The Flow of Words
In Elsa's spare time, one of her favorite things to do was to write. Of course, she was always writing, because it was part of her job. She wrote letters, speeches, essays, etc, but all of that was writing as part of her status as ruler of Arendelle. Little did people know, that Elsa enjoyed writing for fun as well. During her thirteen years of isolation, Elsa wrote a story, which was semi-autobiographical. It was a story about a girl who longed to be with her sister, but couldn't because of the circumstances. One could easily tell that this story was drawn largely by Elsa's own experience, but there was still a great deal of fictional elements to the story as well. At the moment, Elsa was looking through some of her old pieces of writing. She smiled at some of the things she wrote. Some of it was terrible compared to her current work. When she finished flipping through all her previous entries, she came upon another group of writings, which weren't hers. As soon as she saw the handwriting, however, she knew instantly who wrote them. They were Anna's. During her years of isolation, one of the many things that Anna would slip under her door were short stories she had written. Elsa had read them all, and had even wrote comments on them. Sadly, Anna had never gotten to read what she had to say. When Elsa finished reading a couple of the stories, she decided to give them to Anna. She found her younger sister in the kitchen making lunch.
"Hi, Elsa! You're just in time for lunch! I was just making myself a sandwich. Would you like one?"
"No, thank you, Anna, but I would like to give you something," Elsa said.
"What is it?" Anna asked.
Elsa handed Anna her many writings, which she had wrapped together with a long piece of string.
"Do you recognize these?" she asked.
Anna's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow! These are all of my stories! I never thought you read them!"
"Oh, yes, I did read them. They were quite entertaining," Elsa stated.
"The Friendliest Cat, the Princess and Her Ruby, I remember writing these!" Anna exclaimed. "But what are all these words written on the side of the pages?"
"Oh, those are just some of my comments," Elsa explained.
"Oh, OK. I'll have to read them," Anna said. "I'd love to hear your thoughts."
"I'm glad to hear that. Well, I best be getting back to work. I have a ton of letters to answer," Elsa said, leaving the kitchen.
"Ok. Thank you for giving me my old stories, Elsa!" Anna said.
"You're welcome, Anna. I'm glad you're happy."
A couple hours passed by, and while Elsa was answering a letter to a nearby kingdom, she heard the door to her study open. When she looked up, she saw Anna walking towards her. However, she wasn't smiling like she usually was.
"Hello, Anna, is there something I can help you with?" Elsa greeted.
"Yes, actually. Some of the things you wrote on my stories, I don't understand it."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you compliment me on some of the stories, but others…you seem to criticize."
"That's because I thought they weren't as good as your other ones. I was offering constructive criticism on those."
"What's that?" Anna asked, confused.
"Constructive criticism is a type of criticism that is meant to show that an intent or purpose of something is better served by an alternative approach. In this case, making the criticism is not necessarily deemed wrong, and its purpose is respected; rather, it is claimed that the same goal could be better achieved via a different route. Constructive criticisms are often suggestions for improvement – how things could be done better or more acceptably. They draw attention to how an identified problem could be solved, or how it could be solved better. In this case, I was offering suggestions that could improve your writing."
"Oh, I see," said Anna. "Well, I'm nowhere near the writer that you are, Elsa. You're incredible! The best writer I know!"
Elsa blushed. "Well, I'm flattered, but you shouldn't try to write like me. Everyone has their own unique writing style and voice. You should write like you usually do, but I'm more than happy to offer advice on your writing."
"Ok. Next time I write something, I'll give it to you for feedback," Anna said.
"Sounds good. I look forward to reading it," Elsa said.
Before Anna left, she turned around to ask a question that had just come to her. "Hey Elsa," she said.
"Yes, Anna?"
"Do you think you could give me some pointers about writing, right now? I'd love to hear some."
Elsa knew that she should finish up her letters, but she couldn't say no to such an honest request from her sister.
"Of course, Anna. Here, let me pull up a chair and we can get started."
Elsa asked Kai to bring another chair into her office for Anna. The two sat at Elsa's desk, ready for a creative session of writing. Elsa took out a fresh batch of paper, and a new bottle of ink, along with some quills.
She took one of the quills in her hand, dipping it softly into the jar of ink, before turning to Anna.
"The first step to writing is to write," she explained.
"That sounds straightforward enough," Anna laughed.
"I'm serious. When you write your first draft, you write with your heart, and you write your second draft, with your mind."
"Why not just write with both at the same time?" Anna asked.
Elsa chuckled. "Believe me, it wouldn't come out well if it was like that."
Elsa started to write a paragraph on a piece of paper. When she was finished, she handed it to Anna. It was a short paragraph about monarchy. Though it was well-written, Anna didn't see what this had to do with good writing.
"Now you try," Elsa said. "This time, however, let's see you write a nonfiction piece."
"Ok," Anna said. She dipped her quill into the bottle of ink, and began writing the first thing that came to her mind. When she was finished, she had written three pages. Elsa proofread them, smiling at the results, but she wasn't without criticism.
"You've got a very strong topic, and you make some great points, but some of your writing comes off a little cliché. "
"What do you mean?"
"Some of these phrases like, 'greatest thing I've ever seen' or 'happy as a clam.' They're the kind of phrases that have been used way too many times. I think you're thinking too hard about it, instead of writing from your heart."
"I guess you're right. I was just writing what I thought people wanted to hear," Anna confessed.
"Ah! That's a mistake! If you write what you think people want to hear, then your true voice can never be heard," Elsa pointed out.
"I see what you mean. Alright, I'll try again."
For the next few hours, Anna wrote draft after draft of her essay, as she liked to call it, and received constructive criticism from Elsa. Finally, when evening came, the sisters said goodnight to each other, and went to bed.
"Oh, by the way, Anna, I'm sailing to the Southern Isles tomorrow to give a speech at their university," Elsa said.
"What! No offense, Elsa, but are you mad? Have you forgotten what Hans tried to do to us?"
"I'm aware of that. But Hans and his family will have nothing to do with this event. The headmaster of the university invited me to speak to the student body. I've written a speech for the occasion. You're welcome to come along if you like."
"Um…I'd love to Elsa, but what if we run into Hans again?"
"Don't worry about that. I've informed the headmaster of Hans' and he has assured me that he will not be allowed at the event."
"Well, in that case, I guess I'll go. I was going to rewrite my essay tomorrow, but I guess I can do that another time," Anna said.
"That's great. We leave tomorrow morning at 9:00, so you'll need to get up bright and early. Also, be sure to pack plenty of clothes. We'll be gone for a few days," Elsa said.
"Will do. Goodnight, Elsa."
"Goodnight, Anna."
With that, Anna returned to her chambers, where she immediately began work on rewriting her essay. It was something she was passionate about, and she wanted Elsa to be proud of it. For the next several hours, she rewrote various drafts of the essay, finally settling on a final draft, which she believed was her best work yet. Before going to bed, Anna slipped the essay under Elsa's door, hoping that she would see it before they left for the Southern Isles tomorrow.
When the morning came, Elsa saw Anna's essay on the floor. Seeing as how she had already packed the night before, she had a little time on her hands to read what her sister had written. After she finished, she grabbed the speech that she was going to give to the university students, and left for the harbor.
The Southern Isles was a pretty little country. It had its similarities to Arendelle, but was more rugged than Anna and Elsa were accustomed too. As soon as the ship docked, the sisters set out for the university, where they met up with the headmaster.
Since she was Elsa's sister, Anna had the distinct privilege of sitting onstage, while Elsa gave her speech. Anna watched with pride as the headmaster introduced Elsa to the students.
Elsa stood in front of the audience, with her speech in her hands, and began to address the audience.
"Good morning, students of the Southern Isles University. Thank you for having me. Today I would like to talk to you about the importance of loyalty. Now, we all know what loyalty is, but many of us don't practice it. Loyalty is a virtuous quality, that every human should have. It defines our relationship not only with others, but with ourselves as well. The key to success is the ability to be honest. Those who lie, cheat, or deceive, to gain that success, are not truly successful people at all. They are deceivers who don't know the honest way of life. Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirt of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love. And nowhere on Earth is this trust greater, than in one's family. The love and support that you give your family is the most important form of loyalty of all. Your family is a part of you, no matter how much you may deny it. They're your flesh and blood, the air that you breathe, they'll always be there for you, even when no one else will. So always promise your loyalty to the people you care about, especially your family. For your only given one in this lifetime. And tomorrow isn't always promised. So, make sure you show your family just how loyal you are: through your love. Thank you."
The audience erupted in cheers and applause. Elsa stood, smiling on the stage, while everyone in the room kept clapping for her amazing speech. When everything settled down, the headmaster went to personally congratulate Elsa.
"Queen Elsa, thank you so much for coming today. Your words have inspired us all."
"That's very flattering of you, headmaster, but those words that I just read, weren't mine. I didn't write them. My sister, Princess Anna did."
The headmaster and the entire student body let out a gasp of surprise. They turned towards Anna, who had been sitting quietly on the side of the stage.
"Your sister wrote that speech?" the headmaster asked.
"Yes, she did. She's the best writer I know," Elsa admitted.
The headmaster turned towards Anna, giving his respects. "Well, in that case, Princess Anna, your words today have inspired us all. You really have an amazing voice."
"Thank you, headmaster," Anna said.
All the while, Elsa was smiling brightly at her sister, proud as she could ever be.
A/N: I enjoyed writing this one, but I feel like the ending was a little too sudden, but maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!