Hiya! Welcome to
my first attempt at a fanfic! This is a
retelling of a Hungarian tale.
Similar stories are told in other cultures too. I just
tweaked it a little. Nuff' said.
Disclaimer : I do
not own Hey Arnold!. I do not own
Nickelodeon either. It is pointless to
sue me 'cuz I am broke.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once
upon a time, many years ago (Long before great-great-grandma's grandma was
born) there lived an old king named
Phil. Now the odd thing about King Phil
was whatever he dreamed, It always came
true! In this way He was able to defeat
enemies by already knowing what there strategy was! He was also able to find treasures and solve cases that were
brought before him.
King Phil lived in a castle known as "Sunsete
Armes" with his wife Queen Pookie (her real name was Gertie, but nobody called
her that), And his grandson Prince
Arnold.
Prince Arnold had come into the royal couples' care when
Arnold's parents (King Phil's son and daughter-in-law) had died of the plague
when the little Prince was only a baby.
Shortly after that the King had a dream. He dreamt that if Prince Arnold's feet touched the ground before
his twelfth birthday, something really
bad would happen to him. Therefore it
was with much sadness that a proclamation was passed forbidding the Prince to
walk before the time of danger had passed.
When The
prince was very little Queen Pookie would carry him around. She also sewed tunics, hose, and various other garments for him
(Pookie was a woman of many hobbies).
When the Prince was a little older he rode around in a
cart driven by his pet pig. On his
sixth birthday King Phil bought him his own pony! "Well your half way there kiddo," Phil said,
"A pony is better than cart anyhow, People don't stare as much.". "Thanks grandpa!" Arnold beamed.
The
prince was growing up to be a kind, gentle boy. He very quickly befriended Gerald,
the page hired to lift him out of his chair, onto the pony
(Arnold named him Seabiscut) and vice-versa.
Gerald was around the Prince's age, and was able to lift him quite
easily (When you
don't walk, you
don't eat as much.) When Prince Arnold
wasn't hanging out with Gerald, or studying with their tutor Sir Simmons, he would ride Seabiscut in the woods near
the castle..
Now near
the forest also, was a village. In the
village lived the widow Miriam with her three daughters. The eldest daughter
was called Ruth, The middle child was Lila, The youngest was Helga. (Well you
KNEW she was in it.) They were, for
lack of better words, poor.
It didn't help that Miriam was always a tad
zoned-out. They made their living by
hunting small animals and selling the fur.
Or catching fish in the stream.
Or doing odd jobs around the village.
When In season they would also pick berries in the
woods...
One day
when Prince Arnold was nine years of age he wished to go riding. However there was a hole in his tunic, so he had to borrow some clothes from
Gerald. "If there's one thing I'm
looking forward to," Gerald said "It's the day you get on your own horse! Man My extra tunic is way to big for you!" "Look on the bright side." Said Arnold.
"At least I can dress myself. Don't need to stand for that"
"Yea but I still need to lift you onto the privvy" Both boys shudder at this thought. "Say Gerald" Arnold said once he was On the
horse, "Sure you don't wanna come?"
"Naw. Besides in my garb nobody
will know your not a peasant." "Umm...
What about this crown?" Arnold said pointing to the little crown he always
wore. "Take it off!" "Okay here" Arnold said tossing the crown. "Feels weird without a hat of some
kind." "Live with it!!!" Said Gerald as he put the crown on his own
head. "Looke me! I'm prince Gerald" Both boys laugh insanely
before waving. "Bye!" Arnold said waving at Gerald before riding
off into the woods.
*Stupid
Ruth!* Helga thought as she was picking
berries. *So what If I'm nine years old
and still wearing pigtails! Big deal!
She thinks just 'cuz she's eleven she's so hot!* Helga was mad at Ruth for picking on her
again. She wiped her unibrow. Her family life was well.... Ruth was bossy, and Lila was perfect in the town's eyes. Miriam pretty much ignored her, unless
something went wrong. Her hard life
made her cynical on the outside.
Secretly though she wrote poems, with what education Miriam had given her she could write them in the dirt
too. But now she wasn't in the
mood. *Gotta pick more berries, gee wish I could spin. More money in spinning* Lila could spin. Miriam was always too tired to teach Helga.
Helga's
thoughts were interrupted buy the sounds of a horse walking in the woods.
"He.. Hello there."
She heard behind her. She
whirled around. She got a good look at
the rider.
Brown wool tunic, Cloth pants, solid boots, golden blond
hair, Eyes.... *That would entrap My very soul.* She shook herself.
"Hey! Don't come up behind me
like that!" She yelled.
"Sorry." He
said. Arnold had never seen this girl
before. "Come to this part of the woods
often." He asked. "Yea what's it to you... Ummm.. Football head! Who are you anyway!"
"I'm I'm.." He stammered.
If I tell her who I am he thought, She'll start groveling
like most people do when they meet royalty.
I can't stand when people do that! I'm Ar.. thur. Arthur! I um.. Work at the castle. And you?"
"Helga" She shot back with a
little less fire. "I live in the village. Miriam the widow's daughter."
She
looked at him a minute. *Arthur, Arthur, Ar... Snap out of it girl!*
"I heard the Prince had a football head. I didn't know one of the stable-boys did
too!." She said.
She draw's conclusions quickly... "So Football head." Helga said. "Wanna pick berries?"
I'd dance with berries all over my face if I
could. "I can't" He said with what sounded like a small tinge
of sadness. "Why not? Can't Bear the thought of staining your
tunic?" Helga said with a tinge of
nastiness. "I uh.. hurt my foot last
week. Hard to move around." "Yea, well I hafta pick berries if I want
bread." Helga sighed. I wish I could help. She picked berries fore a while before
Arnold said "I gotta go. Good-bye." "Go
then! I don't care!" Helga
growled.
Arnold waved good-bye anyway. Helga threw a berry at him.
He rode away.
That
evening Helga was stirring a pot of boiled roots with cabbage Ruth had bought.
Miriam had forgotten to cook, AGAIN. *Why did I have to be so mean. He was nice. He was..
So dreamy* "Like,
Oh my god!" She heard Ruth shout from
the front door. Helga ran to the
door. "Arthur?" There he was, wearing the same dirty clothes
he had worn earlier. The sight of him
made Helga's heart jump. He was holding
a rather large basket. "My friend in
the kitchen made these. I hope you like
chicken pot pie." He said handing the basket to Helga. He waved and rode off yelling "See you in
the woods somtime!". She opened up the
basket and inhaled the aroma. *He's not
just a stable-boy. He's an heavenly
angel!*
They met
in the woods a few dozen times in the next year and a half.
*He's got worse luck than Eugene the unlucky. His foot or leg is always hurt. Is he really.... That is the most ridiculous
thought.* Several times Helga thought
this. Even if he was only a stable boy
she was always conscious of her little brown frock. She wished she could wear something nicer. And her poems were more and more about
football-heads.
She had
always come off as rude. Prince Arnold
suspected that deep down however Helga was a sweet girl. He had once or twice left pies at their
door. Though her tone was always
ungrateful, she never could hide that glimmer of thanks in her eyes.
Helga sat
in the dirt. For once she had no work
to do, so she was in the woods under
her favorite tree. She wrote and talked
at the same time. "Arthur, my love,
gentlest of souls..
The day thou gets of thy horse and wraps me in those
arms.." She heard a sound behind
her. *Oh dear god. I hope it's not Brainy the swineherd's son
again. He has a habit of showing up
whenever I wish to write.* She turned
around. Not far off she saw 'Arthur'
trotting towards her.
Quickly she erased the poem she started. Luckily he didn't see it. "Hi Helga" He said.
"Hey Foo... Arthur." *Must make a point of being
nicer.* "I cannot stay too long, But
can you meet me here next Thursday?" "I
dunno, Arthur.." "Pleese?" he
pleaded. "All right football
head." "Great!" He gave her a thumbs up and rode off. *That was wierd* she thought. Every other time they had met it was by
chance, (excluding the three or four times he came with pie to her door.) This time they had actually arranged to
meet. *Oh Arthur! I cannot Stand it anymore! When next we meet I shall declare my love
for thee!*
It was
now Wednesday evening. It was Prince
Arnold's informal birthday party. On
Friday was his twelfth birthday! He
would finally get to walk! His
grandfather the King had arranged for a grand feast. He even had a special bedroom built for Arnold to sleep in! His new bedroom was grand, It even had a
fireplace!
"Grandma?"
Arnold asked. "What is it Kimba?" Queen
Pookie said. "Arnold, Grandma." For some odd reason she had always called
him Kimba. He truthfully didn't
mind. In fact it would have scared him
if she called him by his real name.
"I... wanna invite someone to
the banquet on Friday." "Who? The Maharaja?" "No grandma, Someone from
the village."
Gerald jumped slightly at this. "Dear god!" He
exclaimed. "It's the widows daughter
isn't it?"
Arnold nodded at this.
"The widow's youngest is bad news!
I remember before I was your page,
She used to go out of her way to throw dirt in my
face!" Gerald continued. The young Prince sat in thought a minute
before he replied. "She may be rude but
I sense that, deep down, she's a really nice girl.".
Gerald
thought a minute before he said "Whatever man.
Hey! Open my gift next!"
Arnold quickly unwrapped the present. He stopped a moment when he saw it. "A cane Gerald?"
"For the brief time it takes you to learn. After that you can use it for
stickball. I can't wait to teach you
stickball!" Everyone laughed. Pookie piped up "And we'll cha-cha all day
Kimba! Olé!" This caused even more laughter. Oh!
To dance, run, get on the privvy by myself, play stickball, I can't wait! Arnold thought.
I
will tell her today! Arnold thought
as he lay in his bed. It was still
early and Gerald was not up yet. The
Rooster hadn't yet crowed. Arnold was
pretty much stuck there till someone brought him his clothes. I will tell her. He had tried to tell Helga his real
identity. She had always interrupted
him. "See I'm really..." He had
started. "A lousy stable boy if you
can't even go a while without hurting yourself!" She had always interrupted.
He had thought this over when it hit him. He had always gone riding in peasant clothes after that day. They were much more comfortable for riding
than his regular tunic. He had even had
his own made so he wouldn't always borrow Gerald's. She kept insisting he was a stable boy because he looked like
one. That's it! If I ride in my regular tunic she will
know! I had told her to meet me there
today so I could invite her to the banquet, I may as well do it proper! I hope she won't be mad.
It was a
cloudy day. It looked as if it would
rain later. "Tomorrow," Gerald declared as he wheeled Prince Arnold's chair to
the courtyard, "You get on your horse yourself." Arnold had decided to wear his second best tunic (the best one
for the banquet) and his crown. The King and Queen were sitting in the
courtyard. Queen Pookie was holding a
silver platter, she was sun-tanning.
Gerald hoisted Arnold out of his chair and was lifting him onto his
saddle
Prince Arnold waved at his grandparents. Suddenly thunder came out of the dark
clouds.
A flash of lightning.
Seabiscut reared. Gerald lost
hold of Arnold.
Arnold's feet touched the ground! A sudden flash of light! And then..
Stillness. The clouds rolled away and the morning
became warm and sunny.
They looked all over the
courtyard. Prince Arnold had vanished!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay. Part one is
over. If you want me to write part two
you gotta give me a good review :-Þ
