This is a Christmas gift for my dad. Please please please tell me what you think.
Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom there lived a little princess. She was a beautiful young girl, only fifteen years old. As she danced around her gardens, her long, brown hair cascaded down her back in perfect curls and her chocolate brown eyes glowed warmly. She was a spitting image of her father, the king of the land. The princess's mother and older sister had died in a terrible accident a few years earlier, so the princess and king were all each other had. They lived together in a palace high upon a hill in the outskirts of their kingdom, surrounded by attendants, governesses, advisors and servants, but very few friends.
The king would do anything for his little girl. She was the centre of his world. He would give up everything he had to see her succeed. Anything ever wanted, he gave to her. Being a good father to the princess was the king's first and foremost job. Every choice he made had his daughter in mind.
The princess, despite having the world at her fingertips, was unhappy. She wanted more. She wanted everything that anybody else had, whether it was right for her to want it or not. She was greedy and insensitive and unappreciative. Instead of giving thanks for the things she did have, she complained that they weren't bigger or better. Most of all, she resented the king for having more power, control, and attention than her.
One day, the princess was feeling particularly morose. She had spent the past hour screaming at the king because the new dresses he ordered for her were too big. She just wanted to get away from all of the anger and disappointment she felt.
All of a sudden, she heard a deep voice call out to her, distracting her from her angry thoughts. She turned around and saw the kingdom's dragon, who she had been friends with as a child. Despite everybody's warnings that the dragon was evil and had a hidden agenda, the princess had always trusted him completely. She thought that the people who hated the dragon were simply scared by the fact that he could breathe fire. She valued and listened to everything he had to say to her.
Today, however, instead of advice, the dragon had a proposition for the princess. He saw her pain and suffering and told her of a better life she could have if she left the palace walls. He painted a beautiful picture for her in words that she had come to trust. She wanted the perfection that the dragon described. She wanted the power, the attention, the beauty, and the control. She wanted everything she thought she never received at home.
Feeling particularly in control, the princess agreed to the dragon's proposition. They decided they would leave later that afternoon, once the princess had a chance to pack up her belongings. Thanking the dragon and saying her good-byes, the princess ran back towards the palace, making certain to avoid the king at all costs as she headed to her bed chambers. Once in her bedroom, she haphazardly threw some dresses and personal items in to a suitcase. Then she ran down to meet the dragon. It was time to escape.
Due to intense nerves and lots of excitement, the princess was very early to meet the dragon. She lay down in her garden, among the lilies, for what would be the last time. She dreamed about her new life. She thought of how it would feel to leave the palace walls, the way she would laugh as she waved to the castle on the hill, far in the distance. She imagined what it would feel like to be the queen of a new land, the place the dragon had promised her. She thought of the power and superiority, the attention and control she would be given. She was more excited than she could have ever imagined.
The princess's dreams were interrupted by the dragon, telling her that it was time to go. With a huge smile on her face, she climbed onto the dragon's back, tightly clutching her suitcase. Before she knew it, she was flying. The world she had come to know, grow tired of, and eventually hate was rushing past her. Her anger was left in the past. All the princess was left with was hope.
Before she knew it, the princess felt the dragon's speed decrease. She began to see the ground coming closer, but she saw no kingdom. The dragon had promised her a kingdom to rule, but it was nowhere to be found. All she could see was trees, dirt, and a few disgusting cottages. This was nothing she would ever want to rule. The princess hoped this was just a stop along the way to her new kingdom.
The princess asked the dragon this, and he assured her of her promised land. He also told her it was time to go to sleep, and with no doubt in her mind that the dragon was telling her the truth, she quickly fell asleep, dreaming of tomorrow, when a kingdom would belong to her. It was the best night of sleep she could remember having.
The princess awoke early the next morning, hoping to get a fresh start on the day. She wanted to leave as soon as possible so she could get to her new palace before the day was through. The dragon assured her that they would get there eventually, but he informed her of plenty of tasks he had to fulfill before their departure.
Furious that he was wasting her time, the princess refused to help the dragon with his chores. Taking much more time than it would if the princess had helped, the dragon slowly caught fish from a nearby stream and cooked them over the fire. He politely offered her a fish for breakfast, but the princess was a rather picky eater, and would rather go hungry than eat fish. Next they had to clean up their campsite, but the princess simply sat on a tree stump and watched as the dragon did all the work for her. He was, after all, under her command.
After a few more hours of this, the dragon finally decided it was time to depart. He let the princess climb upon his back and shot suddenly up into the sky. It felt to the princess that they were flying in circles, but she was so thrilled to be moving, and she trusted the dragon, so she didn't ask any questions.
An hour later, the dragon and the princess landed in a clearing. All around them were dark, scary forests, but they were standing on a sunny patch with green grass and flowers. The princess took a look around and flew into a rage. She asked the dragon if this was her kingdom, appalled by the thought. She wanted to rule people, not lilies and roses. He calmly guaranteed her that this was yet another stop along the way to her kingdom. The princess was beginning to grow sceptical.
The dragon once again told the princess it was time to sleep, and, this time slightly more hesitantly, she listened to him. Her dreams this night were a little bit more eventful. She dreamed of dying in the woods, of losing her way, and of being tricked, cheated and lied to. Most of all, the princess dreamed of her father.
That was when the princess realized that this was not where she needed to be, or even really wanted to be. She wasn't home; she knew no love, nothing genuine, no kindness. She wanted to be back at the palace with everyone she loved, particularly, her father.
The princess was awakened in what seemed like the middle of the night, prepared to tell the dragon to take her home. She heard a lot of loud voices, one of which definitely belonged to the dragon. Once he noticed she was awake, the dragon approached her and dragged her to her feet. He pulled her alongside him over to the others in the clearing. They turned around as they sensed her come near, and she realized that they were ogres.
Out of fear and confusion, the princess began to cry. Her father had warned her of ogres. He had never let her play in the forests without supervision, and had told her stories of children who were eaten by ogres when they misbehaved. Even still, though, she trusted the dragon. After all, he could breathe fire, which could certainly harm an ogre.
The ogres laughed at the princess's tears, and much to her despair, the dragon joined in with them. The dragon pushed the princess towards the ogres, laughing the whole time. The ogres happily greeted her, informing her that she was now their slave. She screamed and cried, realizing that she had been a key part in a business transaction between ogres and a dragon, two creatures she had been warned never to trust.
Shooting her a smug smile, the dragon flew away, leaving the princess alone with the ogres. Furious at herself for not leaving well enough alone back at her home, the terrified princess followed the ogres to what would become her new home.
She was shocked when she saw her new living space. She now had a cushion on the floor instead of a four-poster bed, a pile of rags instead of her beautiful dresses, and cobwebs covering the floor where she once had shoes. Her suitcase was taken from her to be sent to the market. He worldly positions were being sold to the highest bidder. The princess was distraught. She collapsed on her make-shift bed and cried herself to sleep.
The princess awoke, just after the ogres had gone to bed, with a plan of escape. She wrapped herself in as many layers of rags she could find, and fashioned herself some rag shoes. After sneaking into the kitchen to steal some bread, the princess left the ogres' manor.
The princess ran as fast as she could until she was out of sight from the manor. Once she saw that she was, she ran even further, not wanting to be found by an angry ogre. After an hour of running, the princess collapsed out of exhaustion, and she shovelled food into her mouth until she could barely move.
Then, she continued to walk. The princess had never been in a situation like this before. Whenever things were scary at the palace, she went to her father, grabbed his hand, and he guided her to clarity and certainty. She didn't know where she was or where she was headed, what she was running to or why she had wanted to leave in the first place. The hardest part for her was that she knew without her father's guidance, she probably would never find her way home.
The princess dropped to the ground and began to cry. She cried for herself. She was lost in the woods, probably being stalked by ogres, and was never going to get home. She cried for her father. He loved her so much and he had already lost her mother. She had been gone for days; he must be very worried. She even cried for the dragon. He was so horrible and mean to her. She thought he must have had a really sad life to make him so cold.
Through all of her crying, she barely noticed a voice that gently called to her. Once she finally heard it call her name, she looked around, but nothing was there. The voice kept speaking, urging her to follow it. Considering her position, knowing that she was already lost, that the forest was dangerous, and that she wanted to get home, the princess followed the voice.
Eventually, she followed the voice to the clearing she had stayed with the dragon in. That was when she realized it was the voice of her father. Ecstatic and hopeful, she asked the voice to show itself. The princess held her breath as a spirit in the form of her father appeared before her. He had come to rescue her.
Still lost and confused, the princess asked the spirit how to find her way home. She told it she missed her father and her friends and she just wanted her life back. She told her father's spirit that she was sorry for running away. She needed the spirit's advice and guidance, just like how she always needed her father.
The spirit simply smiled at her and told her she had never truly gotten far from home. With a flick of the spirit father's wrist, the trees surrounding the clearing all became transparent. He told the princess to look to the North, and, just as she had hoped, the palace was no more than a few hours walk from where she stood. She gave the spirit a tight hug, before running off towards the palace, where her real father, in flesh and blood would surely be waiting for her.
She ran for two hours through the woods. When she broke through the tree cover, the palace was directly in front of her, only another half hours walk. Instead of walking though, she sprinted at full speed towards her home. She smiled at the guards as she passed through the kingdom walls, and they called out to her, welcoming her home. Even the peasants knew she had run away. She kept running until she reached the palace gates. She took a deep breath, and entered the only real home she had ever known.
As soon as she passed through the gates, the princess knew something was wrong. The palace was in turmoil. People were running every which way, hiding, crying and screaming. She joined in the frenzy, searching for the one person she now knew matter the most to her. Eventually, she saw him. The princess ran to her father and threw her arms around him. After a few moments of hugging and crying, she asked him what was wrong in the kingdom.
The answer brought chills to her body. He told her the dragon had tried to take over the kingdom. When he had returned to the palace without the princess, the king had demanded to know the whereabouts of his daughter. When the dragon refused him, the king grew furious. The dragon, afraid for his well being, declared a war upon the kingdom. The king was too worried for his daughter to fight back.
The princess grabbed her father's hand, not in search of guidance, but as a signal of equality. They would fight this dragon together. They each picked up a sword from a nearby coat of armour, and hand in hand, they ran in search of the dragon. They quickly found him.
The dragon was furious when he saw the princess back in the palace with her father. He knew that ogres must know of her disappearance by now, and would be coming for him at any moment. The knowledge of this made his fight much weaker. The princess distracted the dragon while her father plunged a sword through the dragon's heart.
Together, the princess and the king had fought the dragon and restored peace to their kingdom. The princess never again tried to rebel from her father. She became a wonderful queen when she was ready, and both the princess and her father lived long lives. They all lived happily ever after.
The End.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Review. I will read and review your stories if you do this for me.