Princess Sofia's Surprise
Beginning of the Story
It was Princess Sofia's birthday. She went looking for her parents, but in a few minutes she realized that they were nowhere to be found. In fact, the entire castle was empty.
"Where is everyone?" Princess Sofia asked. "Clover, do you know where everyone went?" Princess Sofia spied Clover to the side.
"Rffmph. Rn. Mm." Clover couldn't speak today! Why?! Then Clover hopped away like an ordinary rabbit.
Where the People Went, Earlier That Day
It was decided by everyone, mostly because James suggested it, that they would look for a present for Sofia on her birthday.
"But we already have presents, and nobody buys anything on the day of" Roland said. He looked doubtfully at his son.
"I mean a different kind of present" James said quickly. "Something natural. Something in the field."
"A four leaf clover?" put in Miranda. "You know they grow in abudance outside the castle, sweetie" she said to Roland.
"Hm, suppose we gather a bunch of them and make a garland out of it all? Sofia would love that!" Roland looked pleased at James' suggestion when all was said and done.
They gathered together where they were standing and talked excitedly.
With all the hubbub in the main hall, it was natural that Cedric would overhear and propose an idea of his own. "What if we all hide from the princess and surprise her?"
"That's a bad idea. We should look for a present" Roland insisted.
"We need to be quiet or Sofia will wake up" Miranda reminded them. With more hushed voices, they continued speaking and led the way down the purple carpeted hall and out of the castle.
It was a charming day. The wind wafted instead of gusted; despite the sun shining on the whole kingdom, it was not at all too hot. Green trees stood out to the side. The light brown path on the ground, which was the way to the town, was absent of stepping stones and other hindrances. Roland looked on at everything with a satisfied air and held his hands behind his back, as a king might. He talked to Miranda but the whole party was too eager to hear what they said in their lowered voices. Suddenly, an earthquake occurred.
The ground opened wide. The panicked faces of everyone made the scene still more surreal, more full of danger. The very Earth seemed to shatter. A huge strata of the ground was separating at quick speeds, and as they were walking so quickly, they all fell in. Even Cedric was no exception. He had followed the party to see whether they would be able to get the clovers or not. Then he fell in to the gorge, the huge, gaping pit of Earth with the rest.
Princess Sofia Panicks
"Everyone is gone!" Princess Sofia shouted. "Well, except for Clover."
Princess Sofia paced the floor in front of her. Her shoes made a clack clack sound on the castle floor. Was she all alone now? She had searched the entire castle. She even went up the staircase next to Cedric's room, which took her all the way to the tower of the castle, but no one was there. She knocked lightly at Cedric's room and was actually bold enough to slightly jiggle the knob, but it was locked.
Was she alone forever? No, that wouldn't do. And it wouldn't make sense. A princess had to have attendants. And her family would be sure to stay with her on her birthday.
Princess Sofia's amulet began to glow purple. "Huh? What's it trying to tell me?" She never took off her amulet, actually. Even now, with no one to speak to, she found a use for it. It began to glow all on its own.
Princess Sofia looked at the amulet. It was tough to do since she hated, hated to remove it, but she managed to turn it around for her to take a look at. The amulet stopped glowing and showed a reflection of Princess Sofia's family in a crevice of the Earth!
There was no helping it. Princess Sofia had to do something. She gathered up the folds of her dress and took off at a brisk pace. She went outside the castle walls, looked both ways, though there was nothing to see but green everywhere, and hurried along the path, which incidentally was to the left of the fountain where the swans bathed.
Then she discovered it, a massive crater in the ground. Down below is where everyone must have fallen. After all, it didn't make sense that they would just disappear into thin air, and this space in the ground hadn't ever been there before.
Her amulet resumed its glowing and she knew that something wasn't right. She had an insight that she was just dreaming. For one thing, she had sudden thoughts that seemed dreamlike. Where did she get the sudden insight that this was all a dream? And how hadn't she felt the earthquake inside the castle? It was also impossible for her to scale down into the Earth. She had climbed down into a small hole to talk to fire breathing dragons, but this was different. When she was faced with something she couldn't possibly do, maybe she was just dreaming.
"Plus, I couldn't talk to Clover" Princess Sofia said. "If I go back into the castle and take a nap, it will all be over..." Princess Sofia decided. She did just that.
Princess Sofia Opens Her Presents
Finally reunited with her family and even with the castle staff, like Baileywick, Princess Sofia was very happy, but had a doubt to raise in front of everyone.
"I was afraid you didn't have a present for me." Princess Sofia said and she appeared unsure.
"We have that plus a little more" James said enthusiastically, in what was actually a clear voice like Roland's. Then James and his sister presented Princess Sofia with the garland of strung together four leaf clovers that they had managed to gather in the depths of the Earth. At that, Princess Sofia hugged her brother and sister.
Her presents were wrapped in the most fabulous paper imaginable. They were purple like Princess Sofia's favorite everyday dresses. Instead of a ribbon, which would have made it too difficult to open each present, they were topped with a bow which anyone could pull off. "The bow is a little extravagant" Princess Sofia said.
"Are you not thankful?" Roland raised his eyebrows. He took Miranda by the waist with his arm.
"She is" James answered for her. "We're really grateful to be back, Sofia."
You mean that actually happened? Princess Sofia thought to herself with evident surprise, but she didn't say anything. How did they get back? How...? But these questions didn't have answers, because her family was there with her.
That Evening
Clover was brushing his ears with his paws. He had his back turned to Princess Sofia, who was in the same room with him, since they always slept in her room, but then he looked at her with a sideways glance and had a question to ask her.
"Now, remind me why you said an hour ago that I was unable to speak today?" Clover asked Princess Sofia.
"Oh, that. I dreamed that part in my midday nap. The rest of it happened. I went through the whole day's activity in my memory. I was scared."
The End