Puzzled

by me (Phillippa)

Another fairy tale? Seriously, I don't understand my own infatuation with it sometimes. Ah, well. (have just realized I say "ah, well" more than you could think was humanly possible. scary) Not really based on any fairy tale at all. I was bored and had a typewriter that desperitely (I have no idea how that is spelled) wanted and needed to be typed upon. This came out. Absolute and utter silliness, nothing serious at all.

(and with no further ado and no more gilding the lilly, I give you -- the story!)

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess. She loved few things in her life, but one of them was doing puzzles. Her father would get upset with her when she would ignore the boys who would visit her in hopes of matrimony, of which there were many, despite the fact that it was known the world 'round that she did not quite live up to the standards of a Perfect Princess. She was pretty enough that the boys would come anyway. Her mother loved her, but was also disappointed in her, because she had really wanted a Perfect Princess for a daughter.

Kaley (this was the princess' name) thought the standards were silly and told her parents so. She was right about this. Many silly princesses would try to be a Perfect Princess but would always fail. Kaley was simply herself, which you can never fail at and is much easier than being perfect.

Now, living not too far from there was a prince name Joseph, who went by Joe. His parents were also upset/disappointed with him because he thought the standards for being a Perfect Princess were silly. (this was before being a Perfect Prince was considered fashionable, but only a little bit.) His exsistence was much akin to Kaley's, and he was visited by many hopeful princesses. These princesses were too silly for Joe's taste. He sought to find a princess who could see that being a Perfect Princess was silly. Joe had heard of Kaley, and so he decided to go and see if Kaley was as sillly as the rest of them or if the rumors were true.

Joe set out and soon arrived in Kaley's homekingdom (whose name is, sadly, lost to posterity) and found the castle soon enough. The king and queen (Kaley's parents) spoke to him, and were greatly relieved to find out there was someone who really didn't mind that their daughter was a bit odd, in fact, seemed to like her better because of it. They directed him to Kaley's room, crossed their fingers and hoped for the best.

Joe had learned the art of walking into a room without being heard, and used this knowledge to enter Kaley's room. Kaley was then working on an especially hard puzzle with buttons on it of which she only had a handful left, all of them scattered on the table. Joe also liked to do puzzles (though not as much as Kaley) and saw this as a very positive thing.

Quite suddenly, Joe realized that he knew where one of the peices should go. He reached around Kaley and put it silently into place, trying not to think of how her hair looked when the sun hit it like it was doing now.

Kaley looked around, startled at the presence of a (handsome) boy in her room. Not to mention startled because for the first time in a long time, I mean, a really long time, someone had found a home for a puzzle peice before her. "Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome," Joe answered, trying not to think of how blue her eyes were.

"Will you marry me?" asked Kaley, turning back to the puzzle. She put in another peice. Gosh, her parents would be happy to find out she was getting married, she thought. And he was definitly a preferrable option.

"Sure," said Joe, still looking at her hair. After all, his parents were going to force him into it sooner or later, he thought. And sooner was better right?

"Okay," Kaley said, more to herself than Joe. She reached out to grasp a puzzle peice and found that Joe was doing the same thing. They stared at their hands, and Kaley heard a sharp intake of air from above her.

And, they both thought, it could be love.

-- end --