a princess anymore, everyone on the island will know," Jake said. "We have to do something about it."

And so they tried. And tried again. And they kept on trying, but every time they went to tell her to stop eating so much, she was stuffing a cake or a pie into her mouth.

It was too hard to say anything when her face was covered with crumbs and cream.

So they eventually gave up. Just on the day when she was about to start eating a whole lot more…

-Chocolate Cake's My Best Friend-

Maya was playing outside of the castle when it happened. She was about eight years old, when another eight year old that was in her class at school, came up to her.

He was one of the kids who'd come to the island with his family as tourists, and then settled down there. His name was Chase.

"Hey, Maya!" he shouted, and she turned around quickly.

This was because whenever she heard his voice, she thought of food. Chase was a marvelous cook, even though he was still only eight. She started to stare into space, wondering what kind of food he would be eating for dinner.

"Hey, Maya!" Chase repeated.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, what is it?" Maya asked.

"I need a test subject for the new recipes I'm making up. Do you want to eat the prototypes?" Chase asked.

"Wow, you're making up recipes! That's, like, awesome! I'd love to be your test subject!" Maya said. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Anyway, come on over now! I'll start making you something to eat," Chase said and they ran back to his house and were in the kitchen for the rest of the day.

And from then on, Chase and Maya were friends.

Chase enjoyed watching Maya shovel down his food; or rather he enjoyed laughing at how ridiculous she looked. And Maya enjoyed eating his food, but that's no surprise!

As time passed, Maya started to get jealous of Chase. He was such a good cook, and she wanted to be too.

But nobody had ever told her about the curse; she didn't even know she was a princess! Everyone had thought it better to keep it a secret from her.

However, from that day on, she spent so much time in the kitchen, cooking, to no avail, that her parents started to worry. Mostly because they had to eat her food.

And every time she cooked something wrong, Chase laughed heartily at her, which made her angrier and angrier.

"She's eating less but cooking more! At this rate, we'll die of food poisoning!" Colleen said to her husband one day, both of whom were pacing around the room.

"I know what you mean… But what can we do?" Jake asked the empty air.

"It's all Chase's fault. If it wasn't for him she wouldn't have started cooking," Colleen said.

"Yes, but if it wasn't for him, she'd probably end up eating all the food in the world, Colleen," Jake said.

They sat down, feeling exasperated and out of ideas. They hadn't had a good idea to begin with… and still their heads were empty.

"…We could always wait until she turns ten…" Colleen murmured.

"…Because that's when the curse is fulfilled…" Jake mumbled. Then he roared, "Damn that blasted Wizard!"

Maya poked her head into the room. "Did someone mention food?"

-The Princess's Tenth Birthday Is Tomorrow-

The islander's whispered to each other about the next day. Tomorrow exactly one hundred years would come to pass, and their rumors of what would happen on that day spread around the island like wildfire.

The tourists assumed it was all a publicity stunt, and thought they'd set something exciting up for tomorrow. But as the Princess was a part of the island's 'legends,' every year, around this time, more tourists than usual would turn up on the island.

This year was no exception. Jake looked at all the paperwork before him.

"Why was I stuck with this job?" he asked, more to himself than Colleen who was looking through some papers behind him.

"Now this is interesting," Colleen murmured quietly.

"Really? I doubt that," Jake said.

"Darling, listen to this. Out of all the people coming tomorrow… well, one of them… is a prince," Colleen said.

"Are you kidding me?" Jake said, leaping to his feet and staring at his wife.

"No, it's true. And he's ten years old. Coincidence?" Colleen asked.

"I think not," Jake said. They grinned.

-No More Failed Dishes For Us!-

Maya stood at the docks, waiting for the ferry boat to arrive. The day before her birthday, every year, so many people always showed up. She thought they came just for her… and indeed they did! But she didn't know that. She just imagined it.

She loved to see them all, and she always wondered what they were going to eat for dinner… And here they come!

Maya could see the boat in the distance, slowly drawing closer. "What are you doing here?" Chase asked.

Maya jumped. Chase was standing right next to her.

"I come here every year. The day before my birthday. Don't you think it's strange that so many people come on this day, every year?" she said.

"Right, right. I just wanted to say that I'm making some food and you can come and eat it, if you want," Chase said. Of course Maya wanted to.

"But… I wanted to stay and meet the people on the boat," Maya said.

"You can always meet them tomorrow, but that's fine by me," Chase said and started walking away.

Maya looked back at the boat. Then back at Chase. Maya thought about food… and ran over to Chase. He was laughing.

"Why do you always laugh at me?" Maya asked angrily.

Chase said nothing, but just ran to his house, with Maya close behind.

-The Next Day-

"We have to get Maya to meet that Prince today. That's our only mission," Jake said, sorting through another load of paperwork.

"Yes, yes, I know. Ah, we have so much left to do! Maya wants a big birthday party, right?" Colleen said, running all around the room, searching for scissors.

"I don't know. We never asked her. But she is a princess so it's probably in her blood," Jake said. Maya poked her head into the study.

"I really wanted to tell you today that I don't want a party. Birthdays are overrated," Maya said. "WHAAAAAT?" Jake and Colleen shouted.

Maya stared at them with her big blue eyes. "What's up with you?" she said.

"We are having a party! Even if it isn't for your birthday, we're still having a party!" Colleen said.

"…I just wanted to go over and eat cake at Chase's house," Maya mumbled.

"It is his fault!" Colleen shouted.

"What's his fault?" Maya and Jake asked.

"Why do you think you're so fat?" Colleen said.

"I'm fat? Well, I don't care. I'm hungry so see you later," Maya said.

She left the castle. "It's Chase's fault that she eats so much and it's Chase's fault that she tries to cook so much… He's causing so many problems… But after today… No more," Colleen said.

"…You make it sound like you're going to do something," Jake said.

"Well, yeah, we've got to get Chase away from Maya. Then she can be a proper princess," Colleen said.

-At Chase's House-

Chase opened the door. "I thought it would be you," Chase said when he saw Maya.

"My parents are going to have a party, and it's not even for my birthday! Can you believe that?" Maya said, pushing her way past Chase.

"No. Whatever. I was expecting you so here's breakfast," Chase said.

Maya was about to stuff her face when she noticed how quiet it was. She looked around. "Where are your parents?" she asked.

Chase said nothing. Well, he did say, "That doesn't matter. None of it matters. Listen, Maya, I just found something out and… I can never speak to you again."

The next thing Maya knew she was standing outside the house and Chase had slammed the door in her face.

"What about breakfast!" she shouted but she got no reply.

-Meanwhile-

The party Jake and Colleen set up for their daughter's birthday was exactly like the celebration one hundred years ago.

The islanders who had attended the first party noticed this and shared a private joke with the King and Queen. The tourists who came just came for the 'festivities'.

Jake and Colleen waited in the castle for their daughter to return. She came back sooner than they expected, and she was crying.

"What's wrong, dear?" Colleen asked, taking Maya in her arms as if she were a baby again. "It was Chase, wasn't it?"

"H- He kicked me out of his house! Without breakfast!" Maya sobbed.

Jake looked at his wife and whispered, "Did you do something?"

She shook her head, and stroked her daughter's head.

"Don't worry, dear. You can always make new friends! And there are some new kids at your party today. You should meet him- I mean, them," Colleen said.

Maya was worried. She'd never been good at making friends. Her only friend in her entire life had been Chase. Up until two years ago...

"Come with me," Colleen said, and she led her to her own room. There she started to clean her daughter's face of tears. Then she told her a story.

"Once upon a time there was a King and Queen with a beautiful baby daughter. They were all very happy until an evil Wizard stepped forward and cursed them and all of their people to sleep for one hundred years. But at the end of the hundred years, he said, the baby princess would meet a prince, and then she would acquire a skill. The skill to cook anything and end it out a shining masterpiece," Colleen said. Maya looked rather interested when food was brought into the story, as her mother knew she would be.

"Everyone fell into a deep sleep, and the Wizard fled. Ninety years, not one hundred, after the Wizard spoke his curse, someone came and woke them all up. He wasn't a prince, no, he was just a commoner… like you and I. So they all went on living, and the baby princess went on growing, and everybody knew that something special would happen on her tenth birthday…" Colleen waited to see if her daughter noticed.

"…Oh my goddess, look!" she shouted instead, pointing to her bed. There was a package on it, and it smelt of chocolate.

She tore it open and saw the most divine chocolate cake she'd ever seen; better than any she'd seen Chase make, that was for sure.

As she stared at it, her eyes wider than ever before, she remembered something she'd told Chase. "Chocolate cake's my best friend," she had said.

He had laughed at her again, but that time he wasn't being mean… Maya already missed him, even though she'd just talked to him a few minutes ago.

Her bottom lip began to wobble and before Colleen could do anything, she began to cry. Much louder than before. Then she stuffed her face with the chocolate cake.

Colleen was shocked at her daughter's behavior; she was wolfing down the cake much too quickly and was bound to choke, but she was crying so sadly that her mother left her alone.

When she had swallowed it all and wiped her eyes, Colleen said, "You didn't let me even finish. That story I told you is true!"

Maya turned and stared. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"If you don't believe in magic, then you're a fool, Maya. Because you are the princess in that story!" Colleen said.

Maya was stunned. "I… I'm one hundred years old, today!" She looked like she was about to scream.

"Yes, yes. And the whole thing is absolutely true… Maya, today there is a prince at your birthday party. So if you want to be a good cook, today's the day!" Colleen said.

Maya said nothing. The only reason she wanted to be a good cook was to impress Chase… so maybe she could, after today. Maybe.