A/N: The point of view is going to change by chapter, so the story-telling is different.. and because I like being able to show you the mind of more than one individual :)
POV: Helen
Fifteen years later, Helen.. no.. I grew into a young woman. Short, petite, and, if I do say so myself, adorable, I'm just like my mom. In looks, that is. People are always telling me how much I look like her, and it's true. I have the same wide, staring, green eyes, the same choppy looking brown hair.. that was actually my choice. The hair. I think it suits me, and people around town agree.
Anyway, I may look like my mom, but my mind is all my dad's. I'm witty, adventurous, and headstrong. I get the feeling that bothers some people, but hey, I'm the princess. Until I prick my finger, they're stuck with me. And I'm not even sure that's going to happen anymore. I'm almost sixteen. In fact, I turn sixteen tomorrow. So, since the curse hadn't taken hold for this long, who's to say it won't take hold at all?
Not that that's a great plan.. being cautious and not letting the curse take effect, I mean. Because then I'll have to be sent out of the country, so I don't accidentally burn down the kingdom or something. I mean, come on, the witch said I would carry disaster in my wake. I couldn't do that to my parents.. to my country.
Anyway, here's where my part of the story starts.
Right, I woke up this morning and everything was totally normal. The sunlight shone through my window, I got cleaned up and changed into a simple blue dress, slid down the banister into the dining room, ate breakfast, played with Pascal a little, and my friend Jeremy came over. Whoop-dee-do. The same thing has happened almost every day for the past couple of years, excepting the time Jeremy got pneumonia, when he had to stay in bed for a couple of days. But, moving back to the present.
I put a cape on, hood down, and creep over to where Jeremy is sitting, waiting for me to finish my breakfast.
"Jeremy… the most terrible thing has happened… Helen pricked her finger!" I tease him, hugging him from behind and acting like I'm a sobbing old maid. Knowing it's me, he grabs me around the middle and picks me right up, joining in the fake sobs.
"Oh, my life is over! And so close to her birthday, too! Boo hoo, she'll be dead and gone forever if we don't break the spell! Oh, if only I had told her how I felt about her!" he cried, still swinging me around.
I giggled as he let me down and yanked the cape off of me. Wanting to take him by surprise, I threw my arms around his neck and pretty much jumped on him. Of course, nothing I do ever surprises him anymore, so he just caught me and held me for a moment and let me down. We've always been kind of physical with each other.. not in THAT way, obviously, but.. you know, rough-housing. Or in this case, jumping and being picked up. Hey, it's what we do.
"So. You want to tell me how you feel? Go right ahead, I'm listening!" I say to him, exaggeratedly cupping my hand to my ear and bending over.
He laughs and plays along, putting his mouth near my ear. "I think you are the most annoying little brat I have ever met, and since you're my best friend, I know I'm allowed to say that without getting the evil eye from your dad, who is standing in the doorway right now," he whispers, laughing as I swat at his face.
I turn to the doorway and wave my fingers at my dad, who is standing with his arms crossed and smiling at me. I walk over and give him a hug. "Good morning, Daddy! We're just playing around," I tell him, referring to Jeremy and I.
"I know, but could you keep it down? Your mother is still sleeping," he tells us, waving at Jeremy who in turn bows exaggeratedly, earning a laugh from my dad.
"Yes, Daddy. We'll be out in the garden, okay? I want to show him the cherry blossoms!" I say, getting excited. Dad smiles and ruffles my hair, and I run off, grabbing Jeremy's hand before I pass him. "Come on!"
"Why are you showing me the cherry blossoms? I saw them yesterday! And the day before that, and the day they bloomed.." Jeremy says, already out of breath from running to keep up with me. His lungs have never been completely right since he had pneumonia. I stop running, feeling kind of sheepish for forgetting.
"I'm showing you the cherry blossoms so we can be alone out here. I have to tell you something. Well.. show you something. Um.. kind of," I mumble, earning myself a look of confusion from Jeremy. He's known me almost my whole life, but he still gets confused around me a lot. Even more so now that he's seventeen.. things are supposed to make sense when you're older, but I often don't.
"Okay. You remember that spell I'm under? What's supposed to happen if I don't prick my finger by tomorrow? Disaster in my wake, and whatnot?" I try to make this sound like it's not a big deal. Have I said yet that I'm really bad at that? Well, I am.
Jeremy nods, a somber expression clouding his face. He's being serious for once.. and it's kind of scaring me. I'm so used to seeing his bright blue eyes laughing away, his blonde, wavy hair bouncing as he runs to catch up to me while we play one of our games.. um, anyway..
"Yeah.. why, what's going on?" he asks simply, taking my hand. My heart bounces, just a little. There's something I should probably tell you before the story goes any further- I'm kind of in love with Jeremy. Not so much the sighing every couple of seconds, googly-eyed, butterflies in the stomach kind of love.. well, the butterflies make an appearance every now and then, but it's not always like that. He's been my best friend for a long time. He knows things about me even my parents don't know. Like, for example, I'm really scared of my curse.. what it'll do to everyone around me if it doesn't take effect.. that kind of thing.
"Well.. look at the cherry blossoms," I say to Jeremy sadly, pointing with the hand he's not holding. He turns around to look and my head droops so now I'm looking at my bare feet.
The cherry blossoms are all dead. All of them. Not one cherry blossom is still on the tree, when they were all blooming and beautiful yesterday. My curse is still working, whether or not anyone in the kingdom likes to mention it.
"So the cherry blossoms are gone. Ellie.. that doesn't mean your curse did it. I thought we agreed to be positive about this." Jeremy lets go of my hand and puts one of his on my shoulder and uses the other to tilt my chin upward. "Promise me you won't worry."
I can't do that. Really, I can't. Not even his heartbreakingly beautiful eyes can make me promise not to worry about this. I open my mouth to tell him that, but I can't.. so I don't say anything.